Portsmouth's 12 museums tell 800 years of history, from its beginnings as a Saxon fishing port to its eventual role as the home of one of the world's greatest seaborne fighting forces.
As a naval town, most of the major budget and medium priced hotel chains, including Hilton, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn and Golden Tulip Inns are well represented, particularly around the new Gunwharf Quays area. For something a little different and typically English...
If you stay here, try...
Fortitude Cottage -- a small house rebuilt after WWII on the site of a 16th century cottage. Almost beside the water, in the old port, close to several historic tall ships,including HMS Victory, Mary Rose and Warrior, this charming little B&B gives you a real sense of Portsmouth's 18th and 19th century heydays.Ask for the top floor double with its own private balcony and roof terrace for a 360 degree view historic Portsmouth - a charming room and very good value.
And while you're here, visit a historic pub, The Ship Anson. In the beer garden,luckless, involuntary "recruits" once took the King's Shilling.
