Regardless of whether you are travelling for business or leisure, if this season you are planning to go to Portsmouth, you should really check this site out: it is kept by the local government, which means that it’s looks are rather on the dull part of the spectrum, but the services and information available is really very useful for residents and visitors alike. For instance, you can use the library of forms the site carries to start any state-required paperwork, plus you can make your tax and other duty payments online; Real Estate agents will be thrilled to know that the site presents extensive information on tax and property value which can be searched by typing in the home’s address. You can also get information on the council meetings, minutes and information on upcoming projects. Under the ‘City Departments’ you’ll find links to get reprints of any official certificate (birth, death, marriage), plus the pages/sites for each division: museums, parks, finance, schools, social services, and other public services, including voters registrar. All of these are the standard areas and functionalities you’d expect from a local government’s site, but there’s still some rather unexpected things you can find on the site, like the hi-res picture galleries featuring some of Portsmouth’s landmarks and cityscape, which are definitely going to come in handy for designers of brochures or vacation sites. For younger audiences, especially schoolchildren, probably the best bit of the site is the one to be found under the ‘history’ tag, where they can read and take a photo journey to learn what has been happening in the city for the past 250 years.