A glance at the map gives some idea of the strategic maritime importance of Southampton, which stands on a triangular peninsula formed at the place where the rivers Itchen and Test flow into Southampton Water, an eight-mile inlet from the Solent. Sure enough, Southampton has figured in numerous stirring events: it witnessed the exodus of Henry V's Agincourt-bound army, the Pilgrim Fathers' departure in the Mayflower in 1620 and the maiden voyages of such ships as the Queen Mary and the Titanic. The Second World War hit Southampton particularly hard, because of its strategic importance as the major industrial area on the South Coast. Pockets of Georgian architecture remain, but much of the city was levelled. The accuracy of the locally-based Ordnance Survey's maps did not go unrecognised by the Luftwaffe: the German bomber pilots used them to bomb Southampton.
Transportation in Southampton
By Car: From the M25 (London), take the M3 direction Southampton.
From the West exit M27 J3. Follow the M271 and then A3024 to Southampton.
From the East exit M27 J7. Follow the A334 and then A3024 to Southampton.
By Rail: From London there are frequent services between Waterloo (via Clapham Junction, Woking, Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton Airport) and Southampton Central taking a little over an hour.
There are also frequent services from Scotland, the North, Midlands and Birmingham, South Wales through Bristol and Salisbury, Weymouth, Poole and Bournemouth as well as services to Portsmouth and Brighton.
Arriving by train, Southampton Central is served by rail services from all parts of the UK.
By Coach: there is a frequent National Express service operating various coaches to Southampton from around the UK.
By Ferry: Located on Southampton Water at the top of the Solent, Southampton ferry port covers a vast area and offers excellent facilities for all commercial shipping lines and ferry passengers. Accounting for over 7% of all UK Seaborne trade - over 35 million tonnes of cargo, Southampton is also the UK's premier Cruise Ship port with 2 dedicated Cruise Terminals. Southampton ferry port is home to Red Funnel ferries who offer one of the key departure points by ferry to the Isle of Wight on the Southampton to Cowes ferry route.
Core of the modern town is the Civic Centre, a short walk east of the train station. It's clock tower is the most distinctive feature of the skyline, and it houses an excellent art gallery that's particularly strong on twentieth-century British artists such as Sutherland, Piper and Spencer (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-4pm; free). The Western Esplanade, curving southward from the station, runs alongside the best remaining bits of the old city walls. Rebuilt after a French attack in 1338, they feature towers with evocatively chilly names - Windwhistle, Catchcold and God's House Tower - the last of these, at the southern end of the old town in Winkle Street, houses a Museum of Archeology, though lack of funding has meant that this is currently indefinitely closed except to groups by prior arrangement. Best preserved of the city's seven gates is Bargate, at the opposite end of the old town, at the head of the High Street; an elaborate structure, cluttered with lions, classical figures and machicolations (defensive apertures through which missiles could be dropped), it was formerly the guildhall and court house.
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