Bournemouth Attractions

A stay in a Bournemouth hotel is about sandcastling with the kids, inhaling the pine scent from the acres of floral gardens or splashing in the blue coastal waters.

Historic Bournemouth

Bournemouth has been around only since the early 1800s but has accrued history by the barrel. Frankenstein author Mary Shelley is buried in St Peter’s Church; Robert Louis Stevenson dreamt up Jekyll and Hyde from his West Cliff house and Hardy sent Tess to Bournemouth-inspired Sandbourne with nasty Alec. Stroll down Invalids’ Walk lined with pine trees grown to shelter the seaward walk from the city’s first holiday villas.

Art and museums in Bournemouth

Head from your Bournemouth hotel to the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum on East Cliff Parade, which is stuffed with oriental souvenirs collected by a globetrotting Victorian family. Twiddle some knobs at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum where you can virtually take off in a light aircraft.

Quirky things to do in Bournemouth

The Bournemouth Eye whisks you 500 feet above seven miles of Jurassic coastline in a hot-air balloon. Back on terra firma, the Oceanarium re-creates life along the Ganges River.

Events in Bournemouth

The free Bournemouth Air Festival in August, with displays from Kitty Hawks, Mustangs and Spitfires, attracts more than a million people to the beach. Bourne Free Pride Festival celebrates gay life each July with a parade, fireworks and a jazz night.

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