Getting here and getting around
Train
Our closest station is Portsmouth and Southsea. It’s a 5-minute walk from the buildings on our Guildhall campus.
There are daily direct trains from London Waterloo and London Victoria (2 hours), and regular services from Southampton, Bournemouth, Chichester and Brighton. We’re only a 2-hour journey away from Bristol too.
You can plan your route with National Rail or Trainline.
Car
Take the M275 into Portsmouth (signed 'Portsmouth West') whether approaching from the east (A3(M)/A27) or the west (M27 Junction 12). Ignore the junctions signed to Southsea and Hilsea.
Park and ride
As with any city, parking in Portsmouth is limited. Therefore it's best to use the park-and-ride service at the entrance to the city on the M275. The cost is £4 per vehicle and buses run into Portsmouth every 12 minutes. Up to 5 people can travel using 1 ticket.
Parking in the city
If you want to park in the city, follow signs for 'Historic Waterfront/Seafront' from the end of the M275. This takes you across 3 roundabouts to traffic lights by Unicorn Gate (entrance to the naval dockyard) and St John's Cathedral.
These are the traffic lights at the top of the Guildhall Campus map – the route you take from here depends which part of the campus you're heading to.
Car parks and limited on-street parking is available in the city centre for a small charge, but spaces fill up quickly.
You’ll need a visitor’s permit if you want to use a University car park. To apply for one, email car.parking@port.ac.uk. Sorry, we can’t guarantee you a space in advance.
If you have an electric car, there are a number of charging points around the city that you can use. You can find the locations for all of the points using the carwow interactive tool.
Parking discounts
Students and University staff can park at Gunwharf Quays Car Park during weekdays for the discounted rate of £5 for up to 12 hours per day. The discounted rate is not available on weekends, during Portsmouth school holidays and one-off events.
Please visit the car park office at Gunwharf Quays (G Section of the Upper Basement Level) at the start of the day to get your ticket validated for the discount, you will have to provide valid student or staff ID.
Gunwharf Quays can also offer student discount at Wickham Street Car Park - 3 Wickham Street, PO1 3EF on weekdays during school holidays.
If you have any questions, please call 02392 836773 or email gunwharf.quays@apcoa.com
Parking at the University
Students are generally not allowed to park in the University's car parks, which are monitored by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).
Students can only apply for a university car parking permit if they can demonstrate that:
- they are a registered disabled blue badge holder, or
- they have exceptional circumstances or restricted public transport from their home address, which must be outside the PO1-PO6 areas (a covering letter is required with the application).
University car parks are available to the public using a pay and display tariff, from 4.00pm - 7.00am on weekdays and at weekends from 4.00pm Friday to 7.00am Monday.
See a map of our available car parks and the number of spaces.
Taxi
If you're travelling to Portsmouth from one of the major London airports, taxis are fairly expensive, costing between £100 and £200. For this reason, we don't recommend taking a taxi for your journey. If you do choose to take a taxi, you should book it in advance to get the best offers possible. Once you arrive in Portsmouth, taxis are common and journeys will generally cost no more than £15 to £20.
Coach
Regular daily direct coach services run to Portsmouth from London, Bristol, Birmingham, Heathrow and other locations around the country.
All these services call at The Hard Interchange by Portsmouth Harbour railway station, which is a 15-minute walk from our Guildhall campus.
You can find out coach times and routes with National Express and megabus.
Air
From London
For all international connections, we’re only 1 hour 30 minutes from both Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
From Southampton
Southampton International – which has regular flights to Paris, Cherbourg, the Channel Islands, Belfast, Glasgow and more – is just 30 minutes by car and easy to reach by train too.
Sea
There are daily sailings between Portsmouth and Caen, Le Havre and St Malo in France. There are also twice-weekly services to Bilbao and Santander in Spain, and regular services to Jersey and Guernsey.
There are crossings each day to the Isle of Wight too, by Hovercraft, passenger catamaran, and passenger/car ferry. A passenger ferry also runs across the harbour to Gosport.
Local bus services
Our University bus is available during term-time. The circular route runs from Monday to Friday, close to where many students live in Southsea.
Portsmouth has excellent city bus services too. You can catch local and intercity buses from the main bus station at The Hard Interchange, next to Portsmouth Harbour railway station. There is also a park and ride from the M275 terminal with stops in the centre of the University campus.
Bike or foot
Portsmouth is fairly flat and there's plenty to see, so the best way to discover the city is on foot or by bike. You’ll find plenty of footpaths and cycleways to follow across the city.
Whether you’re looking for information about local cycle routes, walking maps, or links to public transport you can plan your journey using My Journey Hampshire or the Breeze travel app.
Accessible travel
Blue badge holders can park free of charge in most Portsmouth City Council car parks and most on-street parking spaces.
If you have special requirements, please contact us.