A unique island City to the British Isles, Portsmouth is home to the British Navy and subsequently the Naval Dockyard is home to an outstanding collection of historic ships, including The Mary Rose, The Victory and The Warrior. There are fortifications at the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour, Southsea and on Portsdown Hill, including major display of artillery at Fort Nelson. Also the D-Day Museum commemorates invasion preparation for June 1944.

Charles Dickens and George Meredith were born here and it was also here that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes. More than three million people travel to and from Portsmouth every year through the Continental Ferry Port which links the city with north-west France, northern Spain and the Channel Islands.

A renaissance of Portsmouth Harbour is about to take place with an investment of #86m to consolidate Portsmouth's position as an internatonal waterfont city at the Gateway to Britain. Many new leisure and tourist attractions are being created, including six kilometres of promenades around the harbour, new berths, a 165m Millennium Tower, shopping, leisure, restaurants and bars.