Review 2014: Swanage

I’m VERY excited to feature today, the first of the NHM “Secret Reviews”!

Thank you very much to Vicky for her fabulous review below!

I’ve never been to Swanage before, but it’s on my list now! 😀

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Swanage, Dorest, BH19 (Just over an hour away from Basingstoke)

On a lovely warm march day we headed to the Jurassic coast to this beautiful, very English, seaside town. Something for everyone and much loved by myself and family. Sun, sea, sand and Dorset apple cake.

Play

Well what can I say! You’ve got a lovely stretch of sand and the sea. We came prepared with a bucket and spade and spent a good hour making sandcastles. We splashed in the sea which was freezing! Its all sand with lots of lovely pretty shells to collect. We take these home and put in the sandpit to recreate our beach!

There are lots of lovely cheery shops to mooch about in. Delicious bakeries , charity shops , gift shops, crystal shop, model shops etc. There is a huge arcade with the usual 2p slot machines of which we are addicted to! Our mission is to collect as many of those cheap key rings from every seaside resort we go to.

If you feel like you want to experience the old fashioned part of Swanage then you must go the Swanage Railway which will take you past Corfe Castle. This is quite expensive but a must to do, probably best when weather is warmer. We take a picnic and sit in the field (with dried cow pats!) eating lunch, watching the steam and diesel trains go by.

There is also a lovely museum which I still haven’t been in but is on my” to-do” list for our next visit.

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Tips

Beautiful shop called Ever After which sells Cath Kidston style bits and bobs. Lovely Kiddies things , We found Peppa pig and got a lovely rucksack for £8.99 and a cute handbag for £5.99.

The best bakery is Butterfingers, lush moist apple cake £1.30 a slice, fresh sausage rolls and too many other niceties to tempt you .

Great ice cream stall on the front only £1.50 !

Take your flip flops.

Food

Lots of bakeries (see in Tips). There is a co op and Budgens if you need supermarkets. Two fish and chip shops. Lots of ice cream stalls.

Facilities

There are public toilets next to the museum which are 20p.

Baby Facilities

Not sure about this as didn’t check , but we normally just do it on the beach or boot of car!

Parking

There is a pay and display car park at the pier end which is very expensive. Normally costs about £ 6. 00 for about 3 to 4 hours. At the time of our visit we were unlucky as half of the car park was being resurfaced.

We did manage to find parking just around the corner on ( funnily enough ) Park road. We didn’t pay for this and it was not residential only! So that was a great saving.

There is also another car park towards the back of the station. This is also pricey and on weekends can be sectioned off for a market.

Prices

Parking either free, or expensive! I think this is a great place to spend a day combined with somewhere else. The beach is free so you only really need cash for food, slot machines and ice cream.

Rating out of 5

The big 5 !

Secret Reviewer

Vicky

Thank you Vicky! Fab Review 😀