Pottering, pampering and Peppa
Hit the heights at Go Ape, get the ultimate movie experience at Cinema de Lux, or take a day trip to the Isle of Wight’s big beaches and rocky coves. Potter around the Old Town or get pampered at the Harbour Hotel. Take the kids to meet Peppa at Paulton’s, meet the meerkats at Marwell, or try karting, paddleboarding or even baseball.
Kids Ahoy!
Meet giraffes, tigers, leopards, meerkats and penguins and discover five adventure play areas at Marwell Zoo. Meet Peppa Pig and enjoy over 70 exciting rides and attractions in 140 acres of beautiful parkland on the edge of the New Forest at Paulton’s. Or bring your cossie and bucket for great beaches at Southsea and Bournemouth.
Get active at the Peter Ashley Activity Centre, with karate, mountain-biking, horse-riding, bouldering and more. Pay and play at Southsea Tennis Club or under floodlights at Canoe Lake Leisure. Grab some fresh air and freedom at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park and refuel in the Beechwood Café.
Race your mates at Teamsport on an indoor go-karting experience in Gosport. Sign up for soft-play fun at Monkey Bizness in Gosport and Horizon at Waterlooville. Discover the Viking era at 878 AD. Enjoy spectacular flying displays at Hawk Conservatory Trust. Or add some bounce to your day at Flip Out Trampolines.
Get down to Portsmouth to go up in the world at the Emirates Spinnaker Tower and take in panoramic views and brave the glass floor. Stick around for the Historic Dockyard, home of HMS Victory and a working naval base. Or knock it out of the park at 1st Base, the UK’s first baseball simulator.
For the grown-ups
Hit the heights at Go Ape Southampton against a backdrop of beautiful water meadows and woodland, with courses here on the upper level of the Go Ape height scale. Stick around to chuck a few axes. Or play one of the finest courses in the area, designed by an Open winner, at Southampton Golf Club.
Learn all about the story of aviation from a local perspective at Solent Sky Museum. Get the ultimate movie experience at Cinema de Lux, the first in the UK to have laser projection and Dolby Atmos as standard in every screen, plus fully customisable electric recliners and a great bar.
You can see the ferry terminal from the balcony, so take a day trip to the Isle of Wight, a place of wide expansive beaches, rocky coves, valley plains, harbours and rivers. Fuel up in the many independent eateries and shops of Cowes and Ventnor. Or stick around in Southampton for over 100 fashion and lifestyle shops at Westquay.
Head back into history with a walk around Southampton’s Old Town, with some of England’s best-preserved medieval town walls. Enjoy lungfuls of fresh air in the New Forest: cycle the Beaulieu route and spot owls, otters, ponies and wolves. Or learn about the true tale of the unsinkable ship at Southampton’s Titanic Story.
Happy hens (and stags)
Few hen houses in the country can match Escape to Town for grandeur and splendour, with a collection of elegant spaces for mixing and mingling plus a cinema room with giant screen for Netflix nights, Amazon Prime Video and BT TV. Load your Instagram stories over the speedy BT Wi-Fi.
For pamper fans, the Harbour Hotel is one of the South’s most luxurious spa retreats and it comes with a discount if you namedrop Escape to Town. Or make a day of it at Westquay, shopping for fashion, health and beauty, jewellery, tech and more, and recovering at eateries such as Carluccio’s and Five Guys.
Have a crack at wakeboarding or kayaking at New Forest Water Park, or wipe out on the aqua park. Cull some clay pigeons at Spitfire Shoot. Give zorbing a go at Leisure Matters. Or wriggle your way out of Houdini’s, voted the best escape-room experience in the world, no less.
Down cocktails at sunset on a Portsmouth Harbour cruise or make your own at 1932. Choose from a great selection of home-brewed ales at CrackleRock Brewing Company. Head to Crib for a bottomless brunch or more cocktails. And dance yourself dizzy at Popworld, The Orange Rooms or EngineRooms.
