Bournemouth Beach - The perfect family day out

Collaborative Post 

On the way back from our trip to Guernsey in the Channel Islands, we arrived late into Poole Ferry Port (around midnight) so there was no way we were going to head back to Cardiff that night and instead checked into a Travelodge in Poole although there are plenty of hotels in Bournemouth and decided to extend our holiday by one more day and explore a part of the coast we hadn't really been to before. I had heard really good things about Bournemouth and it's been somewhere I have wanted to take the kids for a while so this was a great opportunity to do just that. 

As soon as we got to our hotel we headed straight to bed as it had been a very long day and woke up ready to explore. As Poole is only a 20 min drive from Bournemouth it seemed like it was going to be a pretty easy place to get too but what we hadn't taken into account was it being a Bank Holiday Friday and not just any Bank Holiday but one with glorious warm and sunny weather so as you can imagine everyone in a 100 mile radius was heading to the beach. Luckily Bournemouth Beach is huge with more than enough space for everyone and we wanted to keep our itinerary for the day nice and loose and simply discover what was on offer. 

We stumbled onto Alun Chine beach which is a beautiful blue flag beach around a 20 min stroll west of Bournemouth main pier yet has so much on offer for a day out. As soon as we parked up we knew we were going to have fun as you walk past a large outdoor nature inspired play park which colourful Beach huts lining the sand. No bright arcades or loud music but an expanse of clean sandy beach to run on. 

The coastline here is so fantastic that on a sunny day like the day we visited you could easily mistake it for somewhere in Europe and its so refreshing to just slow things down and enjoy the simple pleasures such as double ice-creams from the small but popular ice-cream kiosk. While the kids ran in and out of the water and built sandcastles (supervised by their Dad) I headed for a spot of shade in the Tropical gardens that overlook Alun Chine and offer a great view of the beach. 

As the day went in we pop into Vesuvio Italian Restaurant for some ice cold lemonades for the kids and an Aperol Spritz for myself. The atmosphere here is great and the menu looked mouth watering although it was still a little early for supper but if you're looking for the best of Italian food overlooking the beach then this is the spot. 

As Bournemouth Beach promenade spans a pretty far distance every half hour a land-train arrives and stops off at a number of stops before reaching the Pier. Luckily we manage to get the last one of the day and jumped off Durely Beach Chine which is home to the best-positioned Harvester I have ever seen with the sand coming right up to the door and unrestricted views across the beach. While we usually avoid chains Harvesters was a safe bet for what had been a non-stop day of swimming and running around and like I said this certainly was not the normal run of the mill Harvester. I would advise booking in advance on weekends though as we did have a bit of a wait but it was well worth it. 

Filled up on salad of good food and with the sun slowly going down we took a relaxing stroll back to Alun Chine with a full tummy and a full heart. While I know the centre of Bournemouth has plenty on offer, if your looking for a slower pace and a nice weekend break away from reality then I highly recommend making Alun Chine on Bournemouth beach a base and you can also hire out one of the beautiful pastel coloured Beach huts to top off a classic British seaside break. 

The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own