If you have ever wanted to step aboard a working piece of maritime history, this month is the time. The Paddle Steamer Waverley, the world's last seagoing paddle steamer, is back in Hampshire waters for a three-week programme of coastal cruises running from 3 to 22 September. It arrived on the south coast on Tuesday 1 September, and over the next couple of weeks it will be taking passengers out from Portsmouth, Gosport and Southampton, as well as Yarmouth and Swanage in Dorset, Ryde on the Isle of Wight, Poole, Weymouth, Eastbourne and Newhaven in Sussex.
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There is a bit of history behind the name. Launched on 2 October 1946 and named after Sir Walter Scott's debut novel, the Waverley was built between 1946 and 1947 by A. & J. Inglis in Pointhouse, Glasgow, as a replacement for a vessel sunk during the Dunkirk evacuation. In 1974 it was bought for £1 by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, a registered charity founded on 8 November 1959, and it has since gone through a major £7m heritage rebuild between 2000 and 2003 and a £2.3m refit in 2020. Today it is run on a non-profit basis by the Waverley Steam Navigation Company Ltd.
On board, the ship carries up to 780 passengers and keeps its best features open to everyone: open promenade decks, a self-service dining saloon and an open engine room where you can see the machinery at work. Captain Bruce Clark is the master of the vessel, with Paul Semple as general manager.
The itinerary has a couple of highlights worth noting. On Tuesday 22 September, the Waverley makes its first public sailing from Newhaven since the 1980s, which is a rare chance to head out to Ryde or cruise round the Needles. The season then closes on Tuesday 23 September with a full-day cruise from Eastbourne and Folkestone to London, passing Dungeness and the White Cliffs of Dover before going under a floodlit Tower Bridge. For anyone heading to the Dorset stretch, you can combine the cruise with a trip on the Swanage Railway, a heritage line running from Norden to Swanage; return tickets are £27.50 for adults and £14 for children aged 5 to 15, with the journey taking about 25 minutes each way.
Booking is straightforward: tickets are on the Waverley Excursions website or through the Booking Office on 0141 243 2224, which opens Monday to Friday from 09:30 to 16:30 and Saturdays from 09:30 to 13:00. There are a few offers to know about, including a 'Bring a Friend' half-fare and a free ticket for seniors on selected sailings. A fuel surcharge is added to all Adult and Senior fares, £2 for fares of £57 or less and £4 for those of £58 or more, with the total fuel cost increase for the 2026 season expected to exceed £300,000, or about £2,200 a day more than in 2025. The weather can be the deciding factor, so it is worth keeping an eye on the latest updates before you head down to the quay.
Published Date
4 September 2026
