Getting around Southampton
Southampton is a port city on England's south coast, and its compact, largely flat centre makes it a straightforward place to navigate on foot, by bus, by train or by bike. The city centre stretches mainly north to south, and much of the route between the northern fringe and the waterfront is pedestrianised. For live travel information in and around the city, the My Journey website is a useful hub.
Walking
Walking is one of the easiest ways to cover the central area. The city is largely flat, especially the city centre, which makes it accessible for most pedestrians. It is quite feasible to walk from the popular Bedford Place student area on the northern edge of the central area down to the waterfront, with much of the route pedestrianised.
If you would like suggested routes, My Journey Southampton publishes walking maps and routes, and also covers public rights of way and local walking groups. It partners with the Go Jauntly walking app for local routes and challenges.
Cycling
Southampton is described as a bike-friendly city, and its relatively small size and mostly flat centre make cycling practical. There are a few dedicated cycle routes; they are not particularly well linked, but cyclists should not have trouble navigating the city centre. Note that while the city centre is mostly flat, the wider county of Hampshire tends to undulate.
- My Journey Southampton offers information on cycle routes, bike repairs and servicing (a "bike doctor"), and cycle training.
- My Journey works with Love to Ride, a web and app platform offering rewards-based cycling challenges.
- Bike hire is available from Coastal Leisure at Town Quay. GA Cycles on Shirley Road sells bikes and is a short walk from Southampton Central railway station.
- Sustrans publishes a cycle map for the area.
E-scooters
Voi e-scooters operate in the city. The cost is £1 to unlock plus a per-minute charge, and Voi also offers 24-hour and 30-day subscriptions giving unlimited rides at a fixed rate.
Buses
Southampton has a good network of bus services, with some principal services running very frequently during the day. Most services radiate out from the city centre, and there are also some cross-city routes. Some services extend to settlements outside the city.
Buses accept cash (and give change) as well as contactless card payment. Bluestar offers unlimited travel from £4 a day using tap-on/tap-off contactless payment. Discounted fares, day travelcards and passes are available on some services, so it is worth contacting operators directly for fares, routes and discounts. The Solent Go smartcard is valid on buses and ferries throughout South Hampshire.
Main operators connecting towns and suburbs to the city centre include Bluestar, Unilink, Xelabus and Salisbury Reds (which runs the Salisbury–Southampton service). First Southampton also operates a comprehensive bus network linking all parts of the city. Bus service details are available on the My Journey website, and transport and roadworks news on Transport Southampton.
Two useful special services:
- Quayconnect runs between Southampton Central railway station (south side) and the Red Funnel ferry terminals at Town Quay, via Westquay shopping centre and Asda/The Marlands. It is free for National Rail, National Express and Red Funnel ticket holders, as well as Senior Citizen bus pass holders. The CityLink bus also runs from the station via Westquay to Town Quay, where the catamaran to the Isle of Wight and the ferry to Hythe depart.
- Park & Ride operates at weekends and on public holidays, parking at the Adanac Health & Innovation Campus multi-storey. Tickets are bought on the bus or via the Bluestar app. The PR1 route runs from Adanac Park to the city centre, stopping at Southampton Central Station, Westquay or Albion Place Bus Hub. A separate PR2 service runs on Southampton FC weekend match days between Adanac Park and Kingsway, operating three hours before kick-off and two hours after the match ends.
Trains
Southampton's main station is Southampton Central, on the north-west edge of the city centre. It has entrances from Blechynden Terrace (north side) and the Western Esplanade (south side), both giving equal access to the concourse and all platforms. From the station it is a short walk to the city centre, or you can use the free CityLink bus service, which runs during the day and up to about 8PM.
Southampton Central, Southampton Airport Parkway and Eastleigh are all served by regular trains on the South West mainline. Other stations in Southampton receive only less-regular stopping services: Redbridge, Millbrook, St Denys, Swaythling, Bitterne, Woolston and Sholing.
