How to Take A Day Trip From Portsmouth By Bus: The Solent

Plan, tap, explore! Last week First Bus challenged me to explore the Solent area by bus, to measure both ease and affordability. I spend hours excitedly looking at the map and building the itinerary for my day trip from Portsmouth by bus, trying to include as many attractions as possible. I chose the sunniest day of the week and embarked on a fascinating trip, to discover the countryside around Portsmouth, in the Solent Area.

The Solent is the body of water between the Isle of Wight and mainland Britain, 20 miles long. There are many attractions on both sides of the shores. On this occasion I focused on the mainland area, discovering a historical castle, beautiful beaches and intriguing wildlife and unique flora.

Why Travel by Bus?

Travelling by bus is very convenient and affordable and the First Bus CatchTheSummer campaign shows exactly this. Travelling by bus also benefits from not needing to find a place to park your car, hoping that there will be an empty space, as well as no time limit restrictions. Not to mention, spending a small fortune for a day out on parking, rather than on ice cream or a fish and chips lunch on the beach.

Travelling by bus from Portsmouth to the Solent area is straightforward, with regular buses and a single fare capped at £2 until the end of October. This cap was first introduced on the 1^st of January 2023, and has already been extended twice.

Paying for the tickets on the bus couldn’t be easier. I downloaded the First Bus App and selected the Portsmouth area. I could then easily connect my wallet to the app, and buy the tickets I needed. The app gave me the option to buy day bundles, individual tickets, or combos such as the bus + the Gosport ferry.

The app also has a very useful Journey Planner, where I could see which bus goes to each place I wanted to travel to, as well as actually see the location of the nearest bus on the map. The app also shows the direction of travel and the number of stops to the destination, which I found very useful as it was my first time on some of these buses. You can click here to download the app.

Solent Buses

There are three main buses connecting Portsmouth with the Solent area: Solent 3, Southsea Coaster and Solent Ranger.

Solent 3 runs between Southsea Beach to Fareham via the train station in Portsmouth, Cosham, Hilsea, and Portchester.

The Solent Ranger X4 and X5 connect Portsmouth and Gosport to Southampton. The X4 is a more direct bus, whilst the X5 follows a scenic route along the coast, to Gosport.

The Southsea Coaster runs along Portsmouth, from the Hard Interchange to the South Parade Pier, via the old Portsmouth.

During my day trip from Portsmouth by bus I used the Solent 3 and the Solent Ranger buses, to travel to Portchester Castle and then on to Lee-On-The-Solent and Stokes Bay.  You can click here for the exact schedule.

The Solent 3 bus runs every 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the time of the day, and reaches Portchester in approximately 45 minutes, depending on the traffic. X4 and X4 run every hour. You can click here for the exact schedule.

A Day Trip From Portsmouth By Bus: The Solent

Portchester Castle

I started my day trip from Portsmouth at Portchester Castle, after a pleasant ride on the Solent 3 bus. The bus station is 10 minutes walk away from the castle, in a residential area. The castle grounds are free to enter but to visit the castle itself you will need to buy a ticket from English Heritage. I highly recommend buying the ticket online, as you get a £2.5 discount than if you buy it on the day, from the gate.

Just after the main gate, there was a cute little van selling coffee and homemade cakes, and I couldn’t resist a gooey Oreo brownie, in the sun. The spacious grounds are popular with families with children, who play whilst the parents enjoy a picnic in nature.

Portchester Castle has a very long history, and was first built as a large fort by the Romans, during the 3^rd century AD. The current Portchester area was chosen as the place for this castle because of its position, at the tip of the natural harbour, which made it easier to protect from the sea attacks. The site has been inhabited by a significant number of people for centuries, until it was given to king Edward the Elder by the Bishop of Winchester, in 904. This is when the fort was expanded, with the addition of a large hall, a tower, and an interior courtyard.

Portchester Castle became a royal establishment when King Richard II started to use it extensively for his trips to France. He built a great hall, which ruins can be seen today.

Starting from the 18^th century, during the Napoleonic wars with France, the castle was transformed into a prison. Whilst today there isn’t much left from the castle, it feels hard to imagine how over 8000 prisoners were held here at that time.

The Keep of the castle is today a museum dedicated to the men imprisoned here, starting with the French soldiers and continuing with Caribbean prisoners captured in the West Indies. Life at Portchester was very difficult for these people due to the cold weather and dampness. After a while, some of the prisoners were exchanged with British prisoners, and sent to France. Some of them were returned back to their Caribbean homes, whilst others continued to fight for the French army, against the British.

Once the last prisoners left, in 1819, the castle was left in disrepair. It took until 1984 for the site to become part of the English Heritage.

