Winchester & Shopping
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Port
Southampton (London), England
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Activity Level
Moderate
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Excursion Type
Local Sightseeing,All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At
$109.95
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 4 hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
If one place can be said to lie at the center of English history and embodies the romantic vision of the heartland, it is Winchester—a beautiful city surrounded by meadows and rolling chalk downs.
If one place can be said to lie at the center of English history and embodies the romantic vision of the heartland, it is Winchester -- a beautiful city surrounded by meadows and rolling chalk downs.
Visit Winchester Cathedral, whose origins date back to the 7th century AD. Since then, this church has played a fundamental part in the life of this ancient city and in English history. The current building, begun in 1079 in Romanesque style, lies at the heart of a diocese that once stretched from London's Thames to the Channel Islands. Its bishops were men of enormous wealth and power, none more so than William of Wykeham, twice Chancellor of England. It was also home to a community of Benedictine monks. View the choir stalls, with their magnificent gabled canopies, elaborately carved with flowers and plants, owls and monkeys, dragons, knights and green men.
Explore the center of the ancient and royal city of Winchester on your own. This was the original home of William the Conqueror's great Domesday Book. You may wish to visit (at your own expense) the Great Hall to view the Round Table of King Arthur. This is also the place where Walter Raleigh was tried and sentenced to death.
Winchester's shopping streets include an array of independent shops, boutiques and galleries with brand-name stores.
Notes:
The drive to Winchester is approximately 45 minutes each way. This option is available only to guests whose cruise does not begin or end in Southhampton.