Portsmouth Hampshire Portsmouth’s prime location on the south coast of England and its long naval history, have earned it the prestigious title of, home of the Royal Navy. Since the time of the Armada, Portsmouth and its harbour have been involved with many of the countries major conflicts. The D-Day invasion of Europe in 1944 saw the troops set sail from its harbour. The city later played an essential role in 1982 during the Falklands conflict, by acting as the marine command headquarters and the port of departure for the British troops. There’s certainly plenty here to occupy your time from visiting the harbour and its historic ships, to the many museums, castles and forts. Today the harbour areas is a great tourist attraction where visitors will be intrigued to learn about its murky past as a sailing point for convicts and a hunting ground for press gangs looking for new recruits. Away from the harbour the Southsea area, a residential suburb of Portsmouth, has a stunning four mile Victorian seafront, offering attractive views over the Solent and a great night life with its many bars, restaurants and clubs. Portsmouth is also famous for being the birthplace of Charles Dickens The house where he was born is now a museum open to the public. Another proud literary connection is with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who was practising as a doctor in Southsea when he began writing about the infamous Sherlock Holmes.