Bournemouth: so much more than you think
11th February 2019
Following a record-smashing year, the South Coast’s most eventful resort has charged headlong into 2019 with a plan to shatter outdated perceptions of Bournemouth, asserting itself as a fresh, growing resort while proudly owning its rich heritage.
The destination rounded off 2018 with a string of busy bank holidays, more media coverage than ever before and over 3 million visitors to its new winter attraction. This year – having been named the UK’s best beach in TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards for the second year in a row – Bournemouth aims to build on its reputation as a pleasant surprise that surpasses expectations.
Nestled along a sleepy stretch of Dorset’s stunning coastline that offers traditional seaside experiences and beautiful beaches, Bournemouth is a cosmopolitan hub which inspires modern lifestyles and is fondly known as the ‘coast with the most’.
Bournemouth enjoys the relaxed pace, clean air and warmer climes associated with coastal living, while benefitting from a vibrant town centre and bustling suburbs. Its thriving digital economy has welcomed young innovators and creative industries, primarily centred around the Lansdowne business district.
The resort is home to two universities – Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) and Bournemouth University, recognised for its courses in media industries. It also has the largest population of international students in the UK outside of London.
By night, the town buzzes with hundreds of restaurants, bars and nightclubs, as well as entertainment and live music at venues including the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC), Pavilion Dance South West (PDSW) and the Art Deco Pavilion Theatre.
Bournemouth is famous for seaside B&Bs and its abundance of clifftop hotels with spectacular sea views. Awarded ‘coach friendly status’, many of the resort’s accommodation providers cater well for groups and a growing number are welcoming dogs to meet a national increase in demand.
The destination is also leading the charge in providing alternative stays with its unique Beach Lodges – contemporary, family accommodation just a stone’s throw from the sand and complete with kitchen, shower, TV and WiFi. The site is in the throes of a stylish expansion due for completion in the spring when the current 15 lodges will become 24!
Notions of Bournemouth are often typified by memories of lazy days spent kicking back on a deckchair, with an ice cream in hand and an uninterrupted view of the pier. And it’s true – as the archetypal British seaside town, Bournemouth’s beach huts remain highly sought after, land trains popular and cliff lifts evocative.
Bournemouth also proudly maintains 1,000 hectares of parks and gardens – that equates to 20% of the entire borough! This includes grade II listed Victorian gardens in the centre of the resort, tropical gardens at Alum Chine and Hengistbury Head nature reserve – a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Awarded Gold by RHS Britain in Bloom and 19 Green Flags, the resort’s historic gardens reflect all of their former glory.
Yet all around there is investment, regeneration and development.
The new BH2 complex in the heart of Bournemouth, teems with restaurants and attractions including a 10-screen multiplex cinema. Big name hoteliers have become increasingly enamoured with the resort, which has already attracted Hilton – complete with sky bar – and which is expecting a Malmaison to open in the next two years.
Bournemouth’s holidaymakers are fun-loving and bold. They embark on adrenaline-fuelled adventures throughout the town to include cycling, golf – from a full 18 holes to themed crazy courses, and even the world’s only pier-to-shore zip line!
Committed to adding value to people’s holidays, Bournemouth has a packed programme of festivals and events throughout the year, making it so much more than just a great place by the sea.
The Bournemouth Bay Run gets the season off the starting blocks in the spring; the feel-good factor soars sky-high at Bournemouth Air Festival in the summer; autumn is awash with creativity and culture as Bournemouth Arts by the Sea Festival sweeps across the resort; and the wintry magic of Bournemouth’s Christmas Tree Wonderland returns for its second year in December 2019.
Bournemouth and Poole combined, boasts a whopping 10 miles of golden sand, dotted with unique chines – narrow ravines that are peculiar to Dorset and the Isle of Wight – and brimming with vitality and colour.
Outdoorsy types flock to the area for its wealth of watersports. Paddle-boarding, surfing, kayaking, jet-skiing and kite-surfing are all extremely popular along the coast and in the shelter of Poole Harbour – the second largest natural harbour in the world!
With eight Blue Flag beaches and 10 Seaside Awards, an award-winning, multi-million-pound project to landscape the waterfront, and Leave Only Footprints – a successful campaign aimed at encouraging residents, visitors and workers to be more environmentally conscious, Bournemouth’s vision for a world-class seafront is fast becoming a reality.
Beyond Bournemouth lies maritime Poole to the west, with its lively quay and cobbled streets, and historic Christchurch in the east, home to an 11th century priory and meandering rivers. Bournemouth is the perfect base to explore the world-famous Jurassic Coast, idyllic New Forest and the rural counties of Wiltshire and Somerset further inland.
Tranquil, yet alive with inspiration and enterprise; a time-honoured seaside town peppered with chic new attractions and progressive property developments; and miles of soft, sandy beaches – the perfect playground for water and land-based pursuits; there’s so much more to Bournemouth than you think.
