IS SOUTHAMPTON’S ‘hidden gem’ the best transport route out of the city?

One TikToker certainly thinks so.

A video posted by user @creggggy (‘Craig’) on social media platform TikTok went viral at the end of July.

The video starts with the title ‘Hidden gem in Southampton’ and shows the user walking down Civic Centre Road, crossing the road to Southampton Central Station and boarding a train to leave the city.

'It could be Portsmouth'

‘Craig’s’ instructions for finding the hidden gem are to ‘walk into the train station’ and ‘buy a ticket to somewhere that isn’t a complete sh**hole.’ The video received a lot of attention online, amassing over 101,000 likes and 770,000 views.

Over 1,000 comments were made on the viral video – but opinions on the city were divided.

One user said: “I was excited and like ‘omg is there actually gonna be something cool in Southampton??’ Then I realised that no, of course there isn’t.”

Another commenter said: “(It) could be worse…could be Portsmouth.”

Some TikTok users suggested visiting other cities and towns to appreciate what’s on our doorstep.

Daily Echo: Leaving Southampton described as 'hidden gem' in viral TikTok. Credit: @creggggy Leaving Southampton described as 'hidden gem' in viral TikTok. Credit: @creggggy

One said: “Come live in Salisbury. You’ll learn to love Southampton after being in the city famous for abandoned shops, Novichok and crashed trains.”

Another commenter said: “Southampton isn’t that bad. The theatres are really cool at least.”

'An incredible city'

In response to the video, leader of Southampton City Council, Cllr Satvir Kaur said she would be happy to give the creator of the TikTok a tour of the city.

She said: “There are a lot of videos about Southampton on social media, thankfully most of them celebrate what an incredible city we are to live, work, study, visit and enjoy.

“The person who made the video clearly hasn’t had an opportunity to see or take advantage of everything our great city has to offer sadly, so happy to show them around sometime.”

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