South Hampshire

From large-scale historical battle
re-enactments, to hands-on children's activities there is plenty for the whole family to enjoy at Fort Nelson, a fully restored Victorian Artillery Fort, overlooking Portsmouth Harbour.

For a fantastic family day out why not visit the Royal Marines Museum where you can discover the exciting story of the Royal Marines brought to life with dramatic and interactive displays.

The famous Victorian writer Charles Dickens, was born in this modest house in 1812 during the time of the Napoleonic Wars.

The house has miraculously survived and is now preserved as a museum dedicated to the life of this important literary figure. It is furnished in the style of 1809 which is when his parents set up the first home of their married life there.

The D-Day Museum was opened in 1984 to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of D-Day.

Its centrepiece is the magnificent Overlord Embroidery commissioned as a tribute to the sacrifice and heroism of those men and women who took part in Operation Overlord.

The embroidery measures 272 feet and is the largest work of its kind in the world.
 

 Visit to Normandy by King George VI Winston Churchill, General Eisenhower, General Montgomery and Field Marshal Brooke.

Portsmouth is a very special place for wildlife in Britain, it has many different habitats in a very small area and at Portsmouth Natural History Museum you can explore them all.

The museum tells the story of the wild things of the riverbank, marshes, woods and urban areas of Portsmouth. Have a look for the heron stalking its prey and the brent geese coming into land after their 3000 km flight from the arctic.

You can also learn about Portsmouth's geology and take a look at the Victorian Museum exhibition. The displays are designed to allow visitors a view of the natural world as they could never see it in real life - up close and in depth.

Discover how life at home has changed over the centuries in the 'Living in Portsmouth' Gallery which looks at life in the home with the reconstruction of a 17th century bedchamber, an 1871 dockyard worker's kitchen, a Victorian parlour, a 1930s kitchen and a 1950s living room. The story continues with 'Portsmouth at Play' on the beach, in the cinema, on the football field and dance floor.

There is also a fine and Decorative Art Gallery, which features a wide range of material from the 17th century to the present day; the Portsmouth Picture Gallery with its extensive and important collection of local paintings, prints and drawings, and the Temporary Exhibition Gallery where a regularly changing programme ensures that there is always something to see or do.