What is interesting is that during the imprisonment, French soldiers have improvised a theatre at the ground floor of the keep. To this day there are still plays organised here. During visiting hours you can dress up and pretend you are an actor on the stage, which I did. There is a trunk filled with different capes, dresses and coats, which transport you into the France of the 18^th century.

It took me around one and a half hours to tour the entire castle. The stairs leading to the rooftop of the keep are quite steep, narrow, and slippery, with only a thick rope to hold on to. I would highly recommend going up the stairs on the right hand side of the tower, which are modern. The last 20 stairs however are still quite difficult to conquer, especially by people with reduced mobility or vertigo. The views from the top are very pretty, over Portsmouth and the Solent. There is even a drawing of how the site used to look like in the 15th century.

Lee-On-The-Solent

The second stop on my day trip from Portsmouth to the Solent was Lee-On-The-Solent, which I reached with the X5 bus.

I arrived here at lunchtime, and couldn’t resist treating myself to a portion of fish and chips from Smarts Fish Bar. The fish was fried fresh on the spot and served with salt and vinegar, I had tartar sauce on the side too. I knew this was going to be good, because there was quite a queue. I grabbed the fish and chips to go, and enjoyed it on the beach. The weather was glorious, without a cloud in the sky. There were even some brave souls swimming in the sea.

Lee-On-The-Solent is a small town with a pretty beach, with views over the Isle of Wight. I noticed that this beach was quite popular with families with children, with plenty of facilities such as a splash park, a skate park, and a fenced playing area for toddlers.

There is even a sailing club, for people who want to learn this sport. I went sailing for the first time not long ago and I am considering taking more lessons, as it was such a great experience.

The main touristic attraction in Lee-On-The-Solent is the Hovercraft Museum, which has a collection of 60 different crafts waiting to be explored.

Stokes Bay

The next stop on my day trip from Portsmouth itinerary was Stoked Bay. This is where I decided it was time for a lunchtime dessert and ordered a Mr Whippy with the obligatory flake, to cool down from the heat, from Pebbles Fish And Wine Bar.

The beach at Stokes Park is covered with shingle, and quite popular with kayakers. Here I stumbled upon the Diving Museum, but unfortunately it wasn’t open on the day. The museum is only open during the weekend, between 11am and 4pm. I did glance at the exhibits from behind the fence, I could see a variety of old crafts and costumes used for diving in the past.

Fort Gilkicker and the Lagoon

Just down the road from Stokes Bay there is a derelict fort, which is interesting to look at. The area is fenced off, and it’s quite a maze to navigate to make it through to the Gilkicker Lagoon behind it, but there is a way. The fort was built in 1863-1871, to protect the land. It is a Grade II building, it is rumoured it will be renovated into luxury accommodation. And with such a view in front of it, no wonder!

From this point you can also see the No Man’s Land fort, in the middle of the sea, at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. Originally built during the Victorian age as defence, today it has been transformed into a luxury hotel accessible only by boat.

I chose to add the Gilkicker to this itinerary because of the high number of flowers growing here in harsh conditions from between the singles – sea lavender, English stonecrop, sea campion, thrift, and yellow-horned poppy. The Gilkicker Lagoon is home to a large number of wildlife species, such as Kingfishers, Grey Heron, Kestrels, Reed Buntings, Tree Pipits, Cormorants, or the Little Egrets. This small lagoon is a great place for bird and plant spotting, but be careful, as it’s in the middle of a golf course.                       

Gosport

Next on my day trip from Portsmouth by bus itinerary was Gosport seafront. I got here with the Solent Ranger X5 bus. Walking along the harbour, I noticed the Royal Navy Submarine Museum with a massive vessel anchored in front. I told myself that I will have to come back and visit in the near future, as by the time I reached the museum, it was already closed for the day. I have never been on a submarine before and this one was just grand! Minutes away from the port, there is another interesting museum, the Explosion – Museum of Naval Firepower, located  in the 18th century buildings of the Royal Navy’s former armaments depot.

Gunwharf Keys and Spinnaker Tower

The last spot on my day trip from Portsmouth by bus was actually Portsmouth itself. I arrived here on the short journey by the ferry, from Gosport.

I chose to end the day with a little bit of an early evening shopping spree at Gunwharf Keys. I finally found here the walking trousers I’ve been looking for the entire summer. To celebrate, I had a cold beer at All Bar One, with a view of Spinnaker Tower, shining glorious in the sunshine.  

Conclusion

Even if I didn’t get a chance to visit all the museums on my itinerary, I still had a fantastic time on this day trip from Portsmouth by bus. It was so easy and carefree to travel around the Solent area by bus, using the First Bus App and its journey planner.

For more related articles, check out my recommendations below:

• How to spend one day in Portsmouth
• Cycling in the New Forest

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