Experience the best of Portsmouth

Portsmouth stands largely on Portsea Island, on the Solent, and has been Britain's chief naval base for centuries. The Historic Dockyard holds HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, the Victorian ironclad HMS Warrior, and the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's warship, raised from the seabed in 1982 and shown in its own museum. The Spinnaker Tower, a sail-shaped viewing tower, rises over the harbour at Gunwharf Quays.

Old Portsmouth, at the harbour mouth, has a round tower and sea walls where people watch ferries and warships pass. Southsea, the seaside district, has a castle built by Henry VIII, a wide common and a pebble beach facing the Isle of Wight, to which ferries and a hovercraft run. Charles Dickens was born in Landport, and Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the first Sherlock Holmes story while practising as a doctor in Southsea.

Fish and chips on the Southsea seafront, ice cream and cream teas are the habit, and Hampshire pubs pour local ales and cider. The sea keeps winters mild, and summer is the busiest season.