South West England - Bournemouth

The time I first arrived in Bournemouth was summer 2006. Before that, I had no idea what was the town like. To be honest, I was quite lucky to be based in this little seaside city, with great view of beach and great weather (only summer!!!). Basically the beach is the place to be, it's the bes attraction in Bournemouth after all. The free showers and toilet facilities by the beach are quite clean. Not a problem at all if you fancy a swim (though the sea water might be icy cold!), picnic, BBQ or even just sunbathing. You need to pay 50p to get onto Bournemouth Pier, which allows you to have different angles for the sea views. In summer, there are fantastic fireworks at 10pm on every Friday night. There is an aquarium just beside the Pier, but I haven't got a chance to visit it yet.



Don't forget to try the famous Harry Ramsden's fish and chips. Take away would be a cheaper option while you can sit on the bench outside and enjoying the sunshine. Along Old Christchurd Road, there are quite a number of good restaurants, bars and bistro. If you fancy different nationality cuisines, Charminster is the place to go (About 5min drive, half an hour walk from town). There are Italian, French, Brazillian, Tunisian, Middle East, Chinese, Thai.. you name it! It's best to reserve a table, as it can get very busy during weekends.

Like other cities in UK, shopping in Bournemouth is alright, nothing too fantastic. We have Debenhams, Beales, M&S, Bhs, TopShop, Zara, H&M, Next etc. Castle Point is another shopping outlet that open late till 8pm just outside of the town (can be accessed by M1 and Yellow Bus 3a I think).




For the public transports, Bournemouth can be accessed from London Waterloo by South West Train, it takes about 1.75hours or 2.30hours (depending on journeys and routes). National Express serves from London Victoria to Bournemouth coach station (opposite the train station), for 2.30hours. It's cheaper to come by coach, especially National Express now has promotion called FunFare, which can be as low as GBP1 for a single journey.

If you have sometimes, don't forget to visit some towns nearby. Poole Quay, Christchurch, Wimborne are lovely towns to spend your relaxing afternoons during weekend.

To travel around Bournemouth, Sandbank, Poole, Christchurch, all day ticket by Yellow Bus for GBP3 each could be an option. If you travel with someone, M1 and M2 served by Wilt and Dorset is a better option for you, as they have 4 for 5 (4 persons for GBP5) all day tickets available in evening of weekday and all day during weekend.


Poole Quay



Christchurch

PS: Special thanks to the great photographer! :p