3 Best Sights in Bournemouth, The South

With 7 miles of clean, sandy beaches tucked beneath its cliffs, Bournemouth is said to enjoy some of the country's warmest sea temperatures. You can descend to the seafront either by taking the zigzag paths through the public gardens near Bournemouth Pier (where there's a family-friendly amusement arcade) or by taking the three outdoor elevators from the cliffs. A handy Beach Check live map website tells you how crowded different areas are at any given time. If you're not tempted to swim, you can stroll along the nearby promenade. Sailing, windsurfing, and other water sports are also big here. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); water sports. Best for: walking.

Perched on East Cliff, this lavish late-Victorian villa overflows with sculpture, paintings, and artifacts, including cases of butterflies and an exquisite suit of Japanese armor—just a few of the treasures collected from around the world by Merton and Annie Russell-Cotes, a widely traveled Victorian couple. The house, a combination of Italian Renaissance and Scottish Baronial styles, with added Moorish-, Japanese-, and French-themed rooms, was designed to showcase the collection. The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions and has a small landscaped garden and café. 

It's easy to recognize this parish church by its 200-foot-high tower and spire. Lewis Tregonwell, founder and developer of Bournemouth, is buried in the churchyard. Also buried here is Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein and wife of the great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose heart is interred with her in the elaborate Shelley family vault. Mary Shelley's mother, the feminist philosopher and writer Mary Wollstonecraft, is buried in the Shelley vault, too.