Portsmouth Guided Walk: A Journey Through 800 Years of British History

Embark on a guided walk through 800 years of British history in Old Portsmouth. Delve into the lives and stories of its people, with options to explore World War 2, industrial archaeology, and more. Suitable for all ages and accessible for wheelchairs and dogs.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • HMS Warrior 1860 - Our starting point of this unique part of British naval history.\n\nPlease note: We do not enter the dockyard or visit any ships.\n- Spinnaker Tower - Spinnaker Tower a world-famous tower\n- The Round Tower - The Round Tower is our defensive history. Admire the architecture\n- Portsmouth Cathedral - Admire one of our…
What's Included
  • Guidance from a knowledgeable guide
Additional Information

Please be advised that the tour does not include the Historic Dockyard or its onboard visits.
Old Portsmouth embodies over eight centuries of history, playing a pivotal role in Britain’s global involvement.
The tour emphasizes on the narratives of its inhabitants, their life, love, and losses, rather than mundane timelines or simplistic buildings.
The…

Location
The Hard Interchange
Next to Mudlarks Statue 30m outside the Historic Dockyard in front of Warrior 1860. 75m from The Hard bus interchange or 100m from Portsmouth Harbour Station & Gosport Ferry. Car park is in Wickham Street PO1 3EF. The Portsmouth Clean Air Zone doesn't apply to private cars, vans or motor cycles.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(149 Ratings)
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Rosemarygw4668db
Sep 27, 2025
An Informative Tour of Portsmouth - We needed to kill time prior to our cruise ship departure and booked the guided walking tour for the early afternoon. Steve did an excellent job throughout our tour of Portsmouth. He has vast knowledge of the area and shared many stories and tidbits to make the experience more meaningful and enjoyable. We highly recommend him.
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Eric
Sep 15, 2025
Tour of Portsmouth - An enjoyable walking tour. Steve was both knowledgeable and humorous with his stories of old Portsmouth. I would throughly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Portsmouth and wanting to learn a bit about the city.
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Denandrog
Sep 12, 2025
Fascinating guided tour - Steve is an excellent guide. We used to live in Portsmouth and Steve told us lots of surprising things we didn’t know. The walk was a gentle stroll around the back streets and hidden passageways of Old Portsmouth whilst Steve told us lots of numerous and interesting facts and stories. I would 100% recommend this tour.
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Simoneo_11
Sep 9, 2025
Informative as well as humorous walking trip - We decided to do this tour at the last moment. We were very pleased with the professionalism and knowledge of Steve the guide. The tour lasted 1.5 hours and was full of anecdotes and humour as well as historical facts. Would strongly recommend this walk to anyone visiting Portsmouth for the first time as it will give you an understanding of the city’s colourful history! I never realised how many famous people were born here !
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U623xhkarenc
Sep 8, 2025
So glad we spent this time with Steve - We enjoyed a fabulously interesting walk with Steve last week. He is a great guide to Old Portsmouth, very knowledgeable, telling many tales about the characters that used to live there, and also explaining the origins of some well known phrases. Always great fun! Thanks Steve
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Matt
Sep 7, 2025
Worth it - Guide was very knowledgeable. First thing he said was this is a free tour. Provided by the city. The 10 pound cost I paid from This site was just for the site. Not him.
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W6752npcatherinel
Sep 6, 2025
A Very Worthwhile Walking Tour! - We had the great pleasure of joining one of Steve’s walking tours of Portsmouth on 22nd August this year. Not only is Steve extremely personable, but the way in which he conveys his extensive knowledge with both passion and humour, enhanced also with some visual images carefully prepared in his folder is exceptional, from the city's fascinating history and intriguing stories to various little tidbits thrown in about where certain well-known sayings came from. Portsmouth came alive for us on this walk with Steve, and I would highly recommend contacting him for what is indeed a most informative and enjoyable tour.
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427kazp
Aug 29, 2025
A brilliant afternoon. - We were recommended this tour by a neighbour who was born and bred in Portsmouth but was told things that even she didn’t know about on this tour. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour and Steve really does know everything that is to know about Portsmouth’s past. The tour is about an hour and a half and it’s a steady pace with stops for sitting down whilst listening to all the history of that area. I would highly recommend this to it is free but Steve would appreciate a donation to cancel research as he has raised thousands over the years for them. A very enjoyable afternoon, we met a lovely American couple who were so interested with the history of everything. We actually went for a drink with them afterwards and continued to talk about it.
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Julann58
Aug 28, 2025
Find the "unseen" history if Portsmouth with a super guide. - Steve gave generously of his time and wealth of knowledge of the city. We thoroughly enjoyed his insights all delivered with humour . Highly recommend after touring the Historic ships to learn more of the history of this naval town.
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Billb338
Aug 25, 2025
Very enjoyable walking tour on a beautiful sunny day. - Our guide Steven did an excellent job showing us the main sights around the historic Portsmouth Dockyards and explaining the history. Highly recommend this walking tour!
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