Day 1
On a cold but bright February morning we packed up the car and left our home in northern England at 9.00 am for a half term break on the south coast of England. Our destination was Bournemouth in Dorset, 290 miles away.
We stopped for lunch at Bicester Village, an outlet shopping centre in Oxfordshire slightly more than half way to our destination. It’s only a couple of miles from the M40 motorway junction and the village now has its own railway station with direct access to both Oxford and London (rail journey time from London being only 46 minutes). More than 130 designer stores can be found in attractive pastel coloured New England style clapboard buildings along with numerous cafes and restaurants. The Daily Telegraph recently reported that Bicester Village was the No. 2 destination for Chinese visitors to the UK after Buckingham Palace! After taking a look in some of the stores, we resumed our journey and arrived in Bournemouth at 4.00 pm. Our accommodation was on the East Cliff, looking out over the English Channel. After settling in, we enjoyed a delicious meal whilst watching the sunset over the bay.
Day 2
Another sunny morning with clear blue skies, we started the day with a walk along the East Cliff into the centre of Bournemouth passing the Victorian pier which was constructed in 1880. Linking the town centre from here are the award winning Lower Gardens complete with Victorian bandstand and a tethered hot air balloon for aerial views over the town and coastline.
We then travelled along the coast to the nearby town of Poole and explored its quaint old town and attractive waterfront. It was fairly quiet but in summer the quay is bustling with tourists taking boat trips across to the National Trust owned Brownsea Island famous for Lord Baden Powell setting up his first scout camp there in 1907. The island is also home to one of the only colonies of red squirrels in the country.
Nearby, one can visit the local Poole Pottery where it’s possible to watch demonstrations as well as purchase glazed items from their store. After lunch, at a branch of Slug and Lettuce we spent an hour exploring the attractive suburb of Westbourne which has lots of small independent retailers.
The above photo is of the beautifully restored Westbourne Victorian arcade where we did a little shopping before returning to our base in Bournemouth for the evening.
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Sounds like the start of a great trip! Dorset is such a beautiful place to visit, and perfect for a holiday any time of year!
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I didn’t know that shopping malls are so popular among Chinese tourists. like your photos of Dorset:)
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It just seems to be this one they all want to visit!
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Really enjoyed the posts about this trip as well, Marion. I’ve been going through my WordPress reader catching up and ended up reading the posts in reverse order, but they were still very enjoyable. Can’t wait to read about your next adventure.
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Thanks for your encouraging comments Susan. Apologies that you read them in reverse order via the WordPress reader, the reason being after I’ve posted a complete trip I reverse the posting dates so that they can be read in sequential order on my blog!
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Bicester village is great! As is Dorset 🙂
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Wow, number 2? A bit surprising, but I can see the attraction =)
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Yes, of course we all like to do some shopping but I was also surprised it came so high on tourists ‘to see’ lists!
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What a lovely trip and interesting fact about the Chinese visiting Bicester Village only second to Buckingham Palace; who would have thought. Lovely photos too.
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Yes, it is almost unbelievable Sue that outlet shopping beats a visit to Windsor Castle for some tourists!!
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Ha ha.
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Just recovering from a week of “man flu” so not quite ready for any road trips BUT want to visit Devon/Cornwall in Spring before the crowds get there and make it miserable !
Glad you’ve managed to get away for half term.
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Yes, it’s good to visit other parts of our own country from time to time as well as travel overseas. Traffic was light travelling down on Sunday so that was a bonus!
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Lovely to go on a small tour in Dorset via your blog – and lovely sunshine too! I don’t think it’s a place where I will find myself but who knows? 🙂
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We’re only staying a 45 minute drive from Southampton Suvi so if ever you came over to the Boat Show you could perhaps explore a little further west!! xx
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Yes, that sounds like a good plan! Maybe one day 🙂 First, I need a trip to London!
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Lovely blog. I lived in Dorset when I was first married. If I ever moved back to England, thats where I’d settle. Lovely photos.
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Thank you Sandra! Although I love travelling abroad it’s also nice to visit places in England, too!
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Looks like a great start to the week. Bright and breezy weather makes it all the better!
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Definitely! Anything but wet and windy days!
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Reblogged this on Tour Suggest and commented:
Another sunny morning with clear blue skies, we started the day with a walk along the East Cliff into the centre of Bournemouth passing the Victorian pier which was constructed in 1880. Linking the town centre from here are the award winning Lower Gardens complete with Victorian bandstand and a tethered hot air balloon for aerial views over the town and coastline.
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Don’t know this area very well at all so looking forward to reading more about your trip – love the sound of Brownsea Island. As for Bicester Village being the no 2 destination for Chinese visitors – unbelievable!!
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Yes, I know Joy, but seeing so many of them there on our visit just seems to confirm it! It’s sad to think though that shopping seems preferable to visiting historic landmarks especially when people travel so far!
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