The railway that takes passengers the 700 feet across Hythe Pier is the oldest operating pier railway in the world. Getting its origins in 1881, the pier was designed to act as a boarding and off boarding location for those crossing the Southampton Way that separates Southampton and Hythe. A charming wooden walkway runs alongside the trolley for pedestrians. When the tide is at its highest, the surface of the water rests just four feet below the pier. Boarding the rail cart gives passengers the feeling of stepping a century and a half into the past.
Waiting at the end of the pier is the Hythe Ferry, which transports passenger across the waters. It glides past the docking port for the massive Queen Victoria and Queen Mary II ships, giving its passengers an up-close view of the giant cruise ships.