Getting Around, Winchester Travel, Transport and Car Rental
(Winchester, Hampshire, England, UK)
Most of the main places of interest in the city reside around the railway station, along the High Street and near to
Winchester Cathedral itself, meaning that there is little need to travel on public transport. Many pleasant walking trails exist both in and around the city centre, passing by the Water Meadows and Old Winchester Hill.
If you are planning to head outside of the city, then bus transport provides a particularly inexpensive way to travel to cities such as
Southampton and
Portsmouth, where busy harbours await. For destinations further afield, National Express coaches are to hand, along with rail transport. From Winchester, trains regularly travel to and from Waterloo Station in London, which can be reached in approximately one hour.
Airports / Arriving by Air
The main airports within reach of Winchester city are as follows:
Car Rental
A relatively small city, Winchester is easy to reach by car and lies between junctions 9 and 10 on the M3 motorway, whilst also being linked to the north by the A34, which travels past Bullington, Whitchurch, Newbury, Chilton, Abingdon and
Oxford. Those arriving from the east will likely pass through Guildford and Farnham, using the A31, while from the west, the A303 is the principal road and heads towards
Exeter and ultimately Cornwall.
Being so compact, central Winchester is prone to congestion at bus times, and therefore if you are not prepared for a little queuing during heavy traffic, you may like to take advantage of the available park and ride scheme now in operation, with two out-of-town car parks being found in the Barnfield and St. Catherine's areas. Frequent buses collect passengers and travel between these car parks and the city centre, transporting passengers to stops along the High Street, Broadway, the North Walls, City Road and Stockbridge Road. If you prefer to park your car in the city centre itself, then there are car parks on Colebrook Street, Friarsgate, the North Walls, St. Paul's Hill, Stockbridge Road, Sussex Street, Tanner Street and Upper Brook Street.
Buses and Coaches
Public buses provide the easiest and cheapest mode of city transport and are operated by Stagecoach, Solent Blue Line and Traveline. The bus station stands on Broadway, on the easterly end of the High Street, next to both the Abbey Gardens and the Guildhall. Buses connect all of the leading places of interest in the city centre and also travel to
Brighton,
Bournemouth, Portsmouth,
Salisbury and Southampton.
Trains
The city's railway line runs on the western side of central Winchester, with the station being sited in the St. Paul's Hill area, on Station Road and next to Stockbridge Road. There are speedy rail links with
London, as well as the southern coast and the Midlands. Regular daily trains travel between destinations such as Portsmouth (one hour) and Southampton (20 minutes).
Taxis
There are several centrally located taxi ranks, which can be found on Broadway (next to the bus station), Station Road (next to the railway station) and Silver Hill (alongside the Brooks Shopping Centre). Many travellers prefer to book ahead and arrange their taxi by telephone, especially for late-night pickups.
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