Portsmouth is a great maritime city, and home of the Royal Navy, with an incredible collection of historic ships and museums, in a really beautiful Hampshire spot close to the New Forest, and overlooking The Solent to The Isle of Wight. If you’re looking for the best places to stay in Portsmouth because you’re catching a ferry on from here to the Channel Islands, France or Spain, then we recommend you book for more than one night, because it would be a shame to miss the city's highlights.
The majority of our hotel recommendations in Portsmouth are close to the water or the historic old dockyards, but we’ve also listed a fort-turned-luxury-hotel on the edge of the harbour as it enters the sea — it’s basically a man-made island. But all of our recommendations, including the fort, make great bases for visiting the old dockyards, where you can see Nelson’s HMS Victory, and the carefully preserved wreck of the Mary Rose, which was Henry VIII’s flagship. The dockyards are also rich with other museum ships, and maritime museums (there’s even a museum submarine). And it’s close to Gunwharf Quays, which is a stylish retail outlet centre, with a fantastic lookout called Spinnaker Tower, which, at 170meters high, offers great views all the way out to the Isle of Wight, and a decent afternoon tea.
If you want to see more warships take a harbour tour of some kind and you can get out amongst contemporary navy vessels. And if you want to explore the city’s un-naval history start off with its famous sons, Charles Dickens and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Along the seafront is Southsea Common, a park right up against the water, which has its own castle ruins, again with spectacular sea views. Look inland and you’ll see the spires of Portsmouth’s two cathedrals, and if you look along the shoreline you’ll see two piers.
Don't forget that it's busy here year round. So if you want to guarantee a room in one of the best places to stay in Portsmouth, book well ahead to avoid disappointment.