Photo: Mack McLane, CC BY-SA 2.0Fareham is a market town on the Solent with Westbury Manor Museum, and Portchester Castle and the creek nearby.
Photo: Julian Colander, CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Nelson is a restored Victorian fortress on Portsdown Hill, overlooking Portsmouth Harbour. Its artillery collection from around the world includes a 15th-century Turkish bombard, a 200-tonne railway howitzer and the Iraqi supergun known as Big Babylon.
Photo: August Schwerdfeger, CC BY 4.0Titchfield Abbey was founded in the 13th century for a community of Premonstratensian canons. After the Dissolution, Henry VIII gave it to the Earl of Southampton, and its grand turreted gatehouse survives from the Tudor mansion built inside it.
Portchester Castle began as a Roman fort on the Saxon Shore, built to defend the south-east coast, and it still keeps most of its Roman walls. Visitors can climb the 12th-century Norman keep for views across the Solent.
A Palmerston fort built in the 1850s and 1860s to protect Portsmouth harbour, and largely unaltered. Visitors can see the keep, the parade ground, the gun ramps and the moated keep.
Gosport's wildlife haven, with woodland, meadows and wetlands between Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent. The park has a children's play facility at the Western Gateway, a 17th century village and marked routes for walking and cycling.
A volunteer-run museum on the Lee-on-the-Solent seafront, based on the old Daedalus naval base. Visitors can climb aboard the SR.N4 cross-channel hovercraft and try hands-on activities such as air hockey.
Photo: ITookSomePhotos, CC0A shingle beach on the Solent at the edge of Fareham, with views across to the Isle of Wight and Osborne House. Coastal walks run east to Lee-on-the-Solent and west towards Meon Shore and the Hamble estuary.
Photo: Oliver Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0Titchfield Haven is a 369-acre National Nature Reserve in the Lower Meon Valley, managed by Hampshire County Council. Its wetlands and hides are good for birdwatching, with wildfowl in winter and migrant waders in autumn.
Photo of Gosport: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0Royal Navy Museums: Explosion is in an 18th-century gunpowder store at Priddy’s Hard in Gosport. It traces naval weapons from gunpowder to modern missiles and torpedoes, and has views across the harbour from its café.
Photo: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0Lee-on-the-Solent has a shingle beach with views of ships and yachts moving up and down the Solent. The waterfront has a children’s playground and a splash park, along with shops and restaurants.
A self-guided circular walk from Solent Drive around Hook Lake, along the Solent shore and back over fields. The council estimates 75 to 105 minutes.
Photo of Fareham: Mack McLane, CC BY-SA 2.0Imagine Theatre's pantomime at Fareham Live stars Anne Hegerty from The Chase, with Josiah Eloi back for a second year as the Dame. The Trotts swap Buttercup the cow for magic beans and Jack climbs up to the land of giants.
Photo of Fareham: Mack McLane, CC BY-SA 2.0Fareham Borough Council's switch-on fills West Street with a festive market, funfair rides, community performers and free children's activities through the day. The finale at the bandstand ends with the lights going on at 5.30pm.
Image: Fort NelsonA 90 minute outdoor tour at Fort Nelson near Portsmouth, descending into the fort's large defensive ditch. Visitors learn how the ditch was made and the part it played in protecting the fort. Tours run at 10:30am and 2pm on 19 September 2026 and 20 March 2027, with pre-booking recommended and up to 16 people per tour. Not suitable for under 12s.
Image: Fort NelsonGuided 50-minute tours of Fort Nelson, near Portsmouth, trace the fort's origins in the 1870s and its roles in the First and Second World Wars. Tours run at 11am, 1pm and 2:30pm on listed dates between 21 October 2026 and 31 March 2027. Tours suit visitors aged 12 and over, with under 16s accompanied by an adult.
Image: Fort NelsonGuided tours of the East Tunnel at Fort Nelson near Portsmouth, a part of the fort normally closed to the public and with original features largely untouched. Tours run on 14 November 2026 and 16 January 2027 at 10:30am, 12:30pm and 2:00pm, last 60 minutes and hold 12 people, so pre-booking is required. The route is not accessible, lighting is by torch and portable lamps, and the tour is not suitable for under 12s, with under 16s needing an adult.
Photo of Gosport: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0HMS Sultan, the Royal Navy's engineering training base in Gosport, holds its bonfire night during October half-term. The 2026 evening marks the base's 70th anniversary, with funfair rides, a bonfire and a fireworks display with an engineering-themed soundtrack.
Photo: Julian Colander, CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Nelson is a restored Victorian fortress on Portsdown Hill, overlooking Portsmouth Harbour. Its artillery collection from around the world includes a 15th-century Turkish bombard, a 200-tonne railway howitzer and the Iraqi supergun known as Big Babylon.
A Palmerston fort built in the 1850s and 1860s to protect Portsmouth harbour, and largely unaltered. Visitors can see the keep, the parade ground, the gun ramps and the moated keep.
A volunteer-run museum on the Lee-on-the-Solent seafront, based on the old Daedalus naval base. Visitors can climb aboard the SR.N4 cross-channel hovercraft and try hands-on activities such as air hockey.
Photo of Gosport: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0Royal Navy Museums: Explosion is in an 18th-century gunpowder store at Priddy’s Hard in Gosport. It traces naval weapons from gunpowder to modern missiles and torpedoes, and has views across the harbour from its café.
Photo: Julian Colander, CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Nelson is a restored Victorian fortress on Portsdown Hill, overlooking Portsmouth Harbour. Its artillery collection from around the world includes a 15th-century Turkish bombard, a 200-tonne railway howitzer and the Iraqi supergun known as Big Babylon.
Photo: August Schwerdfeger, CC BY 4.0Titchfield Abbey was founded in the 13th century for a community of Premonstratensian canons. After the Dissolution, Henry VIII gave it to the Earl of Southampton, and its grand turreted gatehouse survives from the Tudor mansion built inside it.
A Palmerston fort built in the 1850s and 1860s to protect Portsmouth harbour, and largely unaltered. Visitors can see the keep, the parade ground, the gun ramps and the moated keep.
Gosport's wildlife haven, with woodland, meadows and wetlands between Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent. The park has a children's play facility at the Western Gateway, a 17th century village and marked routes for walking and cycling.
Photo: ITookSomePhotos, CC0A shingle beach on the Solent at the edge of Fareham, with views across to the Isle of Wight and Osborne House. Coastal walks run east to Lee-on-the-Solent and west towards Meon Shore and the Hamble estuary.
Photo: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0Lee-on-the-Solent has a shingle beach with views of ships and yachts moving up and down the Solent. The waterfront has a children’s playground and a splash park, along with shops and restaurants.
Photo: Phil Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0A round artillery fort built by Henry VIII in 1539 to guard the sea passage to Southampton, standing at the tip of Calshot Spit with views across the Solent. Later used against smugglers and as an RAF seaplane base, it is owned by English Heritage and run by the neighbouring Calshot Activities Centre, whose shingle beaches are open to all.
