By ship
Southampton is a busy port city, and as such has numerous sea links to countries across the world, however the port is mainly used for freight particularly containers and cruises. There are no international ferry services, however regular vehicle and passenger ferries operate to Cowes on the nearby Isle Of Wight and the village of Hythe across the water. Southampton is also the port of embarkation for Cunard, offering transatlantic service to New York City on board the Queen Mary 2. Cunard also serves other destinations.
By taxi
There are a number of Southampton based taxi companies providing long distance transfers from major airports, towns, bus and rail stations to Southampton. West Quay Cars (http://www.westquaycars.com/), Soton Taxi, (http://www.sotontaxi.com/), Southampton Airport Transfer Taxi (http://www.southamptonair...), Southampton Taxi Co (http://www.southamptontax...) and New Forest Taxi (http://www.newforesttaxi.com/) provide online taxi booking facility.
Taxi Fare
Approximately £85 to/£90 from Heathrow, £100 to/£105 from Gatwick, 130 from Luton, and £55 from Bournemouth Hurn Airport.
By plane
Southampton is serviced by Southampton International Airport (http://www.southamptonair...), located a short distance outside the city in Eastleigh. It is a relatively small airport, and only flights to the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland depart here.
For Airport Parking in Southampton - (http://www.looking4parkin...).
The alternative is to use one of the London airports and travel on to Southampton by rail, car or bus. The most convenient are:
Heathrow Airport
(http://www.baa.co.uk/main...) is about 60 miles drive from Southampton via the M4 westbound, M25 anti-clockwise and the M3 southbound. There is a RailAir (http://www.southwesttrain...) coach service to Woking station, where mainline trains to Southampton can be boarded.Gatwick Airport
(http://www.gatwickairport.com/) is about 80 miles drive from Southampton via the M23 northbound, M25 clockwise and M3 southbound motorways. There is an hourly through train service to Southampton from a rail station in the airport terminal complex, taking just under two hours.
By train
Wikitravel has a guide to Rail travel in the United Kingdom.
Southampton's main station is Southampton Central, on the north-west edge of the city centre. The station has entrances from Blechynden Terrace north side and the Western Esplanade south side, with both providing equal access to concourse and all platforms. From the station, it is a short walk to the city centre, or you can use the free CityLink bus service, which runs every 15-30 minutes during the day and up to about 8pm. The CityLink bus runs from the station via the WestQuay shopping centre to Town Quay.
South West Trains (http://www.southwesttrain...) run regular at least one an hour services to Southampton from London Waterloo via Winchester and Basingstoke as well as from Portsmouth and further east along the south coast. Many of these trains continue beyond Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth via the New Forest.
Southern Railway (http://www.southernrailwa...) run services via a longer and slower route from London Victoria, but have the advantage of serving London Gatwick airport on the way. CrossCountry (http://www.crosscountrytr...) run longer distance services from the north of England via Birmingham and Reading.
First Great Western (http://www.firstgreatwest...) runs services from Cardiff, Bristol and Bath via Salisbury.
Megatrain (http://www.megatrain.com) is a new budget ticket option available up to four times a day on South West Trains' services between London and Southampton. If booked some time in advance, tickets can be as cheap as £1 one way, but they are more restricted than the regular tickets, and can only be purchased online via the Megatrain website or by phone.
Local rail connections to nearby towns are described at Three Rivers Rail
Train times can be found on National Rail (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/) or by calling 08457 48 49 50 from anywhere in the UK.
By car
The M3 links Southampton with the M25 and London. The M27 leads west towards Bournemouth and the West Country, and east along the coast towards Brighton and the rest of the south of England.
Car parking is relatively easy with many pay and display places in the city centre. There are a number of free 2hr car parks too, and if you stray a little further away you can find free parking on the streets.
During the period of the Boat Show there is a Park and Ride scheme operating from Junction 1 of the M271 motorway with frequent buses to the show entrance.
There is also a Park and Ride for ticket holders to Southampton Football Club matches. This is easily found and well signposted from Junction 8 of the M27. For more information on either of the Park and Ride schemes see National Park and Ride Directory (http://www.parkandride.ne...)