Getting there

Planes

Gatwick and Heathrow are the county’s international gateways | but Bournemouth and Southampton are better placed if you’re hitting the coast or the New Forest. The business airport | TAG Farnborough (www.tagaviation.com) | is useful if you have a private jet to hand.

Boats

Portsmouth has been a maritime hub for centuries. Brittany Ferries (www.brittanyferries.com) operates regular channel-hoppers to Caen and Cherbourg in northern France and Santander in Spain. P&O boats over to Bilbao and there are regular car ferries to and from the Isle of Wight (www.wightlink.co.uk).

Trains

Hampshire is well networked, railway-wise, with major train lines (Southern and South West) linking major cities such as Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester with London Waterloo. Short distances from town to town mean touring Hampshire by train is an easy and eco-friendly option.

Automobiles

Hampshire’s tree-lined lanes and forest roads are perfect for old-school rural road trips | with plenty of village-pub stop-offs and ooh-let’s-go-see-that detours. The M3 is the county’s pet motorway | snaking from south-west London to Southampton via Basingstoke and Winchester.