Portsdown Hill

About

Portsdown Hill provides magnificent views over Portsmouth and beyond. The slopes are home to impressive shows of wildlife that can be explored through miles of paths.

Portsdown Hill is a chalk ridge that overlooks Portsmouth and provides a stunning viewpoint over the city, the harbours and over to the Isle of Wight. The hill's open network of paths take walkers through flowery grassland and other wildlife-rich habitats.

Much of Portsdown's extensive chalk grassland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The grassland is home to fantastic displays of colourful wildflowers that change through the spring, summer and autumn. It is an excellent place to spot bees, butterflies and hundreds of other pollinating insects. This flower-rich grassland is now a rare habitat as most has been lost from the countryside.

The hill is also rich in bird life, with species such as yellowhammers and whitethroats singing from the bushes, as well as skylarks floating above the waving grassland. Kestrels and Peregrines are present all year and nest on the site.

Evidence of our ancestors is everywhere and history, especially military history, is hard to miss. Museums are on hand in some of the Victorian forts to help tell the story.

The hill is well served by public transport from Portsmouth and has ample free parking.

Images Credit to Reema Shah