Bournemouth - Britain's Best Seaside Resort
25th January 2018
Voted Britain’s best seaside resort, Bournemouth boasts miles of golden sandy beaches and a breathtaking coastline that’s the perfect backdrop for watersports and outdoor pursuits. It’s also home to hundreds of hotels and restaurants and, with a jam-packed calendar of festivals and events, has a growing reputation as the UK’s most eventful destination.
Combined, Bournemouth and nearby Poole offers 10 miles of soft golden sand and the two resorts have come together in 2018 to form a destination powerhouse. Featuring eight Blue Flag beaches, Europe’s largest natural harbour and known as the ‘coast with the most’, this stretch of the South Coast attracts outdoorsy adventurers and thrill seekers looking to surf, sail and cycle.
With the next phase of a re-landscaping project nearing completion, more than 6million people are expected to flock to Bournemouth’s world class seafront in 2018. The town offers everything you’d expect from a traditional seaside holiday – from beach huts and land trains to family attractions and arcade amusements – as well as new builds and creative industries that place Bournemouth firmly as a leader in modern British resort development.
Launched last spring, Bournemouth Beach Lodges offer overnight accommodation for up to six people. An innovation in beachfront self-catering, the lodges’ popularity looks set to continue throughout 2018.
The new BH2 complex at the heart of the resort is also looking forward to a busy season as families enjoy box office hits in its 10-screen multiplex cinema surrounded by a huge variety of restaurants and bars.
Bournemouth’s 2018 diary is as full as ever, kicking off with the Health-on-Line Bournemouth Bay Run in April which sees 4,500 runners pounding half marathon, 10k, 5k or 1k across the resort.
In August, the now well established international Bournemouth Air Festival returns four days of entertainment in the air, at sea and on the ground. For the first time, the event will feature a ‘very vintage weekend’ in celebration of the RAF centenary.
Honouring the resort’s commitment to adding value to your stay all year round, giving you more than just a seaside break away, Bournemouth Arts by the Sea festival is back this autumn. Now in its eighth year, the festival presents an inspirational selection of performance, theatre, visual art and installation, music and dance.
Bournemouth is rich in art and culture symbolised by the distinctive and impressive Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum – an Italian style villa that sits majestically overlooking the sea and houses an intriguing collection of art and artefacts from across the globe.
The Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) welcomes conferences, exhibitions and some of the biggest names in the music industry throughout the year, while the nearby Art Deco Pavilion Theatre
puts on a programme of West End shows, performances and pantomimes. The 1920s building is also home to Pavilion Dance South West, the national dance development organisation for the South West and an emerging venue for ground-breaking performance and live screenings as well as classes.
While fiercely proud of its cosmopolitan vibe, Bournemouth’s Victorian heritage is perfectly preserved in the beautifully sculpted gardens that run through the town centre to the beach. It’s also ever present in the architecture that underpins the resort and its nearby coastal villages. Westbourne, Southbourne and Boscombe are awash with quaint shopping arcades, independent retailers and boutiques that capture the very essence of an English seaside town.
Unlike many coastal destinations in the UK, Bournemouth’s appeal isn’t restricted to the summer months. Christmas festivities start in November and for 2018 Bournemouth has announced a brand new winter attraction. The Christmas Tree Wonderland will see the gardens and town centre light up with over 100 dazzling trees. Accompanied by the return of the new alpine market, big wheel and popular outdoor ice rink, as well as live music, entertainment and illuminations across the resort, this Christmas is set to finish off the year in spectacular style.
