Ferries 

Three ferry ports lie within easy reach of the region. Portsmouth Southsea offers ferries to mainland Europe, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands. Southampton, used by some of the worlds most luxurious cruise liners, provides ferries to the Isle of Wight and the small yet busy Lymington Port has regular daily crossings to the Isle of Wight.

Portsmouth Southsea located five minutes from the town centre, is the second busiest ferry and hovercraft port in Britain. Ferries and hovercraft travel to nine locations, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre and St Malo in France, Bilbao in Northern Spain, Fishbourne and Ryde on the Isle of Wight as well as both Guernsey and Jersey in the Channel Isles.

Ferries sail from Southampton Ferry Port, to the Isle of Wight. With two cruise terminals Southampton is the main UK cruise ship port. The port is around 15 minutes walk from the city center and the Link bus offers regular services connecting the port and city

Lymington Ferry Port, on the edge of the New Forest, has two marinas to cater for both ferry sailings to the Isle of Wight and private yachts. Multiple daily sailings to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight are operated by Wightlink, with approximate crossing times of around 30 minutes.

• All three ports have excellent road, rail and coach links. The south coast motorways, the M27, M3 and A3(M), link the coast towns and the New Forest, to London and the rest of the UK motorway and road network.