Harbour, high-rises and history: our family weekend in Southampton

HARBOUR, HIGHRISES AND HISTORY:

our family weekend in Southampton

Georgina Probert, her husband and two daughters – aged 15 months and 5.5 years – spent the weekend in the fascinating city of Southampton to find the best family-friendly activities, restaurants and accommodation.

outhhampton really is a city of

Scontrasts: from its old stone ruins steeped in history to modern highrises and sprawling green spaces. We walked to the majority of the activities from our hotel, as they were all less than a 30-minute walk away. But the city has a great bus service, with buses on many routes coming every 10 minutes – and you can pick up a day pass for just £2.50 per person.

SATURDAY Discovering SeaCity

We kicked off our weekend with a visit to the SeaCity museum (seacitymuseum.co.uk), which tells the story of the people of Southampton, their lives and historic connections with the sea. You don’t have to be a ship enthusiast to enjoy the exhibitions, which include Southampton's Titanic story, the Gateway to the World and Southampton Stories. Discover what diners ate for supper on famous ships like the Queen Mary or Aquitania – fried calf’s feet anyone?

A highlight for our eldest was the Titanic exhibition where you could pretend to steer a ship, work those muscles by shovelling coal into the boilers and even sit in the judge's seat in a mock courtroom to find out what happened in the aftermath of the Titanic sinking. You can also download the Titanic Trail 75-minute walking tour for free, which takes you to key locations around the city and port. SeaCity

Lunch at Piecaramba!

Having worked up an appetite, we made our way to the city's Cultural Quarter for lunch at the quirky Piecaramba! (www.piecaramba.co.uk).

As the name suggests, this restaurant specialises in pies – in fact, they have 20 different types, most of which are gluten free and with some great vegan options too. We ordered a Pie & Mighty meal: The Notorious P.I.G pie, filled with pulled pork, BBQ sauce and cajun potatoes topped with crispy shallots and West Country cheese, as well as classic mash and chilli minted mushy peas on the side. The portion sizes are not for the faint hearted, but it was one of the best pies we have ever tasted!

Piecaramba! has fun at its heart. The restaurant is decorated with classic toys and there's even a Star Wars-themed toilet. Our daughter thought the Darth Vader hand dryer was hilarious. The indoor tables have retro games consoles, so kids and adults alike can play games while they wait for their food.

Tudor House & Garden

While it may not look very big from the outside, the Tudor House (tudorhouseandgarden.com) is full of surprises. We started our tour with an immersive experience in the banqueting hall.

Our guide warned us that it could be a little bit scary, but our daughters loved being in the dark, watching the video and light show, and listening to the story of the house from a selection of 'spirits'. It was the perfect time, around 10 minutes; long enough to keep their attention, but not so long that they got restless. It was a clever way of engaging kids in the history of the house. Highlights included standing next to a real Penny Farthing bike, learning about ships graffiti and looking at the huge cannon on the house ruins in the garden.

Tudor House

Piecaramba

One feature of the Tudor House that was welcomed by the whole family was the Explorer Room. It has comfortable chairs for the adults to take a break and loads of toys for kids of all ages. Our youngest had age-appropriate books and puzzles, while our eldest loved the dolls house and dressing up.

Dinner at The Real Greek

We finished off our day with a meal at The Real Greek (therealgreek.com). This small restaurant is situated in the busy West Quay South and is well worth a visit. The restaurant had a lively atmosphere, with attentive staff and we enjoyed sitting in a large American-diner style booth.

If you like authentic Greek food, you will love the huge selection of hot and cold meze. While families with older kids might enjoy a longer meal, we often find that our children don't want to sit in a restaurant for too long in the evening. The service at The Real Greek was extremely efficient and worked perfectly for our family. The food was delicious and reasonably priced.

Highlights included the tzatziki, humus and souvlaki wraps. The kids' menu had a good range of options, plus the desert menu was spot on. We can recommend the chocolate mousse cake and ice cream for the little ones.

SUNDAY

Following a brilliant continental breakfast in our hotel room (see page 52 for the full review of our stay at room2), we took a short stroll down to the ferry port. We spent some time having a look at the Queen Mary 2 that was docked – if you haven't been up close to a cruise ship before, it is quite staggering how large they are! We also found a children's play area in Mayflower Park, which was great for both ages and was nautical themed. Our eldest loved playing pirates on the ship climbing frame and our youngest had fun in the sandpit. Marina

God's House Tower

We then made our way just down the road to God's House Tower (godshousetower.org.uk). This is one of Southampton's oldest and most important historical medieval buildings. It was used as a masonry from 1189 and later in the 17th century as a jail. It is now an arts and heritage space that reopened last year following a £3.1 million restoration.

