Southampton is the largest city on the south coast of England. It is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest. The city lies roughly in the centre of the coast, at the northern-most point of Southampton Water where it is joined by the River Test and River Itchen, with the River Hamble joining to the south of the urban area. The city is situated approximately halfway between Bournemouth and Portsmouth.

Significant employers in Southampton include the University of Southampton, a Ford Transit factory and one of the largest commercial ports in Europe.

Southampton is the home of a number of  largest cruise liners in the world.

The first permanent settlement was established by the Romans shortly after their invasion of Britain in AD43. Southampton was an important trading port for the large Roman towns of Winchester and Salisbury. After the Romans the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon eventually saw the formation of a new settlement circa across the Itchen centred around what is now the St. Mary's area.

Southampton became the major port of transit between Winchester (then the capital of England) and Normandy. By the 13th century, Southampton had become a leading port, and was particularly involved in the trade of French Wine in exchange for English cloth and wool. The Wool House was built in 1417 as a warehouse for the medieval wool trade with Flanders and Italy, the building surviving today as the Maritime Museum. During the Middle Ages, shipbuilding became an increasingly important industry, which was to remain for centuries to come.

The port was the original point of departure for the Pilgrim Fathers aboard the Mayflower in 1620. A memorial can be found on Town Quay. Since that time it has been the last port of call for millions of emigrants who left the Old World to start a new life in the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and other parts of the world.

In 1838, the docks were rebuilt and Southampton became known as The Gateway to the Empire. As was common with most of the luxury liners of the time, in 1912 the Titanic sailed from here. The city contains several memorials and museum exhibitions related to the Titanic, most of crew having come from Southampton; 549 Sotonians died in the sinking.

The city is home to Sir Edwin Lutyens' first permanent cenotaph, which was the basis for his design of the memorial in Whitehall, London.  The Second World War hit Southampton particularly hard because of its strategic importance as the major industrial area on the South Coast. In particular, the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft was invented and manufactured in Southampton, a result of 1930s experimentation in the city. Bombing in two days in September 1940 killed 130 workers at the Woolston aircraft factory. There were many aircraft companies based around Hamble, to the east of the city, from the 1930s to 1950s, including Folland Aviation, now part of British Aerospace.

The geography of Southampton is very much influenced by the sea and rivers. The city sits at the northern tip of the Southampton Water, a deepwater estuary, which is a ria formed at the end of the last Ice Age. Here, the rivers Test and Itchen converge. The Test - which has saltmarsh that make it ideal for Salmon fishing - runs along the Western edge of the city, while the Itchen splits Southampton in two - east and west. The city centre is located on the peninsula between the two rivers.

Much of the Waterfront has been reclaimed over the years, mainly for use as the Western Docks. Most of the land used for reclamation came from dredging of Southampton Water, to ensure that the port can continue to handle some of the largest ships in the world. The shape of the coastline gives rise to a natural phenomena in Southampton, known as the double tide. This gives the port a much longer high tide period than other ports, making the movement of large ships easier.

Southampton has always been strongly connected with maritime history and developments, and the docks have long been a major employer in the city. In particular, it is a primary port for cruise ships, its heyday being the first half of the 20th century, and in particular the inter-war years, when it handled almost half the passenger traffic of the UK. Today it remains home to many luxury liners, as well as being the largest freight port on the Channel coast, with several container terminals. Unlike many other ports, such as Liverpool, London, and Bristol, where industry and docks have largely moved out of the city centres leaving room for redevelopment, Southampton retains much of its inner-city industry. Part of the docks have been redeveloped, however as the Ocean Village development, a local marina and entertainment complex.

During the latter half of the 20th century, a more diverse range of industry also came to the city, including aircraft and automobile manufacture, cables, electrical-engineering products, and petrochemicals. These now sit alongside the city's traditional industries of the docks, grain milling, and tobacco processing.

Southampton's largest retail centre is the West Quay Shopping Centre. Opened in September 2000 and hosting major High Street brands it is one of the largest in the country. The centre itself was phase two of the West Quay development. The first was the West Quay Retail park, while the third phase has been planned for a number of years with the latest target of work starting being 2007. The plans include building more shops, housing, offices including the headquarters for Carnival Cruises and additional leisure facilities. A decision as to what leisure facilities is still to be decided, however Southampton has been granted a large casino licence and so can now add to its collection of casinos in the city.

The city is home to the second longest medieval walls in England that are still standing, as well as a number of museums such as Tudor House, The Maritime Museum and Solent Sky, which focuses on aviation. The annual Southampton Boat Show is held in September each year, with over 600 exhibitors present. It runs for just over a week at Mayflower Park on the city's waterfront, where it has been held since 1968. The Boat Show itself is the climax of Sea City, which runs from April to September each year to celebrate Southampton's links with the sea. Southampton has a vibrant nightlife, and has been voted one of the best places to live in the UK for single people aged 18 to 30, owing to its low cost of living, wide array of bars and club and cheap transport. Women voted it second best behind London, while men rated it as seventh. Music is an important aspect of the city and there are several music venues. 

Southampton is home to Southampton Football Club - nicknamed "The Saints" - who play in the Football League Championship at St Mary's Stadium. At grass roots level, the two local Sunday Leagues in the Southampton area are the City of Southampton Sunday Football League and the Southampton and District Sunday Football League. Hampshire County Cricket Club play close to the city, at the Rose Bowl in West End, after previously playing at the County Cricket Ground, near to the city centre.

