The original walled town clusters around the harbour mouth at the southwestern tip of Portsea Island. The streets are narrow, cobbled in places, and lined with 18th-century houses and old waterfront pubs — a startling contrast to the modern city behind. Allow an hour or two to wander.
Key sights are the Square Tower and Round Tower (parts of the medieval and Tudor defences); the cobbled Bath Square and the Point waterfront with its old pubs; Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral; and the Spice Island promenade with views straight out to the Solent. The Hot Walls — a stretch of the old fortified seafront — is where locals sit and watch the cross-Channel ferries come and go.