Bournemouth is close enough to reach within around an hour from our home so we’ve occasionally taken short breaks just along the coastline, crossing the border from Hampshire into Dorset just to feel like we’re doing something special even though there’s really not a lot that’s special about Bournemouth at all. The traditional time of the year in which we tend to visit places around the United Kingdom is off season, not because it’s cheaper or because we have a love of horrible weather conditions and mostly-closed attractions, although all of that is true to a certain extent, but because we’re not that fond of crowds, and not that fond of crowds containing kids in particular. February 2017 was off season and our arrival in Bournemouth on a Friday evening for two nights’ stay coincided with terrible weather. Torrential rain on the drive after work to the neighbouring county dragged visibility to metres at points and it took us closer to two hours to reach our destination owing to necessarily sluggish speeds for safety. Thankfully, the weather improved a bit by the following day.
We stayed at the Chocolate Boutique Hotel just to fancy this trip up a bit (we’ve stayed at the nearby Connaught Hotel on other occasions and been perfectly happy with it but sometimes you like to splash out). As you can guess from the name there was something of a chocolate theme going on and if you’re a fan of chocolate then it’s definitely worth considering should you find yourself in need of a Bournemouth break. The hotel was absolutely fine but I’d say that we’re the sort of couple who tend to prefer bigger establishments with more facilities than a smaller, boutique hotel typically provides in general.
Bournemouth’s most famous and popular attraction is its long, sandy beach and, as is tradition when we visit the Dorset town, we started off with a walk along part of its length starting on the clay cliffs that overlook the seafront.
Our direction of travel was towards the distant sight of Bournemouth Pier. The clay cliffs of Bournemouth are split by chines and the pier is mostly opposite one. West of the pier the cliffs are known as the West Cliffs and east of the pier, well, you can probably guess the name. We were on the West Cliffs at this time and made our way down to the promenade via the West Cliff Zig Zag path. The wind was no less fierce than it had been higher up and the seafront walk was partially covered in a layer of sand that was being swept along by gusts. You can see this in the photo of the beach huts below and in the video further down this post.
The next point of interest back from the beach was the 1908-built West Cliff Lift. If you’re looking at the pictures and thinking “That’s not a lift; that’s a funicular railway” then you’re right, it is. It’s certainly not the largest of its type we’ve seen when we’ve travelled around the world but it looks like it would be a fun and less-tiring way to reach the clifftop if you were in need of transportation in that direction. So far, we never have.
Before we reached the pier we passed the exterior of Happyland Amusements which is the sort of name for the sort of place at the sort of time we tend to visit that I love as it conjures up some kind of Orwellian or horror location best avoided. Just to be clear, though, we do like amusement arcades if we’re visiting seaside resorts. All part of the classic, cheesy experience.
Onto and along the pier then, and regular visitors to this site will possibly already know that we do like a pier (see: Piers). Bournemouth pier’s current form dates more-or-less back to the 1880s – one of many designed by Eugenius Birch – with some extensions and modernisations since then plus significant deconstruction during World War 2 (to prevent its use by German forces) then reconstruction afterwards.
This short video covers some of the walk along Bournemouth seafront and onto the pier where you should get a good feel for the wind conditions hitting that part of the coastline during our visit. At the end of the pier I struggled to hold my phone up to take footage at all. The surfers enjoyed what Mother Nature was hurling their way, though.
In 2014 a zip line was built on the pier. I’ve never felt the urge to have a go on a zip line and don’t imagine that’s a feeling that’s likely to change in the foreseeable future but I did like the design of the tower to ascend to the platform for this attraction. I suspect it’s the similarity to a wine bottle corkscrew that appeals.
It started to spit with rain at this point and the cloud cover suggested to us that it was about to get much worse so we headed back down the decking of the pier in search of shelter. That shelter turned out to be the Bournemouth Oceanarium and you can follow that link for pictures of its aquatic and reptilian inhabitants.
Apart from this seafront walk in chilly, blustery conditions and the wander through the aquarium we didn’t get up to much else for this short trip to Bournemouth. Pubs and a meal at an Italian restaurant typically make up any seaside resort trip for us and this was no exception. We like Bournemouth mostly for its proximity to Portsmouth and convenience for just getting away from work at short notice but you might prefer that it has one of the UK’s best beaches if you’re a fan of the sun and sea in the summer months or surfing when it’s a bit windier.