Salisbury

[georgiacat]

We are considering a British Isles cruise next year. I am thinking of spending a couple of days in Salisbury before the cruise. Tell me about the area. What about hotels? Can you get tours from Salisbury? What about the transfer to the ship?

[John Bull]

Salisbury is a historic and laid-back city with a superb cathedral, fine for a couple of days.

Without a car, best to go for a hotel in the city centre. Somewhere like the White Hart or Red Lion or Cathedral hotel. Or, a ten-minute walk off-centre toward the rail station, the King's Head.

 

You'll struggle to find shared organised tours from Salisbury because most visitors travel by car.

But there's the Stonehenge and Old Sarum ho-ho, local buses to places like Wilton (Wilton House) or Fordingbridge (to pick up the New Forest ho-ho) and direct trains from Salisbury to places like Bath or Bristol, or (past Southampton) to Portsmouth harbour & historic dockyard.

 

For transfer to your ship, direct trains run every half-hour to Southampton Central Station, journey time about 35 minutes, fare about £10. Then a taxi hop from Southampton central to your ship costing £6 to £10 depending which cruise terminal.

Or for a private transfer ask for quotes from www.smithsforairports.com or www.westquaycars.com Both are Southampton-based, both reliable & both frequently used by Cruise Critic members.

 

http://www.thenewforesttour.info/new-forest-tour-routes

http://www.thenewforesttour.info/new-forest-tour-routes

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

JB :)

[John Bull]

Oooops,

Silly boy.

Instead of posting the Stonehenge ho-ho link, I posted the New Forest ho-ho link twice :rolleyes:

Try again:

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

 

JB :)

[Bob++]

If you are flying into Heathrow, you will probably want to book a car to Salisbury using one of the firms that JB suggests. If time permits, you could do a drive-by of Stonehenge and Avebury en route.

 

National Express http://coach.nationalexpress.com run a direct, but not very frequent service and that would be a lot cheaper (£18 each), although you might need a taxi from the coach station to your hotel.

[georgiacat]

thank you both for the information. It is helpful.