UK Beach: Bournemouth, Portsmouth or somewhere else?
Jun 30th, 2012, 07:03 PM
#1
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UK Beach: Bournemouth, Portsmouth or somewhere else?
I am visiting Oxford for three and half weeks in July. As a change of pace from historical sites and museums I would like take my 2 children to the coast for a day. I am considering Bournemouth or Portsmouth. Would you recommend either of these beaches? Another beach? I am also wondering if this is realistic as a day trip from Oxford?
Thank you in advance!
Thank you in advance!
Jun 30th, 2012, 07:44 PM
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We took a day trip from London to Studland Beach, a National Trust property, not far from Bournemouth. Lovely sand beach, cafe, lots of families. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/studland-beach
Get an early start from Oxford and you should be able to do this as a long day trip.
Get an early start from Oxford and you should be able to do this as a long day trip.
Jun 30th, 2012, 08:00 PM
#3
Not really. Oxford to Bournemouth will take about 2.5 hours each way for the drive. So you are looking at 5 hours in the car for a few hours on the water. (Portsmouth/the historic docks is very interesting but not a 'beachy' place)
There really isn't any sea coast that is convenient for a day trip from Oxford. Bournemouth is about as close as anywhere. The Somerset coast is actually nearer - but takes longer to reach. Can you go for over night?
If you just want some water activities . . . you might check out the Cotswold Water Park http://www.cotswoldcountrypark.co.uk/
There really isn't any sea coast that is convenient for a day trip from Oxford. Bournemouth is about as close as anywhere. The Somerset coast is actually nearer - but takes longer to reach. Can you go for over night?
If you just want some water activities . . . you might check out the Cotswold Water Park http://www.cotswoldcountrypark.co.uk/
Jun 30th, 2012, 08:30 PM
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I guess 2.5 hours each way is a bit much although we do it locally (not in UK) quite often and think nothing of it. One could depart Oxford at 9 a.m., arrive beach 11:30-12 noon. Beach and water until 4:30 p.m. (4-1/2 to 5 hours is plenty in the sun IMHO), pack up, leave, arrive Oxford 7-7:30 p.m. (still lots of daylight left in UK). This would work -- just depends on how much driving you're comfortable with and how the children would fare. Not trying to start an argument -- just sharing ideas.
Jun 30th, 2012, 09:57 PM
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Depends what you and they are expecting.
There's a direct hourly train to Bournemouth, which is easily the most accessible beach from Oxford. The train stops at no other seaside town, but the stop before Bournemouth, Brockenhurst, is in the middle of the New Forest and has a bike hire place nest door to the station. After time in Oxford, most parents will be delighted to find somewhere their children can ride bikes through miles of woodland without a constant battle against cars and buses.
Bournemouth has a British beach (though most of its population now seems to come from overseas, since the town's turned in the past decade from being where genteel English people go to die to where Malaysians and Russians go to learn English). That might not be to the taste of someone from a warmer climate, but it's certainly different from Oxford.
Portsmouth's got a beach at Southsea: it's trickier to get to from Oxford and it's practically in the middle of a naval base, but it combines the English seaside experience with an extraordinary amount of things to see and do (it started being the centre of our Navy about the same time Oxford started being Europe's dominant academic centre, but there's an intriguing amount of Sherlock Holmes stuff there too)
The south coast can be a pain to drive round in the summer, and it's infinitely easier getting to Bournemouth by train. But the most interesting bits are those with cliffs, rather than Bournemouth's sandy beaches. The area now marketed as the Jurassic Coast fits nicely with the dinosaur stuff in and outside the University Museum at Oxford: while William Buckland was arranging the Oxfordshire dinosaur bones (dug up as a by-product of quarrying for roofing during Oxford's 18th century building boom), entrepreneurial women were selling bits of tyrannosaurus around Weymouth to his scientific rivals. It was the combination of Buckland's eccentric creativity and the Weymouth fishwives' moneygrubbing that made the world safe for Darwin, and there's a serious argument that they constituted Britain's single greatest contribution to the modern world.
It IS possible to drive to the Jurassic Coast, explore it and get back to Oxford not much after tea. But in summer traffic can add hours to that, especially at weekends.
There's a same-platform connection from the train from Oxford at Winchester, Southampton Airport and Bournemouth to Weymouth and Wareham. At both these stations, there's a bus service round the coast (http://www.jurassiccoast.com/305/sec...-coast-31.html). Use the National Rail website for some slightly faster connections. I've frequently done even the most multi-connection versions of this journey with luggage and dog, and it's a great deal less hassle than dealing with weekend traffic on the same route.
Most people in Oxford spend less than 1% of their time in "historical sites and museums", and no child should be exposed to that damn culture for more than an hour a day. If you need more advice about avoiding child cruelty, do ask.
