Southampton Map: Terminals, Old Town and the Road Out

Three pieces of geography decide a day here: which side of the docks your ship is on, how far the old town is from that gate, and how long the road west takes. Get those three right and everything else follows. The tours that turn the third one into a day out are on the tours from Southampton to Stonehenge listings.

The shape of the place

Southampton sits at the head of Southampton Water. That is the tidal estuary running down to the Solent between the New Forest shore and the Hamble. The city occupies a spit of land between two rivers, the Test to the west and the Itchen to the east. The docks take the whole western and southern edge of it.

That is why the old town is where it is. The medieval walls followed what was then the shoreline on the western side, which is the stretch that survives best. The modern city grew inland to the north. Walking from the water to the Civic Centre walks you forward through eight hundred years.

The two dock systems

The Eastern Docks hold two terminals: QEII at berths 38 and 39, and Ocean at berth 46. Both are entered through Dock Gate 4 on Cunard Road, beside Town Quay. The Western Docks hold three: City at berth 101, Horizon at 102 and Mayflower at 106, all entered through Dock Gate 10 off the A33.

For a visitor the difference is simple: the Eastern Docks put you next to the old town and the Western Docks put you next to the main road out. Which one you get is decided by your cruise line, not by you. The full detail is on the cruise port guide.

The old town, ten minutes on foot

Everything in the old town sits inside a rectangle about half a mile on its longest side. The Bargate is at the north end of it, Town Quay at the south, Bugle Street and Tudor House on the west, and the High Street running down the middle with Holyrood Church halfway along.

SeaCity Museum is the exception and it is worth knowing before you plan: it is not in the old town at all but in the Civic Centre on Havelock Road, about ten minutes north of the Bargate and a little west.

How far everything actually is

The three roads out

West to Stonehenge and Salisbury, on the road five of these tours take. North-east to Heathrow and London, on the road nine of them take. And north-west into the Cotswolds and Oxford, which one coach takes and which is the longest day out of this port at ten and a half hours.

Nothing here goes east, and nothing goes to the Isle of Wight, even though the ferries leave from Town Quay. That is a real gap rather than an oversight: no operator in the captured set sells it.

Southampton Water and the Solent

The estuary is the reason for all of it. Southampton Water gives sheltered deep water right up to the city. The long stand of high tide keeps those berths workable far longer than a normal tidal cycle would. Ships turn round here because the water lets them.

Beyond it is the Solent, the channel between the mainland and the Isle of Wight. Your ship crosses it within an hour of leaving the berth. If you are on deck for departure, the New Forest shore is on your right and the island ahead.

Where each tour starts

Almost every one of these begins at a cruise terminal, which is what makes this a port site rather than a city one. Three do not: two walking tours meet in the city, and one transfer starts at Heathrow.

Frequently asked questions