Bournemouth is mainly known for its beaches and reputation as a British seaside town, as well as a range of water sports and a vast array of fine cuisine. However, there is much more to be discovered in the nearby area. The county of Dorset has some of the most beautiful and picturesque countryside in Britain. You can also find many pretty villages and historical landmarks that have existed for a very long time.
If you venture farther from your Bournemouth accommodation, you can discover a completely different facet of your visit to Bournemouth. Turn east and you can find the New Forest, one of the largest Heathland areas in the world. Also visit the British naval town of Portsmouth and you can see famous ships such as HMS Victory and the Mary Rose, which was lost at sea since the Tudor era.
Turn west and you can discover the neighbouring town of Poole, which boasts the second largest natural harbour in the world, and beauty spots like Brownsea Island, a National Trust reserve where the original UK scout movement was founded by Robert Baden-Powell. If you travel north, you can find the city of Salisbury, which has a cathedral with the tallest spire in the UK. You can also visit the world-famous Stonehenge in Wiltshire. All these things can be visited from a Bournemouth hotel near the beach.
There is a lot of British history to be found in nearby towns and villages. For example, in the Purbeck area you can find a small abandoned village called Tyneham. This well preserved and maintained village was abandoned in 1943 when the British Army decided to use it for training, and it remains abandoned to this day. Nearby is the Bovington Tank Museum, which features the best collection of tanks in the UK. You can see some of the world's first tanks, and find out about world war history.
One excellent place to visit is the Jurassic coast, which stretches across the south of the UK. Here you can immerse yourself in the natural beauty of the coastline and look at more than 185 million years of history scripted on the rugged cliffs. There are many beautiful views across the Purbeck area, and it is highly recommended you bring your camera to capture the natural beauty. To the east of Purbeck, you can find the town of Swanage, which is a gorgeous spitting image of a classic Victorian seaside town in Britain. To the west near the picturesque town of Corfe, you can find the ruins of Corfe Castle, which was blown up with gunpowder in the English Civil War.
Martin Wynn
