Serviced Apartments in Hampshire

Discover the best activities and attractions Hampshire has to offer, and find out what makes this city a vibrant and exciting place to live or visit.

New Forest National Park
New Forest is one of the UK’s most beloved national parks, known for its ancient woodlands, heathland, roaming New Forest ponies and picturesque villages such as Lyndhurst and Lymington. It’s popular for walking, cycling, wildlife watching, horse riding and family-friendly outdoor activities. The forest’s unique landscape and accessible public land make it a standout natural attraction in Hampshire, offering tranquillity close to major cities. Economically and socially, New Forest drives rural tourism, supports local businesses (hotels, pubs, bike hire, guides), sustains conservation and park management jobs, and underpins markets for local produce and craft industries.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (including HMS Victory & Mary Rose Museum)
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard houses iconic ships such as HMS Victory and the Mary Rose, plus interactive exhibitions that bring naval and maritime history to life. The Mary Rose Museum is especially unique—displaying the Tudor warship and thousands of recovered artefacts preserved from the Solent—offering a rare, tangible window into 16th-century life. The dockyard’s combination of living history, naval heritage and waterfront setting makes it a major draw for families, historians and school groups. It significantly contributes to the local economy through tourism spending (tickets, tours, hospitality), preserves maritime skills and heritage jobs, and supports associated businesses like tour operators and retailers.

Jane Austen’s House Museum (Chawton)
Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton is the cottage where the novelist lived and wrote or revised many of her major works; it’s the premier destination for Austen fans worldwide. The house displays personal artefacts, manuscripts and period rooms that immerse visitors in her life and writings, and the village maintains a charming historic atmosphere. Culturally, it keeps literary heritage alive through exhibitions, talks and events, attracting international visitors and academic interest. Economically, the museum boosts cultural tourism to Hampshire, supports local accommodation and eateries, and creates jobs in heritage interpretation and conservation.

The Pig – Brockenhurst (restaurant & hotel)
The Pig in Brockenhurst is a celebrated country-house hotel and restaurant known for its emphasis on ingredient-led dining, much of it sourced from its own kitchen garden and local suppliers. Its relaxed, chefs-driven menus and stylish rural setting make it a standout dining experience within the New Forest region. The Pig helps promote Hampshire’s food credentials, supports local farmers and producers, and draws culinary tourists from across the UK. The venue also creates hospitality employment, uplifts local supply chains, and raises the profile of boutique rural accommodation in the county.

Gunwharf Quays (shopping & waterfront leisure, Portsmouth)
Gunwharf Quays is a major waterfront outlet shopping and leisure complex set beside Portsmouth Harbour, featuring a wide range of high-street and designer outlet stores, restaurants, bars and a cinema, with views of the historic dockyard and Spinnaker Tower. Its mix of shopping, dining and events makes it popular with families, day-trippers and cruise passengers. The centre is important economically as a retail and hospitality hub, creating substantial employment, attracting regional shoppers and tourists, and generating footfall that benefits neighbouring attractions, transport links and port-related businesses.

Explore the diverse transport options available in Hampshire, from efficient public transportation systems to convenient road networks. Whether you're commuting to work or exploring the city, this section will give you an overall look at the available transportation systems.

