From microbreweries to ski slopes and museums, it’s fun ahoy in port city Southampton
My boyfriend Jamie and I are hurtling down a dry ski slope in rubber rings, arms reaching towards the sky.
Suddenly, we collide and we’re sailing down, giggling in unison.
Of all the things I expected to find in this port city on England’s south coast, an alpine centre wasn’t one of them – but it’s proved to be enormous fun.
An hour’s donutting costs £10 per person (Activenation.org.uk).
TITANIC FINDS
Exhilarated, we make SeaCity Museum in Southampton’s cultural quarter our next port of call.
The Titanic began its voyage here, and this interactive exhibition embodies both extravagance and tragedy.
We gaze at discarded pocket watches frozen at 2.20 – the exact time the Titanic capsized – and wander through replica cabins, before trying our hand at sailing in the museum’s simulator.
Entry costs £11 per person (Seacitymuseum.co.uk).
Nestled inside the city’s cobbled walls, our hideaway for the weekend is The Pig In The Wall, moments from the seafront.
Rooms offer four-poster beds, freestanding bathtubs and warm, pig-shaped welcome biscuits.
Downstairs, we tuck into locally sourced Hampshire pork and leek sausages with mash soaked in onion gravy, £18, surrounded by vintage paintings, before sipping Dolce Vita Spritzes – soda, prosecco, gin and a squeeze of orange, £12 – and playing Scrabble by candlelight.
WHOLE LOTTA HISTORY
Come morning, we visit the Tudor House, which is just around the corner from The Pig.
Its medieval walls have stood for 900 years and we explore its banqueting hall, claustrophobic kitchens and serene garden, learning about ghost stories and its chequered history.
Entry costs £7.50 per adult (Tudorhouseandgarden.com).
A short stroll further takes us to the high street and E Bakehouse, a newly opened artisan bakery, where we savour fluffy Japanese red bean buns with pineapple glaze, £3.50, and buttery custard tarts, £3.50 (Ebakehouse.com).
Beatnik Emporium is also a local gem and we browse rails of vintage jeans, T-shirts and funky sunglasses, while listening to one super-cool playlist (Beatnikemporium.co.uk).
CHEERS FOR BEERS
Another Southampton surprise is its booming craft-beer scene.
On a tour at independent Unity Brewery Co, we pass gurgling fermentation vessels and peer into boiling tanks, while learning about its unique, experimental brewing process from entertaining head brewer Rob.
This all proves very thirsty work, so we sample Unity’s piney Collision Hazy IPA, fruity Camplight American Amber and smoky Moving In The Dark Black IPA – plus a pint of tropical Conflux Hazy Pale for good measure.
A one-hour tour costs £20 per person (Unitybrewingco.com).
Appetites whetted, we head to La Regata, a seafront tapas spot adorned with vintage maps and stained-glass lanterns.
Sizzling chorizo picante, £7.50, tender octopus with paprika potatoes, £14, garlicky pan-fried artichoke hearts, £7.50, and delicious honey-glazed aubergine, £7, all go perfectly with light and refreshing Spanish Mahou beer, £6 (Laregata.co.uk).
Our last stop is the Solent Sky Museum – to gawk at Spitfires above our heads, inspect real (decommissioned) bombs at our feet and climb into the cockpit of a WW2 Flying Boat. Entry costs £12 per adult (Solentsky.org).
Southampton has left us feeling ship-shape and flying high.