South East England

Introduction

South East England is the most populous region of England, with over 8 million residents. It includes the cities of Brighton, Oxford, Portsmouth and Reading. There is some rolling countryside including the South Downs and the Chiltern Hills.

It is the location for a number of internationally known places of interest, such as HMS Victory in Portsmouth, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, Thorpe Park and RHS Wisley in Surrey, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Leeds Castle, the White Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, Brighton Pier and Hammerwood Park in East Sussex, and Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. The region has many universities; the University of Oxford is ranked among the best in the world.

Geography

The region is known for its countryside, which includes the North Downs and the Chiltern Hills as well as two national parks: the New Forest and the South Downs. The River Thames flows through the region and its basin is known as the Thames Valley.

Counties

• Berkshire
• Buckinghamshire
• East Sussex
• Hampshire
• Isle of Wight
• Kent
• Oxfordshire
• Surrey
• West Sussex

Cities

• Brighton
• Oxford
• Portsmouth
• Southampton
• Reading

Getting There

By Boat

From Spain:

• P&O Ferries depart from Bilbao every three days at around noon time and arrive at Portsmouth just after 17:00 the following day.
• Brittany Ferries depart from Santander once weekly for Portsmouth in the 24-hour journey.

From France

• Norfolk Line between Dunkerque and Dover.
• Sea France between Calais and Dover.
• Hoverspeed between Calais and Dover.
• P&O Ferries between Calais and Dover.
• Hoverspeed between Boulogne and Folkstone.
• Hoverspeed between Dieppe and Newhaven.
• Transmanche Ferries between Dieppe and Newhaven, Dieppe and Dover, Boulogne and Dover and Le Havre and Portsmouth.
• Transmanche Ferries between Le Havre and Portsmouth.
• P&O Ferries between Le Havre and Portsmouth.
• LD Lines between Le Havre and Portsmouth.
• P&O Ferries between Caen and Portsmouth.
• Brittany Ferries between Caen and Portsmouth.
• P&O Ferries between Cherbourg and Portsmouth.

From Guernsey

• Condor Ferries between St Malo, Guernsey and Portsmouth.

Getting Around

By Boat

The Isle of Wight is located just off the south coast of Southern England and is linked to the mainland ports of Lymington, Southampton and Portsmouth by vehicle ferries, high speed passenger catamarans and hovercraft. The main operators are:

• Wightlink - Lymington - Yarmouth car ferry, Portsmouth - Fishbourne car ferry and Portsmouth - Ryde passenger only ferry
• Red Funnel - Southampton - Cowes passenger only ferry and Southampton - East Cowes car ferry
• Hover Travel - Southsea - Ryde passenger only ferry

Sleep

• Official Tourism Website