Discover Gosport

Gosport combines naval history, museums and coast. If you’re looking for a hotel in Gosport, it helps to first decide what you want to focus on during your stay: Would you like to explore naval history, learn about local social history or make time for the coast and cycling? The places and routes offer concrete ways to do so.

Arriving and getting your bearings

The Gosport Ferry connects Gosport directly with Portsmouth; the crossing takes four minutes. It carries pedestrians and bicycles. Check the timetable before your trip if you plan to include the ferry in your itinerary. From the ferry terminal, Gosport Museum and Art Gallery is a five-minute walk straight along the High Street.

Museums and naval history

The Royal Hospital, Haslar, opened in 1753 and was Britain’s first major naval hospital. Its history provides a specific point of reference for Gosport’s naval connections. Gosport Museum and Art Gallery offers a different perspective on the town, presenting Gosport’s rich heritage and social history. The museum’s programme includes talks, workshops, events and hands-on activities. Social history focuses on people’s lives and the development of their communities. This approach differs from the explicitly maritime themes of the Royal Hospital and Gosport’s two naval museums.

Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower is an interactive, hands-on museum at Priddy’s Hard, on the Gosport side of Portsmouth Harbour. It is housed in a former gunpowder and ammunition store. In an underwater environment, visitors can dodge mines. Documented collection areas also include guns, cannons, torpedoes and modern missiles. The museum thus brings together a former storage site and interactive and technical themes.

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum is also on the Gosport side of Portsmouth Harbour. HMS Alliance is a notable part of British naval history: it is Britain’s only surviving seagoing submarine from the Second World War.

At the 1642 Living History Village, historic skills are demonstrated, including blacksmithing, pottery, lace-making and weaving. These demonstrations broaden the focus beyond naval history to include traditional crafts. If you’re weighing up different interests for your stay, you can choose between museums, historic skills and Gosport’s social history.

Coast and cycling

Gosport has more than six miles of coastline, stretching from the town centre to Lee-on-the-Solent. A former railway line towards Fareham offers two miles of traffic-free cycling through peaceful green spaces.

This gives you concrete cultural attractions as well as coastal and cycling options to consider when planning your trip.

Discover more destinations: Bransgore, Cheriton, Kingsclere, Buriton, Littleton, Breamore, Eastleigh, Stroud

For the regional travel overview: Hampshire.