Most cruises departing from the UK go from Southampton. This Hampshire based cruise port ranked as one of the busiest cruise ports in Europe, the 6th busiest in 2019, seeing just short of 1.3 million cruise passengers embarking and disembarking. Southampton serves everything from mini cruises to Europe, cruises to the fjords and cruises to the Mediterannean, plus of course transatlantic crossings from the likes of Cunard. Southampton can be somewhat confusing to get to however – this article should give you a few ideas as to how to get to Southampton for your cruise from Heathrow airport!
I’ll be covering travelling to Southampton by train, coach and air. Where I’ve talked about rail I’ve given options with as few changes as possible – obviously all details are correct at the time of writing but may be subject to change due to timetables or route changes.
Some useful sites to help you book your trip to Southampton are Raileasy, National Express and SkyScanner.
How to get to Southampton Cruise Port from Heathrow
If you’re coming to the UK from abroad to start your cruise, you’ll probably be flying into Heathrow – it’s our biggest international airport.
Get from Heathrow to Southampton by train
Unfortunately there isn’t a direct train to Southampton from Heathrow – you’d have to get the train into London first. Of course if you’re flying in from the States, Canada, Asia or Australasia you may want to book a pre-cruise stay in London*.
Heathrow Airport has three stations – one serving Terminals 1/2/3, one serving Terminal 4 and one serving Terminal 5. You can get the Heathrow Express train direct to London Paddington station from all stations, which will get you into London in about 15-21 minutes. Easy enough for a precruise stay, or to transfer and carry on from central London to Southampton.
Get from Heathrow to Southampton by coach/bus
If you’re looking to get a coach or bus from Heathrow to Southampton, National Express runs services from Heathrow T2/3 to Southampton Coach Station Harbour Parade.
Which train station is it for Southampton Cruise Terminal?
If you went for the option of going via London, you’ll need to book train tickets to Southampton Central to get to your cruise. Southampton Central train station is about 1.5 miles from the Port of Southampton’s Ocean Terminal – this should take you around 10 minutes in a taxi – that shouldn’t be much more than £5 in an Uber.
Not on Uber? It’s brilliant for travelling abroad and easily booking taxis – especially when there’s language barriers!
If you’re staying in Southampton before your cruise, Southampton Central train station is in the city centre, a very short walk from some budget hotels including Ibis, Ibis Budget, Novotel Southampton. Check out hotel deals in Southampton (affiliate link)
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