One of the biggest draws to Bournemouth, Poole and the surrounding Dorset area is the diverse range of outdoor leisure facilities.  The area’s stunning coastline and protected bays and harbours offer some nationally renowned locations for watersports such as windsurfing, kitesurfing, surfing, scuba diving, sailing and fishing.  Indeed, the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy has been selected to host all the sailing events of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  At the same time, walkers, cyclists or horse riders are all well catered for. There are also numerous golf courses within the area.  For the more adventurous, rock climbing, abseiling, paragliding, zorbing, hot air ballooning and even llama trekking are available in the area!
Bournemouth and Poole’s town centres are largely pedestrianised and offer a mixture of high quality department stores and boutique stores.  Just to the north of Bournemouth town centre there is the new out-of-town Castlepoint shopping centre, with many big name stores and parking for over 3,000 cars.  There are also thriving shopping centres at both Weymouth and Dorchester. Shopping isn’t restricted to the major towns.  Dorset’s market towns contain a good mix of high street chains and speciality stores.  Many towns also hold regular markets which boast high quality local produce with the additional benefit to the environment of significantly lower ‘food miles’.

In the evening, local produce can be enjoyed in the many fine eating and drinking establishments in the area.   Sit on the seafront and taste fish brought in that morning, sample traditional fare in one of the many countryside pubs or enjoy a sumptuous meal at a luxury hotel.  Afterwards, you can enjoy one of the numerous concerts or plays in the area and, if you still have the energy, you can party into the small hours at one of the many stylish bars and clubs.

There are new developments in the pipeline that will improve the range of cultural and leisure facilities in the area.  For example, new marina developments in Weymouth and Portland, a new cultural quarter in Bournemouth and a new retail/leisure development in the centre of Poole.