Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a hopping city that not only attracts the tourists but also locals giving it quite a buzz with a vibrant arts community. This coupled with lovely gardens centred around The (river) Bourne.
Bournemouth Pier
The Bournemouth Pier has thankfully not suffered the neglect of other English piers with a wonderful viewing platform towards the end and the main building at the pierhead filled with typical pier attractions - Arcade games and fast food.
The whole seaside area is very well maintained with quite good places to eat and wonderful sandy beach. Be sure to also have a meander under the pier…
Lower Gardens
One of the stunning attractions to the city are the “Lower Gardens” located opposite the pier with parkland continuing to the north (“Central Gardens” then “Upper Gardens”). The plantings are spectacular with lovely meandering paths throughout. This is also an area where events feature in the warmer weather.
Shopping
The main shopping area is just to the north of the pier with the iconic Bournemouth Shopping Arcade and the view of the tower in St Peter's Church, Bournemouth on Gervais Place.
More typical and lower-end high street chains can be found to the north of the “Lower Gardens” (to the west of the main shopping area on the other side of the gardens) where you can find the Odeon on Commercial Road.
Parking
There are a number of large pay and display car parks as well as street parking though most of the central area of the city is pedestrianised. The main train station ( Bournemouth) is quite some distance to the north east of the city centre.
Further Information
For further information, please see:
- Bournemouth - Official Tourism Website