There is no metro or tram network in Southampton; rail services are the main fixed-track option. The principal operators are:
- South Western Railway — frequent services from London Waterloo via Basingstoke and Winchester, as well as from Portsmouth and the towns between them along the south coast. Many continue beyond Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth via the New Forest.
- Southern Railway — services via a longer, slower route from London Victoria, with the advantage of serving London Gatwick airport on the way.
- CrossCountry — longer-distance services from the north of England via Birmingham and Reading.
- Great Western Railway — services from Cardiff, Bristol and Bath via Salisbury.
Train times can be found on National Rail or by calling 0345 748 4950 from anywhere in the UK.
Taxis and ride-hailing
Taxis can be hailed on the street or picked up at ranks, including at Southampton Central railway station, Southampton Airport Parkway station, near Westquay Shopping Centre and on the High Street. Uber is also available in the city.
Local taxi companies include Radio Taxis, West Quay Cars, Cab My Ride and Transmobility, which specialises in disabled requirements. Other operators include Abbeytax and Streamline Taxis. Several Southampton-based companies offer long-distance transfers from major airports, towns, and bus and rail stations, with online booking facilities.
Driving and parking
Road access to Southampton is via the M3 and M27 motorways. Car parking is relatively easy, with many pay-and-display sites in the city centre, some car parks free for up to two hours, and free on-street parking if you are willing to park a little further out. There are over 40 car parks, including surface car parks around the city centre and covered car parks in the main shopping area such as Westquay, Western Esplanade and The Marlands. Be aware that height, weight and length-of-stay restrictions may apply, and charges vary; the Southampton City Council interactive city parking map gives postcodes, opening times, charges and on-street parking information. City-centre parking is usually limited to a maximum of two or four hours.
Alternatives to bringing your own car include the Enterprise Car Club pay-as-you-go motoring scheme and Liftshare, a free car-share matching website that My Journey partners with. Car hire firms in the city include Alamo, Avis and Europcar. For visitors with limited mobility, the Shopmobility scheme at Westquay Shopping Centre car park (Level 0) offers battery-operated wheelchairs and scooters or manual wheelchairs.
Getting from the airport into the city
Southampton Airport (SOU), a short distance to the north in Eastleigh, receives regular services from many airports across the British Isles, including Belfast City, Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester and the three main Channel Islands. KLM operates a year-round feeder service from its hub at Amsterdam Schiphol, but other services from continental Europe are seasonal.
The easiest way into the city is by rail: a railway station adjacent to the airport is served by regular trains into Southampton Central, a journey of about 8 minutes. National rail connections from the airport include Bournemouth, Reading, London Waterloo, Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly.
Much bigger airports are within easy reach of Southampton by rail, car or bus:
- London Heathrow (LHR) — reachable by road via the M4, M25 and M3. There is a RailAir coach service to Woking station, where mainline trains to Southampton can be boarded, and National Express runs a scheduled bus service from the Central Bus Station at Heathrow (between Terminals 2 and 3) to Southampton Coach Station.
- London Gatwick (LGW) — reachable by road via the M23, M25 and M3. Monday to Saturday there is an hourly direct train service to Southampton from a rail station in the airport terminal complex; on Sundays at least one transfer is necessary.
- Stansted (STN) and Luton (LTN) — both north of London, with a good range of budget flights but harder to reach from Southampton: you either have to drive around the congested M25, or take a train into London and out again.
- Bournemouth Airport (BOH) — west of Southampton along the M27 and A31, with only a few holiday flights to the Mediterranean.
Arriving by coach or boat
National Express runs a regular coach service direct to and from Southampton Coach Station from London Victoria Coach Station as well as from Heathrow Airport Central Bus Station. Megabus also runs a twice-daily bus service from London Victoria Coach Station to Southampton.
Southampton is a busy port city with sea links around the world, but the port is mainly used for freight container ships and cruises, and there are no international ferry services (these call at Portsmouth to the east). Regular vehicle and passenger ferries do operate to Southampton from Cowes on the nearby Isle of Wight and the village of Hythe in the New Forest. Southampton is also Cunard's main port, being the eastern end of Queen Mary 2's transatlantic liner service to and from New York City.