Bournemouth, England
 

My father was stationed near Bournemouth as a fighter pilot during the D Day invasion. We will be taking the train from London for one day in October. Any suggestions of places to eat, things to do in Bournemouth.

there is i believe some kind of poor imitation of the Blackpool Lights, Christmas lights illuminations along the boardwalk - Bournemouth is known as one of the most elegant of British seaside resorts - not much to do in the place however.

http://www.bournemouth.co.uk/....try google.co.uk for loads of websites, and as a past resident of the town it's obvious that PalenqueBob has never been there !!

NevCharlie: PalenqueBob has been there - stayed there in a B&B and is a very, very nice town - one of the finest seaside towns in UK I've been too - neat Neo-Classical monumental buildings. You may rightly, but wrongly, have construed my comment that Bournemouth is not nice - it's very nice - but i was talking of tourist sights - but i should have described the beauty of Bournemouth - 'the city set in a garden', as Thomas Hardy described it in Tess of the Dubervilles - actually his town was called Sandbourne, but was in reality Bournemouth - he writes: it's "a Mediterranean lounging place on the Riviera."
So i meant by not much to do - no great museums, castles, etc., but should have qualified that and said that Thomas Hardy was indeed right and for a day trip or day or two Bournemouth is delightful. Accept my regrets for not having made a full view of this pleasant place!

I’m not sure the last time you went, but Bournemouth has had a bit of a make-over. It used to be one of God’s waiting rooms on the South Coast (Eastbourne. Worthing etc etc). Now however it is a party town. There is a long street full of pubs, bars, restaurants, lap dancing clubs (if that’s your sort of thing) etc.

There is a rather good museum – the Russell Coates, set in their house (he was a collector). Website here:

http://www.russell-cotes.bournemouth.gov.uk/


There is also an Aquarium (I’ve not been but it’s supposed to be good).

A word of warning: As I said this town is now party-central and gets very crowded at weekends especially, so if you’re planning to stay book ahead (and avoid the hotels that stag and hen parties use – ask when you book).

Was your father actually stationed at Bournemouth itself?

Bournemouth now has a university and lots of English language schools where foreign teenagers come to learn English, so is much, much livelier than in the past.
If you want to see some historic sights, try Christchurch which is about five miles to the east, served by frequent buses from Bournemouth, and with a station on the Bournemouth-London line.

As the others have said - the Bournemouth of today is nothing like the B'mouth of your father's time (or even 25 years ago). Doesn't mean you shouldn't go - just not the quiet seaside resort you might envision.

You say he was stationed NEAR Bournemouth. Do you know where exactly? There were Americans stationed all along the coast and it is possible he was nearer to some other town/village.

Was just there in August. As others have noted, much different now than when I was there 22 years ago. Still very upscale, though.

We were actually staying in the New Forest, about 20 minutes away, but had a very nice dinner at West Beach at sunset looking out over the sea. Right near the amusement pier on the boardwalk.

Bournemouth has some nice sandy beaches and decent "town centre" or down town shopping. The Zoo night club is great.

I went to school there as a teenager and it was fun with all my friends. But this town only seemed to attract either students, or retired English couples who only want to sit on the beach and do nothing else.

Nothing exciting there really.

Thank you all for your helpful information. For those who asked, my father was stationed at, or near, Ringwood.

Ringwood considers itself a gateway to tne New Forest, so for a one-day visit you could find plenty there alone:

http://www.hants.gov.uk/localpages/s...d/attract.html

The New Forest is wonderful - lots to see and really lovely scenery.