Zip, hack and putt
Pick from three cool, themed courses at Mr Mulligan’s adventure golf, ride PierZip, the world’s first pier-to-shore zip. Take a day trip to beautiful Guernsey or a Leap of Faith at RockReef. Hack horses in the New Forest, see a museum gifted to the future by an explorer at Russell-Cotes, or just shop the Victorian arcades.
Kids ahoy!
Pop down to beach: it’s just 300 metres away. Pick from three cool, themed courses at Mr Mulligan’s adventure golf – explore a spaceship, try to survive an apocalypse or take on the alien leader Tee-Puk in an invasion. Or pop round the corner to Oceanarium, with over 150 species of fish, including otters, penguins and crocodiles.
Up for an adrenaline rush? PierZip is the world’s first pier-to-shore zip, sending you down to the beach from the Zip Tower platform on a 250-metre wire. With two parallel lines, you can race your mates to the shore. Or keep the height thing going on Bournemouth Eye, with 500-foot balloon flights offering channel views.
Not sure what you want to do next? Take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour and make your mind up as you go. You’ve 18 stops bursting with surf, sand and seaside fun to choose from. Or how about a little tag at Laser Quest, a living computer game with no bruises or nasty mess?
Take on 28 indoor climbing challenges at RockReef on the pier and race your mates up the speed wall. Stay there for PierCave: move around the twists, turns, dips and bumps of three separate, colour-coded caving tunnels. Mum and dad can watch from the café. Or tackle HighLine, an indoor aerial obstacle course suspended 20 feet in the air.
For the grown ups
Grown-up kids will enjoy many of the activities aimed at their offspring. You’re unlikely to turn your nose up at PierZip, whisking you on a 250-metre zip wire from pier to beach, or the Leap of Faith challenge at RockReef. Or hurl yourself recklessly into the crystal-clear sea on a coasteering challenge.
As a left-field option, how about a day trip to Guernsey? Catch the Condor from Poole and you could be there in as little as three hours, walking the Rousse headland, sunbathing at Saline Bay and refuelling in the Grande Rocques Bistro. Come back to learn stand-up paddleboarding at Surf Steps.
Ride horses and hack in the New Forest with Bagnum Equestrian. Stay there for archery sessions, crossbow shooting, axe throwing and bushcraft skills with Insight Activities. Come back to Hengistbury Head to take the train to Mudeford Sand spit, then refresh with a cup of tea and a slice of cake. Then it’s on to the top of Warren Hill.
See four purpose-built galleries at Russell-Cotes, a house gifted to his wife by an explorer, filled with exotic objects from around the world, and then sealed and presented to the future as a museum. Or potter the national brands and quirky independent shops you’ll find in Bournemouth’s Victorian arcades.
