Southampton

From Hitchwiki
Revision as of 21:32, 26 February 2008 by Lnx (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

<map lat='50.917753' lng='-1.387711' zoom='11' view='0' float='right'/>

Southampton is the largest city on the south coast in England. The name of the city is often abbreviated to "So'ton" or "Soton", and a resident of Southampton is called Sotonian.

Southampton is the closest city to the New Forest national park, and also a major port. Apart from freight ships and cruise liners the only ferries that depart from the city are Southampton-Hythe and Isle of Wight services (vehicular to East Cowes and a passenger-only hi-speed ferry to West Cowes - both operated by RedFunnel).

The ferries for France depart from Portsmouth and Poole.

Hitching Out

North towards Eastleigh, Winchester, (The West Midlands, A34), London

If you are in the north of the city, try hitching from near Chilworth roundabout, where the M3 starts.

If you are stuck in the city centre, follow signs for A335 - it soon goes into Thomas Lewis Way aka "Portswood and Swaythling Bypass" - if you fail to get a lift from its start, you can walk towards the North - there is a Shell Petrol Station near Swaythling a couple of miles up. Please note that Thomas Lewis Way is not the safest road to walk - there is no pavement, and no-stopping restrictions are in operation. However, Lnx managed to get a lift in about 20 minutes when walking (and trying to obtain a lift at one of the red traffic lights)

West towards Ringwood, Bournemouth, Poole

Use M271 (going into M27 West and then A31), or A35 West via Totton.

Walk west for 3 miles out of city along A3024/A35, or take a bus or a train to Redbridge station (no barriers there, but there are ticket inspectors on board, and penalty fares are in operation) and walk to Redbridge Roundabout. The only train that stops at that station is Romsey-Totton train which operates every 30 minutes and calls at: Romsey, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, Southampton Airport Parkway, Swaythling, St Denys, Southampton Central, Millbrook, Redbridge, Totton.

East towards Fareham, Portsmouth, Brighton

Use M27 East from junction 5 (Southampton Airport) - see below for directions

South towards Cowes, Isle of Wight

Information required

Public transport

Uni-link operates 2 useful services for hitch-hikers: U1 (City Centre-Airport) will take you close (and even past) junction 5 on M27, and U2 will take you to Chilworth roundabout, where the M3 motorway starts. The current single fare is £1.20 (to anywhere), or £2 for an all-day (uni-link only!) one-day bus pass. If you visit Southampton more than once, it may be helpful to buy a 12-journey ticket for £10 on a smart card (£1 will be required towards the deposit)

Sleep

Applications-office.png This article is a stub. This means that the information available to us is obviously insufficient. In these places little information is available or the description is severely outdated. If you have been there, whether hitchhiking, for travel or as part of an organized tour − be sure to extend this article!