Name: Curious About Bournemouth
Rating: 5.0

Curious About Bournemouth

Starts at West Cliff, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 5JB, England

1-90 Years

Paid

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Description

Curious About Bournemouth offers a self-guided walking tour that lets you explore Bournemouth’s town centre, gardens, and seafront in a fun and interactive way. It combines sightseeing with a light treasure-hunt style challenge, making it ideal for families, friends, and visitors who enjoy discovering places at their own pace. The experience highlights Bournemouth’s history, culture, and hidden details beyond the beach.

The activity includes two self-guided heritage walks with an optional treasure hunt, designed to follow on from one another or be completed separately. Walk one, West Cliff to Gardens (1.5 miles / 2.4 km), takes in the pier, gardens along the River Bourne, churches, the Town Hall, and historic green spaces. Walk two, Town Centre to The Sea (1 mile / 1.6 km), explores shopping streets, historic churches, arcades, pine walks, the Pavilion, and finishes at the seafront, with clues focused on local history and landmarks.

The Curious About Bournemouth booklet costs £7.49, which covers the full set of walks and activities.

Curious About Bournemouth offers a relaxed and engaging way to see the town differently. The self-guided format means you can go at your own pace while staying active and learning along the way. It’s a great choice for families with children aged 6+, visitors, and anyone wanting a low-cost, enjoyable way to explore Bournemouth’s history and seafront.

Features

Paid
Host birthday parties: No

Features

An exploration of Bournemouth's town centre with two self-guided heritage walks with an optional treasure hunt. Completing the treasure hunt keeps everyone actively engaged, and urges you to look up, down and every which-way - so you won't miss out on any of the town's treasures.
Most clues are chosen for their historical value, so you'll learn about the diverse culture, significant people and extraordinary events which have influenced Bournemouth in becoming what it is today. This is an outdoor, unsupervised activity - so you can go at a pace which suits you, whilst keeping you healthy!
A Curious About walk is a fun and social activity for all the family and friends. Different people can take on different roles - follow the map, identify picture clues, read directions, etc - it's ideal for children from the age of 6, and if you can walk/wheelchair it, you're young enough!
The two walks have been designed so that the second one follows on from where the first one ends. Do both, or have a breather and do the second one another day! They both start and finish in the heart of the town - so buses, trains and car parks are easily available to get you there and back.

What to see

West Cliff to Gardens - 1.5 miles / 2.4 kms: From the top of a path which zig-zags steeply down West Cliff to the beach, take the easier option and stroll past West Cliff lift and a famous conference centre to the front of Bournemouth’s fabulous pier. Next it’s up through beautiful gardens beside the River Bourne, past areas where you can play or rest, before circling around stunning churches and the Town Hall, to end in yet more delightful, gorgeous and historic gardens.
Town Centre to The Sea - 1 mile / 1.6 kms: From Bournemouth Square make your way up the town’s most interesting shopping street before passing a church made famous by Mary Shelley - author of Frankenstein! Next it’s through an unusual arcade to a walk through pine trees, with an outdoor aviary, and the renowned Pavilion. Finally, end your walk down by the sea, with fresh air, sandcastles, beach huts, deckchairs, fish & chips and lots of fun!