Tour of Bournemouth, England

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the County of Dorset in Southern England.

Bournemouth has seven miles of golden sand beaches. This vibrant town has a vast variety of attractions such as shops, restaurants, holiday accommodation, lively nightlife, events, theatres, interesting countryside and award-winning gardens.

The many watersports include Europe's first artificial surf reef in Boscombe.

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The Bournemouth Pier, that can be seen today, is the third pier built on this location. In the autumn of 1878, work began on a design for this iron pier. Two years later, after costing £21,600 to construct, the pier was formally opened on the 11th August 1880 by the Lord Mayor of London.

The new pier was originally 835 feet in length, extensions in 1894 and 1905 took it to 1000 feet.

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Bournemouth has 7 miles of sandy beaches, that run from Hengistbury Head in the east, to Sandbanks, in Poole, in the west.

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Bournemouth Pier normally has a few options available to cruise the bay and coast.

You can take a scenic cruise East towards the Isle of Wight, or West along Dorset's historic Jurassic Coast to Swanage. Also, there are often speedboat boat rides from Bournemouth Pier.

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Bournemouth Oceanarium is situated next to the Bournemouth Pier.

The Oceanarium is a fully interactive experience with touch screen games, feeding demonstrations and talks, plasma screen documentaries, walk-through underwater tunnel and exhibits.

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The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum is situated about 0.4 miles east of the Bournemouth Pier.

This museum has art galleries, museum, licensed cafe, shop, and children’s area. Admission is free.

Situated about a 5 minute walk east of Bournemouth Pier.

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The Bournemouth Eye is situated about 0.4 miles north of the Bournemouth Pier.

The Bournemouth Eye is a balloon attached to a steel cable that can go up to to 500 feet, giving incredible views of the area. It is situated in the Lower Gardens close to the Town Square.

The Bournemouth Eye Balloon opens at Easter and runs through the summer. The gardens are open all year round.

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The Upper, Central and Lower Gardens are situated about 0.4 miles north of the Bournemouth Pier.

The Lower garden holds a number of events throughout the year, including the candle illuminations in summer evenings, that attract thousands of spectators.

The Upper and Central gardens are more for walking or lying around in the sun.

Bournemouth has about 2,000 acres of award wining parks and gardens.

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St. Peter's Church is situated about 0.5 miles northeast of the Bournemouth Pier on Hinton Road, in the centre of Bournemouth.

St. Peter's is the towns most notable building. The church has recently added a notice board showing the locations of interesting graves and tombstones. These graves and tombstones, are of people that are recognized as being influential in the history of Bournemouth.

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The Jurassic Coast is a popular Day Tour, a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England.

The site runs from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon, to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of 95 miles.

Durdle Door as seen right, is a natural limestone arch near Lulworth in Dorset. This is the main attraction on the Jurassic Coast tour, situated about 23 miles southwest of Bournemouth.

Lulworth Castle, 20 miles southwest of Bournemouth, can also be visited on the tour.

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Lulworth Castle, 21 miles southwest of Bournemouth, is a popular day tour from Bournemouth. It is situated in East Lulworth village, 3 miles north-east of Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door.

This was actually a hunting lodge, designed to look like a castle. It was built between 1607 and 1610 for Thomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon.

In 1643, the estate was purchased by the Weld family. In the Civil War of 1642 - 1649, Lulworth Castle was badly damaged.

The Weld family survived the war and again built up their wealth, leading to them having the interior remodeled in the 1700s and 1800s.

Lulworth was damaged by fire in 1929, and remained a shell until the end of the 1900s. The castle is still owned by the Weld family, but is run by the English Heritage, who restored most of the building. Set in parkland with views and a church.

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Stonehenge is a popular Day Tour from Bournemouth, 38 miles north, a prehistoric monument located in the county of Wiltshire, about 2 miles west of Amesbury, 8 miles north of Salisbury.

This is one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, comprising earthworks surrounding circular large standing stones. It is situated at the centre of many Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments, that includ several hundred burial mounds.

The tour also visits Salisbury Cathedral.

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Salisbury Cathedral is another popular Day Tour, 28 miles north of Bournemouth, with the highest spire of any church in Britain.

You can take in spectacular views as you explore the tower. There are 332 steps on the narrow winding spiral staircases to the foot of the spire, 225 feet above ground level. From there, you can look up into the spire through the medieval scaffold. From the balcony, you can look out over the city and surrounding countryside for miles.

This tour also visits Stonehenge.

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The City of Bath is another popular Day Tour, 67 miles north of Bournemouth.

Bath is a city built between hills, in the valley of the River Avon, around naturally occurring hot springs. This is where the Romans built baths and a temple, giving it the name Aquae Sulis.

The town became a popular spa resort during the Georgian era, leading to a major expansion of Georgian architecture, built from the golden Bath Stone.

The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987. It has a number of theatres, museums, and sporting venues. Claims have been made that Bath attracts over one million staying visitors, and 3.8 million day visitors each year.

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Oxford is another popular Day Tour, 93 miles north of Bournemouth, in the county of Oxfordshire.

Oxford is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

There are many different styles of interesting buildings in the city, from Roman to Saxon in the 600s, to Edwardian in the 1900s.

The most prominent style of building is now Georgian, an architectural style between 1720 and 1840, when Bath was dramaticaly expanded to serve as a spa resort town.

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Kingston Lacy is a popular place to visit, 14 miles northwest of Bournemouth centre, the home of the Bankes family from 1633, now in the care of the National Trust.

This Restoration mansion was designed by Sir Roger Pratt. In the 19th century, the house was altered by Sir Charles Barry for William John Bankes, who wanted to use the house to display the paintings and art works he collected.

The house has paintings by Titian and Van Dyck, a collection of Egyptian artefacts, and 250 acres of park and gardens.

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Athelhampton (also known as Admiston or Adminston), is situated 22 miles west of Bournemouth centre, five miles east of Dorchester in Dorset.

This is one of the finest 15th-century manor houses in England, set in grand gardens.

Athelhampton is a privately owned country house on 160 acres of parkland, now open for public visits.

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For more information on Bournemouth, visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bournemouth.