20, May 2015: Since being voted the best beach in the country and the 4th best in Europe, Bournemouth has gone from strength to strength and a couple of years later remains among the most popular holiday destinations in Great Britain. However, as a spokesperson for the Hermitage Hotel said: “There is so much more to Bournemouth than just a fantastic beach”. If you are heading for Dorset’s most famous seaside town and looking for fun things to do, the following 5 activities – handpicked by the staff at the Hermitage Hotel, on Bournemouth’s seafront – should get you off to a great start.

Hermitage Hotel

1. Visit the Bournemouth Aquarium – There is a number of fascinating displays at the aquarium but the most impressive has to be the Barrier Reef. You can literally walk through the marine life in this display, travelling along the underwater tunnel. Other exciting displays that you should definitely take in while you are there include the Amazon, Turtle Beach and Crocodile Rocks.

2. Fly in the Bournemouth Balloon – Formerly known as the Eye, the Bournemouth Balloon is a huge helium-filled balloon with an enclosed gondola underneath. Tethered to a high-tensile steel cable, it rises 500 feet into the air and allows the 28 people the gondola can accommodate a 360° panoramic view of the town, the surrounding countryside and the English Channel.

3. Shop at Bournemouth Arcade – Shopping arcades enclosed with a beautiful glass roof were very popular in Victorian England and Bournemouth’s is an excellent example of why this was so. Protected from the elements in a genteel, relaxed atmosphere, you can explore the shops inside at your leisure. Buy a book from Waterstones, dip into a few pages at random whilst enjoying a cup of coffee at a nearby café or simply stroll up and down hunting for souvenirs to take home. The choice is yours.

4. Shoot Your Friends and Family – A visit to the Bournemouth Indoor Paintball Centre is a great way to spend an afternoon should the weather preclude outdoor activities. Dramatic lighting, smoke and sound effects help to create a chaotic atmosphere in which only the most cunning and alert of combatants will survive!

5. Stroll in the Victorian Gardens – Bournemouth’s beautiful and tranquil gardens stretch from the north of the town all the way to the seafront and are a great place for a relaxing walk at any time of day. If you are staying in the Hermitage Hotel, the Lower Gardens are literally a stone’s throw away, and from here you can walk all the way through to the Central and Upper Gardens.

The one activity that is conspicuous by its absence in the above list is a visit to the award-winning beach: seven miles of gorgeous golden sands, nestled under the sandy clay cliffs in which the discovery of fossilised palms confirmed that Bournemouth once enjoyed a tropical climate. As the manager of the hotel said – “The micro climate created by the bay ensures that even now, visitors can enjoy some of the warmest waters to be found off the British coastline.”

For Media Contact:
Company: Hermitage Hotel
Address: Exeter Road
Bournemouth, Dorset BH2 5AH, United Kingdom
Phone: 01202 557363
Email Id: [email protected]