Places of Interest and Local Activities
near to Crowded House 

Local Places of Interest

The ancient capital of England, Winchester has much in the way of historic and cultural interest, including:-

• Winchester Cathedral and The Great Hall containing King Arthur’s Round Table

• Winchester College Public School (which ranks with Eton & Harrow public schools)

• Wolvesey Palace -home of the Bishop of Winchester

• St Cross Church -with it’s tradition of bread and beer for the traveller

• The Westgate and Old City Walls. Abbey House and the Abbey Gardens.

• The Guildhall St Giles and St Catherine’s Hills -which afford wonderful views over the City.

• Historic City strategic in Roman times; capital of England under King Alfred (see his statue) and important medieval city at the heart of England's history

You can easily spend a whole day soaking up the historical features of the City.

Regional Places of Interest

Click on Hampshire Map or England Map above to see where most places are

• Alresford - typical Hampshire village famous for watercress, and the Watercress Line (steam railway) - 7 miles.
• Alton - home of Jane Austen (Chawton) and naturalist Gilbert White (Selbourne). Other end of Watercress Line -15 miles
• Bath - beautiful buildings-a Roman spa town - 40 miles.
• Bournemouth - a seaside resort with a gay beach, pubs and clubs - 40 miles. Further west, there is the Dorset World Heritage coast full of fossils and rugged scenery
• Brighton - a seaside resort with an official nudist beach and a large number of gay pubs, clubs and sauna’s. England' gay seaside capital - 50 miles.
• Isle of Wight - a small island off the South coast accessible by ferry/hovercraft. Lovely beaches, plenty of tourist attractions and Osborne House, the home of Queen Victoria - all about an hour from Winchester.
• London - with all it’s well known attractions-only 54 minutes by train-fare around £15 for a day return. Cheaper to stay in Winchester and travel up to see the sights!
• New Forest National Park -a huge area of woodland and common with some beautiful scenery and wildlife -20 miles
• Portsmouth - Some of World's Best Collection of Old Ships - HMS Victory (Lord Nelson) , Mary Rose (Henry V111), Naval Dockyards and Port giving access to Europe. Southsea has the D-Day Museum. Also new landmark Spinakker Tower with south coast and Isle of Wight views. Excellent shopping and restaurant centre, Gun Wharf Keys -25 miles.
• Salisbury - a Cathedral city - with England's tallest spire - 25 miles .
• Southampton - West Quay shopping centre (one of best in southern England) and historic port where Titanic sailed from with medieval city walls and Bargate (dating from 1200s) - 12 miles.
• Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill - three world famous sacred prehistoric sites of stones for the druids and Stonehenge World Heritage Site -20 miles.

Gay Life

Gay Pub and Club Scene

There is a mixed gay friendly pub in Winchester, The Kings (formerly the Kings Arms Pub)

Major gay scene in Southampton and, of course, Bournemouth and Brighton, all of which are accessible by public transport or road. Portsmouth and Reading are also worth a visit. There is a sauna in Southampton and other saunas in Portsmouth and Bournemouth.There's also a gay beach near Bournemouth. In Basingstoke, there's a weekly gay bar on Thursday's (20 mins) and for a general guide to the gay scene, see www.getrealgroup.com

Brighton is the largest south coast gay scene and has it's own selection of sauna’s and a gay beach

Probably the world's largest gay scene is of course in London. It has something for everyone from bars, clubs, restaurants, to at least 10 saunas, and now probably has the world's largest and most diverse gay scene in a single city. You name it, it will probably be happening in London!

We have contacts with gay people all over the area and therefore if you have any particular interests, or if you wish to visit somewhere not mentioned above, then we will do our best to advise you or put you in touch with someone who can.We also have contacts in other regions, and can recommend other accommodation or refer you to someone who will know.We would recommend that you contact us when planning a trip so that we can help you with our input at the earliest opportunity.

We appreciate however that this is not always possible and are quite happy to assist when you are here.