Walking from Southampton Central Station to the Cruise Terminal

Step-by-step directions to the Horizon terminal (berth 102) at the Port of Southampton

Posted by Brian Hart on August 01, 2026 · 7 mins read

If you’re sailing out of Southampton and arriving by train, the walk from Southampton Central Station to the cruise terminal is a genuine option. It took us about 30 minutes with four roller bags. Google Maps wasn’t especially helpful — it was tough to parse whether we should be walking along the car park or going up the hill on the main road — so here’s what actually works.

We did this walk on the embarkation day of our England and Iberia cruise.

For future travelers wanting to walk from Southampton Central Station to the Horizon cruise terminal (berth 102), here’s how to do it. (I’m pretty sure this would work for the City terminal (berth 101), just walking further past Horizon, but it’s untested)

Exit the train station through the south exit. We were already on the southernmost platform and had an easy exit; you may need to go up and over some tracks to reach the south exit depending on how you arrive. Once outside, continue directly south across the car park toward the main road, then turn right onto the sidewalk and head up the embankment. At this point you should see a blue sign directing you to Dock Gate 10 and Cruise Terminals.

Looking up at the same blue Dock Gate 10 & Cruise Terminals sign, mounted below a blue shared cycle and pedestrian roundel on a metal pole, with a red SCN S4 route plate. To the right, a large billboard advertises Longleat with the tagline So much to squeeze and Book in advance from 34.95 pounds, showing a close-up of an elephant's eye. Below the billboard a teal Unilink double-decker bus passes on the road, and pedestrians with roller bags -- including a young man in a white t-shirt, grey backpack, and pink shorts -- walk along the sidewalk beside a metal railing.

View up a sidewalk beside a road under a cloudless deep blue sky. In the middle distance, three people walking away from the camera with roller bags -- a young woman with a pink backpack and braided hair, a woman in a pink top with a plaid shirt tied around her waist, and a man in a straw hat, dark backpack, and shorts. A signpost in the foreground carries a blue cycle-and-pedestrian shared path roundel above a blue sign reading Dock Gate 10 & Cruise Terminals with an up-right arrow and a quarter-mile distance. A large billboard on the right shows a dark animal photo. Cars pass on the road at left, and the grass verge is scorched brown from summer heat.

You’ll pass through some nice shade and then follow the sidewalk to the left, and you might catch sight of your ship off in the distance.

A young woman with a blonde ponytail, pink backpack, and a blue sweater draped over her shoulders walks away from the camera along a sidewalk pulling a tan patterned roller bag, wearing shorts and flip-flops. A tall sign in the left foreground reads Traffic signal and speed cameras above a blue shared cycle and pedestrian roundel. Plane trees line the left side; a wide multi-lane road with double yellow lines and a red SUV runs along the right. In the gap between the trees at the center of the frame, the white superstructure of a cruise ship is just visible above rooftops in the distance.

That’s where you’re heading. You can stay on this side of Southern Road the rest of the way. You’ll cross one large intersection with proper walk signals. Further up you’ll come to a second intersection that has no walk signals – look at the traffic lights for the crossing traffic and wait until all lanes are red, otherwise you risk getting squished by turning traffic you might not be primed to look for if you’re from a right-side-driving country.

Once across, continue through Gate 10; the guard will wave you through.

Two teenagers with roller bags stand in the road in front of the stone arch of Dock Gate 10 at the Port of Southampton. The arch is carved with ASSOCIATED BRITISH PORTS and PORT OF SOUTHAMPTON, with BERTH 102-109 on the left pier and GATE No 10 on the right, a clock face set into the top, and a Union Jack on a flagpole above. Through the archway a white cruise ship is visible at the berth beyond a gatehouse and security fencing. A red-headed boy in a white t-shirt and pink shorts and a girl in a navy hoodie and shorts pull black and tan suitcases. Bright sun, clear blue sky.

If you’re going to the Horizon terminal (102), ease off to the left and cross the street at the earliest opportunity, per the advice of the guard at the gatehouse. From there, continue past the car park and make a right turn to reach the terminal.

Walking toward the Horizon cruise terminal, the Celebrity Apex looms over the low modern terminal building on the right, its dark blue hull lettering reading APEX below the funnel, with the orange Magic Carpet platform parked partway up the side. A green mesh security fence runs along the left with construction plant, dump trucks, and a yellow excavator behind it. Two travelers with roller bags -- a man in a white t-shirt, dark backpack, and yellow cap, and a woman with a floral bag -- walk ahead of the camera down the roadway. High-vis-vested port staff and a black van are visible near the terminal doors. Cloudless blue sky.

It’s not a hard walk – certainly easier than my walk from the Civitavecchia train station to Largo della Pace – but you’ll want decent wheels on your luggage.

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