You can take an interactive tour of the tower to learn all about its chequered history. And we have been reliably informed that there are a few ghosts floating about. The tour is not buggy friendly, but there's space in the downstairs cafe to leave your buggy. There are also fantastic panoramic views from the top of the tower. Part of the tower is used as an exhibition space with regular events and shows that showcase local artists.

Before you leave, we can recommend stopping in the cafe for a drink and a cinnamon bun supplied by local bakery Hoxton Bakehouse.

Exploring Southampton Common

After heading back to our hotel room to pack our things and check out, we drove a few minutes out of the city to Southampton Common. There are loads of nature trails and a new adventure park with all manner of climbing frames, swings, sand pits, zip wires and so much more. Southampton Common is 365 acres, making it an ideal spot for bike rides, dog walks, picnics and exercise.

Lunch at The Cowherds

Right next to the adventure playground is The Cowherds (vintageinn.co.uk/restaurants/southeast/thecowherdssouthampton). Booking is recommended, as the pub was packed full when we arrived. The food was excellent, hearty pubgrub. We enjoyed a full roast dinner with all the trimmings, while the kids had fish and chips. There was an extensive menu, good service and a lovely county pub atmosphere.

Once we had filled our boots, it was time to head home. We had a fantastic weekend in a vibrant, interesting and friendly city with so much to explore.

For more information on family-friendly things to do in Southampton, go to Visit Southampton's website:

visitsouthampton. co.uk

Playground

HOME FROM HOME:

our stay at room2

hen travelling with a young

Wfamily, having home comforts makes life easier. Room2 calls itself a 'hometel' and it has everything you could want from a serviced apartment, but with the luxury of a hotel. We stayed in a Master Loft, the largest of the hotel's room options, which can sleep up to 5 (and a baby in a cot).

The view from our large, almost floor-to-ceiling, windows was of the quiet and scenic Queen's Park, with the harbour beyond. Best of all, the huge curtains are blackout lined, so you don't have to worry about the kids waking up too early due to daylight.

Fun design

Uber-modern décor, thoughtful touches and quirky design elements make this a brilliant option for families. Our room had a king size bed, a single trundle bed and a travel cot on the ground floor, as well as a further double bed 'upstairs' in a cosy nook, which our eldest daughter loved.

Nods to nautical design made the room loads of fun for our kids, including a porthole door to the bathroom and a cargo net.

The Master Loft features an open ladder-style staircase and room2 recommends that families with kids aged 7 and above book these rooms. However, our 5-year-old navigated the stairs with ease. It is not ideal for toddlers, but if you are willing to watch that they don't climb the stairs unattended, these rooms are worth the effort.

Splish, splash

Our room didn't have a bath, but the walk-in shower was large enough for us to climb in with both kids to wash them. As well as an overhead shower head, there was a hand-held shower much lower down the wall, which meant we could easily shower the children. The facilities were superb and had everything you could possibly need for a weekend away. Our only negative experience was the cot, which was very small (more suitable for a newborn than a toddler), basic and did not have a comfortable mattress. It was the standard style of travel cot that you might find in a low-budget hotel.

Breakfast in bed

We chose to have a continental breakfast delivered to our room on both mornings. This included a generous spread of croissants, fruit, yoghurt and cereals, as well as fresh fruit juices and milk. All rooms are fitted out with a kitchen (including microwave, dishwasher, sink, toaster and kettle) and our room also had a dining table and chairs.

There is not a restaurant per se, instead a well-stocked 'pantry', and cocktail and coffee bar next to the The Living Room lounge area (open from 8am-8pm), with comfortable seating and lots of traditional children's games.

Room2 hasn't forgotten about the little luxuries that adults appreciate too. Malin + Goetz toiletries; a Pure digital radio (that was playing soothing tunes from Jazz FM when we arrived on the Friday evening); free superfast WiFi; a large 49” flatscreen TV with Chromecast; air con and a huge sofa that spans the length of the room. And if you are staying for longer than a weekend, there is a laundry room with washers and dryers for just £3 per cycle with free detergent.

Making life easy

Other perks of staying at room2 included getting a full 24 hours in your room, with check in and check out at 2pm. This meant we could explore the city on our last day without having to pack our suitcases and store them in the car all morning. One last thing to note is that room2 is 100% pet friendly, so you can bring your pooch along for the trip. The perfect base for a family friendly weekend away.

Rooms start from £99 per night for a Study (sleeps 2) and the Master Loft (sleeps 5) starts from £149 per night | For more information

on room2 Southampton, visit: room2.com/ southampton/