Full-Day Private Tour to the Historic Naval City Portsmouth

Overview

Portsmouth is one of the greatest destinations if you are a naval person. Portsmouth is a historic naval city, being British Navy's main port and home to the oldest dry dock in the world, it has Portsmouth's historic dockyard, with the D-Day museum and UK's meaningful publicly-accessible building, and the Spinnaker Tower is the latest Millenium attraction. One of the highest publicly accessible buildings in the U.K., the Spinnaker Tower offers stunning views throughout the city and beyond. Here you can enjoy your traditional English tea 105 meters above the harbour of Portsmouth. The area is also home to Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory and Henry VIII's Historical Mary Rose, which was rescued from the seabed in 1982. Choices are unlimited in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard. Here in this tour, you will enjoy visiting Gun Wharf Quays, the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Action Stations, HMS.33, Boathouse No 4, Royal Navy Submarine Museums and many more. Join us for this experience!

What's included

• ✓Private transportation
• ✓Bottled water
• ✓Air-conditioned vehicle
• ✓Fuel surcharge
• ✓Parking Fees

• ✕Lunch

What you'll do

1. 1

   Portsmouth is where one of the most famous figures of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens, was born. In the 19th century, this house in Regency was decorated with an idea of the Victorian Portsmouth. If you are a Charles Dickens lover, then, this house definitely must be seen. Look at the first home of Charles Dickens with numerous possessions and photographs, the ceramics, furniture, house artefacts, glass and decorations which have faithfully been recreated in the Regency style that Charles' parents favoured, although their properties have been dispersed for a long time. There are three furnished rooms: The lounge, the dining room and Charles' bedroom. The exhibition room features a snuff box, a tiny cup and a paper-knife and a small collection of memorabilia: The couch that he passed away on at his home in Kent, poignant memory of an author who was celebrated for his prodigious talent and his creative work.

   ⏱ 1h 30m
2. 2

   Historic Dockyard is Portsmouth's number one historic and cultural heritage site full of hidden gems such as HMS Victory, HMS Warrior 1860, National Museum of the Royal Navy Portsmouth, Action Stations, HMS M.33, Boathouse 4, Royal Navy Submarine, Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower and many family sun & fun attractions such as Jolly Roger, Laser quest and the exhibition of the Horrible Histories Pirates await their visitors. We will explore all those marvels together. The history of Portsmouth's British Navy goes back 1,200 years to its beginning during the 860s under King Alfred the Great. The wide, nature-sized reservoir on the coastline is a river valley that is flooded and shielded from a deep, narrow entrance at the two sides of the dockyard. The Roman and Saxon bastions were designed to defend against the Vikings on the north side and to protect the trade. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, however, the port's first permanent fort was designed, Portchester Castle. Portsea Island was used as an army collector at Portsmouth Harbour, during the wars with France, and a small town on the south-western corner of the island was built in the late 12th century, to house workers and to support the soldiers. King Richard I granted in 1194 the Royal Charter for building a dockyard to this town called Portsmouth and in 1212 the King John guards with a wide wall. Our harbour tour includes some of the fortresses constructed over the centuries to protect Portsmouth, particularly the Round Tower at the harbour entrance and the Solent Forts, which during the Napoleonic Wars formed the core of a series of fortifications on the coast.

Availability & pricing

6 tour options available. Pick your exact date & check live availability on the booking page.

Good to know

• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Specialized infant seats are available
• Service animals allowed
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
• Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
• Wheelchair accessible
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

Cancellation policy

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.