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Going to Dorset for about a week on wednesday, looking for some things to do while im there (free is best). anyone been there??

A load of us spent all our summers at Bournemouth beach as well as Weymouth close by, years ago, as it's less than 45 minutes away from me. Not a huge amount to do in Bournemouth apart from the IMAX cinema on the beach and the awesome sandy beach, chilling out in the sun stuff. Some good pubs dotted about Bournemouth and Euro bars as it has loads of foreigners about due to many Euro exchange colleges (lots of German, French, Swiss, Spanish, etc) Still a bit too cold for the beach at the moment but the town centre is easily reached through a small park near the pavilion, but in peak summer it's a brilliant place both for chilling out on the beach in the day and the nightlife in the town centre.

I went to Bournemouth Uni for 3 years so know the place very well. As said though, to be honest other than going out drinking or enjoying the sun, there isn't a great deal to do (even less for free).
I never went to the IMAX as it doesn't seem that popular, it was also voted the biggest eyesore in Bournemouth haha. Although that is right on the sea front so you will easily see it if you visit the beach. There is a pretty cool Aquarium on the sea front also...nothing like Sea World but i still enjoyed it.

Usually by this time of year the Bournemouth Eye is open, which is kind of like a hot air balloon attached on strings....so it doesn't go far, just very high. It is quite expensive though.
That is in the middle of the park/gardens in the town centre, so again you should find it easy to spot. The gardens itself are nice and i used to eat my lunch there when i worked in town.....you get the the beach from the town centre by walking through those gardens.

I think there is an aviation museum out by the airport too, which is a car ride away.

That's all that is coming to my head straight away....i can recommend a few places to eat and drink if necessary.
Just for the record my 2 fave bars are Inferno (a slightly aternative very student place)....and...60 Million Postcards (not so studenty and a bit more classier than a student bar).

Hey Valo, do you know the Richmond Arms pub, that's where we hung out a great deal in the evenings after the beach as it was wall to wall packed with foreign totty there, in fact the whole street was. Met a gorgeous Swiss girl in there who when she returned home, sent me a huge box of Swiss chocolate bars and a Swiss army knife too.

Anyway, never did the IMAX either, aquarium or the balloon but done quite a few clubs and pubs in town. The only things I know in the area is driving out of town to other nearby places such as Monkey World zoo, Corfe Castle or Poole harbour. The newspapers always seem to use a packed beach view of Bournemouth beach from the pier, when the sun eventually comes out every year. We spent a good 8 years driving over to Bournemouth in peak summer months hitting the sun and going to pubs and clubs in the evening and one of the best raves I've been to was in the Pavillion, not sure if they still take place, but piece of cake to get anything you want in there.

had a feeling it would be pretty dull so ive brought extra bud. imax sounds ok though maybe the aquarium. cheers guys

I do know the Richmond Arms....never been inside though. You made me laugh when you said the whole street had foreign totty.....as that is an area called Charminster and is know for being the foreign part of Bournemouth.

My friends and i used to nickname that street 'Little Serbia' as you could only ever hear foreigners talking when walking down the street. On a really hot day when walking to the town down Charminster highstreet, it really feels like a holiday resort. I'm not saying it is a bad thing, but like you mentioned before, Bournemouth is very mutli-cultured and has lots of language schools.
A couple of the main clubs in town even do foreign student nights evey week.

Another thing i remember out of town is Tower Park....which has a water park and bowling (and a nando's )

But the website for the aquarium is here to get a better idea of it...
http://www.oceanarium.co.uk/

And the Tank Museum Stuart,

http://www.tankmuseum.org/visit_us

and a lovely trip along to Lulworth Cove, sit up on the cliffs with a good spliff and blow your cares away for a couple of hours is nice.

Blue Skies

Valo wrote:I do know the Richmond Arms....never been inside though. You made me laugh when you said the whole street had foreign totty.....as that is an area called Charminster and is know for being the foreign part of Bournemouth.

My friends and i used to nickname that street 'Little Serbia' as you could only ever hear foreigners talking when walking down the street. On a really hot day when walking to the town down Charminster highstreet, it really feels like a holiday resort. I'm not saying it is a bad thing, but like you mentioned before, Bournemouth is very mutli-cultured and has lots of language schools.
A couple of the main clubs in town even do foreign student nights evey week.

Yeah, you got it, you know exactly the area I mean.
Richmond Arms has gone down hill a bit apparently over the years, compared to the days when we went, but it had a huge beer garden that got packed in peak summer nights full of foreign student totty, lol. Yes, good days for all of us each weekend back then {ahem} and hung out there a great deal meeting up with many at night and chilling out on the beach in the day.

spidergawd wrote:And the Tank Museum Stuart,

http://www.tankmuseum.org/visit_us

and a lovely trip along to Lulworth Cove, sit up on the cliffs with a good spliff and blow your cares away for a couple of hours is nice.

Blue Skies

If you're lucky to catch any training or exercises taking place, Lulworth cove can be fun to get to, btw, You have to drive directly through a military training zone where tanks and machine gun fire suddenly let rip, with the tank shells echoing miles through the air and you can see it all from the road.

spidergawd wrote:And the Tank Museum Stuart,

http://www.tankmuseum.org/visit_us

and a lovely trip along to Lulworth Cove, sit up on the cliffs with a good spliff and blow your cares away for a couple of hours is nice.

Blue Skies

Hell yeah i would love to go to Bovington