There's a direct hourly train to Bournemouth, which is easily the most accessible beach from Oxford. The train stops at no other seaside town, but the stop before Bournemouth, Brockenhurst, is in the middle of the New Forest and has a bike hire place nest door to the station. After time in Oxford, most parents will be delighted to find somewhere their children can ride bikes through miles of woodland without a constant battle against cars and buses.
Bournemouth has a British beach (though most of its population now seems to come from overseas, since the town's turned in the past decade from being where genteel English people go to die to where Malaysians and Russians go to learn English). That might not be to the taste of someone from a warmer climate, but it's certainly different from Oxford.
Portsmouth's got a beach at Southsea: it's trickier to get to from Oxford and it's practically in the middle of a naval base, but it combines the English seaside experience with an extraordinary amount of things to see and do (it started being the centre of our Navy about the same time Oxford started being Europe's dominant academic centre, but there's an intriguing amount of Sherlock Holmes stuff there too)
The south coast can be a pain to drive round in the summer, and it's infinitely easier getting to Bournemouth by train. But the most interesting bits are those with cliffs, rather than Bournemouth's sandy beaches. The area now marketed as the Jurassic Coast fits nicely with the dinosaur stuff in and outside the University Museum at Oxford: while William Buckland was arranging the Oxfordshire dinosaur bones (dug up as a by-product of quarrying for roofing during Oxford's 18th century building boom), entrepreneurial women were selling bits of tyrannosaurus around Weymouth to his scientific rivals. It was the combination of Buckland's eccentric creativity and the Weymouth fishwives' moneygrubbing that made the world safe for Darwin, and there's a serious argument that they constituted Britain's single greatest contribution to the modern world.
It IS possible to drive to the Jurassic Coast, explore it and get back to Oxford not much after tea. But in summer traffic can add hours to that, especially at weekends.
There's a same-platform connection from the train from Oxford at Winchester, Southampton Airport and Bournemouth to Weymouth and Wareham. At both these stations, there's a bus service round the coast (http://www.jurassiccoast.com/305/sec...-coast-31.html). Use the National Rail website for some slightly faster connections. I've frequently done even the most multi-connection versions of this journey with luggage and dog, and it's a great deal less hassle than dealing with weekend traffic on the same route.
Most people in Oxford spend less than 1% of their time in "historical sites and museums", and no child should be exposed to that damn culture for more than an hour a day. If you need more advice about avoiding child cruelty, do ask.
Jun 30th, 2012, 11:31 PM
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The beach at Portsmouth (Southsea) is one of those truly horrible pebble beaches with no sand. Not that that deters the large number of lemming-like day trippers (mainly from inland areas like London) from visiting on a hot day, so it can be very crowded. Bournemouth is also very busy but has a proper sandy beach and lots of it! Coming by train you'll avoid the gridlock on the approaching roads.
Jun 30th, 2012, 11:42 PM
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The big difference between the beaches at Portsmouth (Southsea) and Bournemouth is that the Bournemouth beach is sand and the Southsea one is pebbles. If you want to build sand castles, then it has to be Bournemouth, where there are miles of beaches to choose from.
Southsea has more of interest in the way of shipping to see, and there historic ships to visit at Portsmouth Dockyard. Bournemouth is beaches and shopping.
Train travel is good between town centres. However, provided you travel on a weekday, I don't think the journey by car should take as long as 2.5 hours. A car would certainly be better for carrying the inflatable boat, buckets and spades, and it would be far easier to get to beaches like Hengistbury Head at Bournemouth by car.
Southsea has more of interest in the way of shipping to see, and there historic ships to visit at Portsmouth Dockyard. Bournemouth is beaches and shopping.
Train travel is good between town centres. However, provided you travel on a weekday, I don't think the journey by car should take as long as 2.5 hours. A car would certainly be better for carrying the inflatable boat, buckets and spades, and it would be far easier to get to beaches like Hengistbury Head at Bournemouth by car.
Jul 1st, 2012, 12:13 AM
#10
Much as I am a fierce advocate of Portsmouth, I couldn't recommend the beach. The seafront is great for walking, there is nearly always something interesting happening around Southsea Castle or the Common. But the beach is rubbish.
If using the train, I recommend Bournemouth - if Car, then Studland. Park up in Sandbanks, take the ferry across to the beach. There is a large nudist beach, but it is well signposted, and you can choose to walk through the dune paths to avoid it.
The main problem with beaches in July, particularly late July and School Holidays is that they, and the surrounding roads can get very very busy.
If using the train, I recommend Bournemouth - if Car, then Studland. Park up in Sandbanks, take the ferry across to the beach. There is a large nudist beach, but it is well signposted, and you can choose to walk through the dune paths to avoid it.
The main problem with beaches in July, particularly late July and School Holidays is that they, and the surrounding roads can get very very busy.