The city is famous for yachting and water sports, with a number of marinas dotted around. From 1977 to 2001 the Whitbread Around the World Yacht Race, which is now known as the Volvo Ocean Race was based in Southampton.

The city also boasts the Southampton Sports Centre which is the focal point for the public's sporting and outdoor activities and includes an Alpine Centre, theme park and athletics centre which is used by professional athletes.

The city has a strong higher education sector. The University of Southampton and Southampton Solent University together have a student population of almost 40,000. 

The University of Southampton - which was founded in 1862 - is one of the top 10 research-led universities in the UK, and caters for 20,000 students. It is also considered to be one of the top 200 (141st) universities in the world. It also provides a wide range of services for the business community. The university has a global reputation for leading-edge research into oceanography, cancer sciences, sound and vibration research, computer science and electronics, optoelectronics and textile conservation. It is also home to the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, the focus of Natural Environment Research Council-funded marine research.

Southampton Solent University has 17,000 students and its strengths are in the training, consultancy, research and other services undertaken for business and industry.

As befits Southampton's role as a major port, the city has good transport links with the rest of the country. The M27 motorway, linking places along the south coast of England, runs just to the north of the city. The M3 motorway links the city to London and also, by linking to the A34 road at Winchester with the Midlands and North. The M271 motorway is a spur of the M27, linking it with the Western Docks and city centre.

Southampton is also well served by the rail network, which is used by both freight services to and from the docks and passenger services as part of the national rail system. The main station in the city is Southampton Central. Rail routes run east towards Portsmouth, north to Winchester, the Midlands and London, and westwards to Salisbury, Bristol and Bournemouth.

Southampton Coach Station, which is located near the West Quay Shopping Centre, was refurbished recently and the range and frequency of services offered by National Express services make use of the new facilities.

Southampton Airport is a regional airport located in the town of Eastleigh, just north of Southampton. It hosts flights to UK and near European destinations, and is connected to the city by a frequent rail service from Southampton Airport (Parkway) railway station, and a number of bus services.

Whilst Southampton is no longer the base for any cross-channel ferries, it is the terminus for three internal ferry services, all of which operate from terminals at Town Quay. Two of these, a car ferry service and a fast catamaran passenger ferry service, provide links to East Cowes and Cowes respectively on the Isle of Wight and are operated by Red Funnel. The third ferry is the Hythe Ferry, providing a passenger service to the town of Hythe on the other side of Southampton Water.

Buses make up the majority of local public transport, with significant peak hour congestion in the city. The main bus operators are First Southampton, Uni-link and Bluestar. Other operators include Brijan Tours, Black Velvet, Stagecoach and Wilts and Dorset. Free buses are provided by City-link and City Loop. City-link runs from town quay to Southampton Central Station and is operated by Uni-link. The Uni-link bus service was commissioned by the University of Southampton to provide access to students who are studying at the university to all parts of the city. The buses run from early in the morning to midnight meeting demands of students who wish to get to the city during the day and leisure places in the evening. There is also a door to door minibus service called Southampton Dial a Ride, for residents who cannot access public transport. This is funded by the council and operated by SCA Support Services.

Southampton used to be home to a number of ferry services to the continent, with destinations such as San Sebastian, Lisbon, Tangier and Casablanca. A ferry port was built during the 1960s. However a number of these relocated to Portsmouth and by 1996, there were no longer any car ferries operating from Southampton with the exception of services to the Isle of Wight. The land used for Southampton Ferry Port was sold off and a retail and housing development was built on the site. The Princess Alexandra Dock was converted into a non-tidal Marina. Now new car reception areas now fill the Eastern Docks where passengers, dry docks and trains used to be.

For Southampton taxi please email: info@minivanplus.com

Whether you are looking taxi service in Heathrow airport for your Southampton cruise port transfers or luxury sedan service in Heathrow airport for your cruise transfers visit www.adlg.co.uk . They also provide taxi service from London to Southampton and taxi from Gatwick airport to Southampton.

Our servieces:

• Airport transfers - Our drivers meet & greet ourclients inside the all terminals in the arriaval halls holding a board with the clients name on. After meeting you our drivers will assists you with your luggage and lead you to the car for your for your transfers.
• Airport to airport transfers: We operate a very competitive and reliable airport shuttle service between all London airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London city airports.
• London transfers - We provide transfers from all London areas including hotels, businesses and private addresses and our drivers will be at the pickup location 10 minutes prior to the transfer time.
• Cruise transers - For cruise transfers we aim to provide the most suitable vehicle for your requirements as cruise passengers need to carry an excess amount of luggage, however for pricing the number of passengers will be taken into account to allow us to offer you the best competitive price. For small groups of 2 to 3 passengers with large amount of luggage we have a very cost effective option of our small minivan transfers
• Cruise transfers with tours - For small extra charge may be you will like to include a small tour:
  If you are travelling to / from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London to / from Southampton cruise port the on route tours include: London, Windsor Castle, Winchester, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Bath.
  If you are travelling to / from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London to / from Dover cruise port the on route tours include:
  London, Leeds Castle, Canterbury, White cliffes of Dover and Dover Castle.
  If you are travelling to / from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London to / from Harwich cruise port the on route tours include:
  London, Hampton Court, Windsor Castle.
• Cruise Port Pickups - We pickup from all UK cruise ports including Dover cruise port, Southampton cruise port and Harwich cruise port. We also provide very early morning pickups from the cruise ports to enable passengers to catch their early morning flights from Heahrow, Gatwick and Stansted airport at no extra cost