Portsmouth is one of the most densely packed cities in the country, which makes the bus a genuinely sensible way to get around it. The team at Portsmouth And has pulled together how the network works: who runs it, the routes that matter, how to pay, and the park-and-ride that saves you the city-centre parking headache.
Who runs the buses
Two operators cover most journeys. First Bus is the dominant local company, branded as First Hampshire, Fareham & Gosport and marketed locally as First Solent, and it runs almost all the city routes plus the park-and-ride. Stagecoach South handles the longer coastal and regional services into and through the area.
You might also like
In practice, if you are hopping around Portsmouth and Southsea, you are almost certainly on a First bus.
The routes that matter
You do not need the whole timetable in your head, just a few key corridors. Services 1 and 3 run down to Southsea past the seafront and South Parade Pier, with the 1 also threading through the city centre. Service 2 covers Arundel Street and Victoria Road North, the 7 and 8 serve the city centre, and the X3, X4 and X5 link Portchester and points west into town.
For journeys further afield, Stagecoach’s Coastliner 700 runs the coast between Chichester and Portsmouth, calling at Havant on the way. One thing to note: the old single-bus Brighton-to-Portsmouth run has been split into sections, so for the full coastal trip you may need to change, and the 700 does not serve Southampton.
Tickets and fares
There are three easy ways to pay, and picking the right one saves money:
- the First Bus app, for planning journeys, live tracking and buying mTickets in advance;
- contactless Tap On Tap Off, where you tap your card boarding and again when you get off, and the system works out the best-value fare and caps your daily spend;
- day, weekly and longer tickets, plus the multi-operator Solent Go smartcard if you mix First and Stagecoach.
A government-funded cap on single fares in England has kept most single journeys low, currently set at £3, though it has changed more than once and is worth checking before you travel. Students and young people can get discounted termly and weekly passes through First, with rates set each academic year. Drivers prefer the app or contactless over cash, so avoid relying on exact change.
The Hard, the city’s transport hub
If you only remember one place, make it The Hard Interchange, next to Portsmouth Harbour station and Gunwharf Quays. It is where the buses, trains, the Gosport ferry and the Isle of Wight services all meet, so it is the natural point to change between them.
Park and Ride at Tipner
Driving in from out of town? The Tipner Park & Ride on Tipner Lane, PO2 8AN, sits just off junction 1 of the M275 on the way into the city, and the parking itself is free. The PR1 bus runs roughly every 15 minutes and reaches The Hard in about seven minutes, with a weekend PR3 service heading to Southsea. Fares start from around £5, bought on the app or from the driver, and it is by far the cheapest way to dodge city-centre parking.
You can check live routes and buy tickets at firstbus.co.uk.
The short version
For most visitors and residents, the formula is simple: use contactless for the automatic daily cap, keep the First Bus app on your phone for live times, and treat The Hard as your hub for anything involving a train or a ferry. Do that, and Portsmouth is an easy city to get around without ever hunting for a parking space.