Jul 1st, 2012, 01:29 AM
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<i>but we're used to driving long distances.</i>
In which country? If in the sort of country where you turn on the radio and cruise control and turn your brain off for two hours then you are going to get an almighty shock at driving in the UK. Roads are narrower, more twists & turns, more starts & stops, traffic is faster...
In which country? If in the sort of country where you turn on the radio and cruise control and turn your brain off for two hours then you are going to get an almighty shock at driving in the UK. Roads are narrower, more twists & turns, more starts & stops, traffic is faster...
Jul 1st, 2012, 03:56 AM
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How about West Wittering beach, haven't been there for some years but it was very nice last time I went.
http://www.westwitteringbeach.co.uk/
http://www.westwitteringbeach.co.uk/
Jul 1st, 2012, 04:13 AM
#13
I grew up on Poole beech and at least one cousin still teaches windsurfing off the Beech and in Poole harbour my advice is
1) Bournemouth beech is sandy but nothing to write home about
2) Poole Beech is nicer but access is harder and very hard after 10am in school holidays on a summers day and even more so at the weekend
3) Studland beech (the more to the West the better) is the best but again access is difficult as you either have to get past the queues for Poole Beech, over the ferry and then find a park or get there via Wareham which in high summer coming from Oxford is the sensible way to get there.
1) Bournemouth beech is sandy but nothing to write home about
2) Poole Beech is nicer but access is harder and very hard after 10am in school holidays on a summers day and even more so at the weekend
3) Studland beech (the more to the West the better) is the best but again access is difficult as you either have to get past the queues for Poole Beech, over the ferry and then find a park or get there via Wareham which in high summer coming from Oxford is the sensible way to get there.
Jul 1st, 2012, 04:19 AM
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When I was a lad in Portsmouth in the late fifties, something we regularly saw on summer Sundays were red London double deck buses bringing people to Southsea for a day out. These buses had a top speed of about 40 mph, and they must have struggled to get over Butser Hill and round Hindhead. They did not have the comfort required for long journeys.
If the Londoners of the fifties could live with such journeys on narrow twisting roads, I wonder about the wusses who cannot cope with a journey in an air-conditioned car down the dual carriageway A34, M3 and A31.
If the Londoners of the fifties could live with such journeys on narrow twisting roads, I wonder about the wusses who cannot cope with a journey in an air-conditioned car down the dual carriageway A34, M3 and A31.
Jul 1st, 2012, 04:23 AM
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Jul 1st, 2012, 04:26 AM
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"red London double deck buses bringing people to Southsea for a day out."
They all seemed to park in the car park behind the fair at Clarence Pier, you couldn't get in there after about midday on a Sunday!
They all seemed to park in the car park behind the fair at Clarence Pier, you couldn't get in there after about midday on a Sunday!
Jul 1st, 2012, 06:48 AM
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alanRow, Just said we drove Moreton-in-Marsh to Studland and back the same day. In UK. Apparently, some consider this a "long distance." No cruise control, brain engaged, had a lovely day, some motorway, some 2-lane. I also said this isn't for everyone. Just exploring possibilities.
Jul 1st, 2012, 11:50 AM
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" Just said we drove Moreton-in-Marsh to Studland and back the same day."
Very possibly.
But, as someone with infinitely more experience of the A34 AND the Cotswold railway line than anyone else round here, I still insist that the same-platform change at Oxford is a far, far less horrible way in midsummer of getting to a beach from the Cotswolds than coping with the M27 and A31
Very possibly.
But, as someone with infinitely more experience of the A34 AND the Cotswold railway line than anyone else round here, I still insist that the same-platform change at Oxford is a far, far less horrible way in midsummer of getting to a beach from the Cotswolds than coping with the M27 and A31
Jul 1st, 2012, 12:03 PM
#19
art-mom
does this HAVE to be a day trip?
make it an overnight [or even better a weekend] then you can have the beach and jurrasic coast too, and a look at the New Forest.
or North Somerset, plus interesting stops en route like Dunster &/or Bristol.
does this HAVE to be a day trip?
make it an overnight [or even better a weekend] then you can have the beach and jurrasic coast too, and a look at the New Forest.
or North Somerset, plus interesting stops en route like Dunster &/or Bristol.
Jul 1st, 2012, 07:24 PM
#20
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I really wasn’t expecting so many responses! Sorry it’s taken me awhile to reply, but there is so much to sort out for a three+ week trip. Thank you all so much! With everything else we have planned (and some scheduled down time) I really wanted to keep this as a day trip, although an overnight is not out of the question. I am postponing the final decision until I get to England. As of now, I am leaning toward Bournesmouth or Studland Beach for the day. 2 to 2 ½ hours sounds long, but doable since it’s mostly major roads. I will also seriously consider using the train. If we end up driving, we will be going during the week, hoping to avoid the worst of the traffic and crowds. New Forest looks beautiful so that is one more good reason for taking the train. Thank you again for all of your suggestions!
