Southampton Shortlisted for UK City of Culture Status

Southampton, home of the Lewis School of English, is one step closer to becoming UK City of Culture 2025. The south coast city of 250,000 is competing with three other locations for this prestigious title.

Internationally known for its cruise ship port, from which the Titanic sailed in 1912, Southampton has plenty of cultural delights – from museums to medieval history, and from glorious parks to a vibrant arts scene.

You can discover the city’s maritime history and Titanic story at the excellent SeaCity Museum, climb on board a plane at Solent Sky, and explore 800 years of history at the beautiful Tudor House and Garden. Lovers of the arts will enjoy Southampton City Art Gallery and the huge Mayflower Theatre with its ballets and West End musicals. For sporting drama, Southampton has a Premier League football club too.

Southampton was recently ranked the third best city in the UK for green spaces. It has over 50 parks and one of the loveliest is opposite the Lewis School in the city centre. It also has one of the best-preserved medieval city walls in the country, much of which borders the buzzing streets of the main shopping areas. These include the new £85m Westquay Watermark development with its new public plaza that hosts many of the city’s events.

Watch their promotional video here.

With two universities, Southampton is popular with international students, and is an excellent base for tourists, too.

In less than 20 minutes, you can reach Winchester, ancient former capital of England, or the New Forest National Park with its free-roaming ponies. London, Bath, Stonehenge and Oxford are 80 minutes away and the Isle of Wight, Britain’s ‘holiday isle’, is just a 30-minute ferry ride. Vibrant activities programmes at the Lewis School takes full advantage of this!

The winner of UK City of Culture 2025 will be announced in late May and we wish Southampton the very best of luck!

Visit the Lewis School of English website to find out more about Southampton and the programmes on offer for adults and juniors.