Public Transit System
- Heavy rail - Regular mainline rail services connect Hampshire to London, the South Coast and the Midlands; principal operators include South Western Railway (the dominant operator across the county) with additional services from Southern, CrossCountry and Great Western Railway; key routes include the South West Main Line, Portsmouth Direct Line, West Coastway/Wessex services and important stations such as Winchester, Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Southampton Central, Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour.
- Local and regional buses - Extensive bus networks link towns, suburbs and rural communities; operators include Stagecoach South, Bluestar, First Hampshire & Dorset and several smaller local companies, providing frequent urban routes in Southampton and Portsmouth and less frequent rural services.
- Park-and-ride and city bus hubs - Park-and-ride sites and city-centre bus hubs operate around Winchester, Southampton and other urban centres to reduce city-centre traffic and provide connections to rail and bus networks.
- Ferries and hovercraft - Regular ferry services across the Solent to the Isle of Wight (Red Funnel, Wightlink) and cross-Solent hovercraft services (Hovertravel), along with short ferry links such as the Gosport ferry and Hythe ferry, providing important passenger, vehicle and island access.
- Long-distance coaches - National Express, Megabus and other coach operators serve Southampton, Portsmouth and larger towns with long-distance connections to London, the Midlands and other UK cities.
- Ports and sea freight/cruise - The Port of Southampton and Portsmouth International Port handle major cruise, freight and ferry traffic, supporting passenger travel and freight logistics nationally and internationally.
- Air links and airports - Southampton Airport (commercial regional and European flights) and Farnborough (business aviation) provide air access; London Gatwick and Heathrow are reachable by road and rail for wider international connections.
- Community, demand-responsive and taxi services - Community minibuses, dial‑a‑ride schemes in rural areas and taxis/ride‑hail services operate across the county to plug gaps in evening and rural public transport.

Major Highways
- M3 - Primary motorway link between Southampton/Basingstoke and London, carrying long-distance commuter and freight traffic.
- M27 - East–west motorway skirting the south coast linking Southampton, Fareham and the Portsmouth area (with spurs to Portsmouth).
- M275 - Short motorway spur providing direct access into Portsmouth from the M27.
- M271 - Short spur connecting Southampton Central area to the M27.
- A3 / A3(M) - Major trunk route connecting London with Guildford and Portsmouth, serving northeast Hampshire approaches to the county.
- A34 - Important north–south route through Winchester linking the south coast to the Midlands and M4.
- A27 - Coastal arterial route across the south-east of the county around Havant and Fareham, linking to West Sussex.
- A31 / A33 / A303 - Key A-roads providing east–west and radial connections within/through Hampshire and to neighbouring counties, used for regional distribution and commuter traffic.
- Strategic regional routes (A338, A35, A36, etc.) - Additional A-roads and inter-urban links that connect towns, ports and tourist areas (e.g., New Forest) across the county and into neighbouring Dorset/Wiltshire/Surrey.

Cycling Infrastructure
- Cycle routes and lanes - Hampshire offers a mix of segregated on‑road cycle lanes in urban centres (notably Southampton and Portsmouth), traffic‑free multi‑use paths through the New Forest and river valleys, Sustrans National Cycle Network routes and waymarked long-distance paths (Test Way, Itchen and Solent coastal routes), plus local cycle parking, station cycle hubs and growing investment in cycle- and walking-focused schemes (LCWIPs) and bike‑hire/loan initiatives.

Recent and Upcoming Improvements
- Solent City-Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) and local funding programmes - Multi‑year investment packages for the Solent area (Hampshire and Isle of Wight) targeting bus priority, active travel, station and interchange upgrades and EV infrastructure.
- Rail capacity and station improvements - Ongoing Network Rail and operator works on the Wessex/South West routes to improve capacity, resilience and station facilities (platform improvements, accessibility works and signalling renewals across key stations).
- Port infrastructure upgrades - Continued investment at the Port of Southampton and Portsmouth International Port to expand cruise and freight handling capacity and to modernise terminals and hinterland links.
- Bus fleet modernisation and priority measures - Local authorities and operators are rolling out low‑emission and electric buses in stages and creating bus priority corridors and interchange upgrades to improve reliability and reduce emissions.
- Active travel and urban public‑realm schemes - Councils are implementing LCWIPs, new segregated cycle lanes, pedestrianisation and low‑traffic neighbourhood pilots in urban centres to encourage walking and cycling and reduce short car trips.
- EV charging and highway maintenance - Expansion of on‑street and rapid EV charging networks across towns and strategic highway maintenance and junction improvements on busy corridors (M3 approaches, A31/A34 junctions and sections of the M27/A27) to ease congestion and support cleaner vehicle use.
- Smart ticketing and integrated travel planning - Progressive roll‑out of smarter ticketing options and travel information integrations to make multi‑modal journeys (bus, rail, ferry) simpler and more seamless for commuters and visitors.