Beaches
Along the coast you find several beaches: Each of them with its own characteristic:
- Durley Chine Beach is a Blue Flag award winning beach, particularly nice for families. At the promenade you find a refreshment kiosk, ice cream , a pedalo hire and a pub.
(source: Dorset Beaches, 2011)
- Alum Chine Beach owns even 2 awards. The Blue and the Green Flag award. Behind the promenade you find the beautyful tropical gardens. Alum Chine beach is a great family beachh and has a pirate-themed children’s playground.
(source: Bugbog, 2011)
- Boscombe Beach is 20 min away if you take the land train. The beach experienced s Village Spa redevelopment scheme and will by the end of this year be tEurope’s first Artificial Surf Reef. It is a great beach as it offers activities for everyone. East of Boscombe Pier there is the Beach Games Zone which offers free beach games and activities for children during the summer holidays.
(source: Wikimedia, 2011)
- Fisherman’s Walk Beach is home to the Ornamental Gardens that are located across the road from the café. Canoes can be hired at the beach and ice cream and snacks can be found at the cliff top.
(source: Wikimedia, 2011)
- Southbourne Beach is a Blue Flag award-winning beach which is famouts for is great seafood restaurant. Southbourne Beach is more quiet than the other beaches.
(source: Art.com, 2011)
I love all the beaches. To be honest, I don`t actually see the differences of these beaches as they are all along the same coast. At the Bournemouth Pier it gets really crowded when the sun is out. If you go a bit futher to the left it gets less crowded after about 1 km. Everywhere on the beach you find wonderful soft sand. Some parts have some stones in the sand but they won`t trouble you much. Boscombe Beach is really cool for people who enjoy surfing. Behind the promenade you find a lot of nice beach bars and restaurants. The more you go left the less crowded the beach gets. The prominade ends in Southbourne, but from there you can walk to Christchurch Harbour.
2000 acres of vibrant Parks and Gardens
- The Lower Gardens
The Lower Gardens are perfectly located: next to the Bournemouth Square in town centre and just 5 minutes away from the beach. Throughout the year the garden hosts many events such as the Bournemouth Lighting which attracts thousands of visitors in summer. The 1.5 miles long garden is designed in the Victorian style with beautyful flowers and trees. This is also where the famous balloon is taking off.
- Alum Chine
Alum Chine is an Blue Flag award winning tropical garden with many exotic plants to discover. From the terrace garden you can overlook the bay. There are now many unusual exotic plants in the gardens for people to discover. The park offers shaded paths; the popular Treasure Island themed children's play area a paddling pool and a tropical garden on the cliff face.
(source: Guide2dorset, 2011)
- Boscombe Chine Garden
Boscombe Chine Gardens are a central part of the Boscombe resort.There is a is a brand new ball court; a new water play area and a mini-golf has with disabled access. From the terrace café you can overlook the park. The original features of the Gardens, two spa shelters, the lodge and the return of magnificent bedding displays remain in the park.
(source: Waymarking, 2011)
- Meyrick Park
Meyrick Park is an open space which is used for a number of sports and activities such as Mean 18-hole golf course and outdoor bowls green where the International Bowling Tournaments take place. The playing fields are used for football and cricked. Throughout the year there are many different events in the park such the BSO Conderts and Fireworks(check events).
(source: Clearcarbon,2011)
References:
Bournemouth Ocenarium
The Ocenarium is located at the left site of the Pier. It is seperated into different sections that represent the different regions from where the animals come from e.g. The Amazon, Africa, Key West etc. There is also an Otter Oasis where you can see the cute Oriental small clawed otters. Bournemuth Ocenarium also has the world’s first Interactive Dive Cage where you can take a virtual adventure to discover more about magnificent sea creatures including great white sharks, dolphins and manta rays. It is open daily from 10 am onwards and last admission is at 5pm (closing at 6 pm).
(Marriott, 2011)
The Bournemouth Oceanarium is a medium sized ocenarium. I really enjoyed going through the glass tunnel from which you can have a look at the animals of a huge water tank. I haven`t done the Dive cage adventure because it wasn`t open at that time. There is a lot of information about the animals. I would say the ocenarium is great for smaller children and people who are very interested in water animals. Students get a discounted when they show their student ID.
St. Peters Church- Mary Shelleys (author of Frankenstein) final resting place
St. Peters Church was built between 1844 and 1879 and is the oldest church in the parish. It is located in the town centre next to the Whetherspoon restaurant Mary Shelley. The church is famous for the people that are burried in the graveyard. Mary Shelley, the author of the world famous horror story Frankenstein is burried on a hill behind the church. Together with her her parents, her husband, her sun and his family are burried on St Peter`a graveyard as well.
Check out: http://btcp.org.uk/
(Travelpod, 2011)
I went to St Peter`s a couple times, especially when I have friends over I like to show them the graveyard of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. The graveyard is a bit mystic. All the graves are on a steep hill and some of them are very old. I would also suggest to have a look into the church as it is very pretty. Since the church is directly in town centre it doesn`t take any effort to go there.
