The seven-mile sweep of sand is what brings most visitors, but Bournemouth has more than beach. The Victorian pier and the Pleasure Gardens are the heart of the seafront. The Russell-Cotes Museum, a Victorian villa stuffed with art and curiosities, is one of the best small museums in England. St Peter's churchyard holds the grave of Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein. The clifftop funicular railways -- there are three -- are an entertaining way to get up and down the cliffs.
Beyond the centre, Boscombe to the east has a vintage and surf scene, and the Chines -- the steep wooded ravines that cut down to the sea -- are quiet, green, and a complete contrast to the seafront.