Alum Chine Tropical Gardens — Attraction in England

After some great shopping and coffee in Westbourne you can meander down to the beach via the shady Alum Chine, a mini gorge straddled by some beautiful foot bridges. Lore has it that a young Winston Churchill jumped from one, trying to escape some local youths, landing badly and needing hospitalisation. The chine is filled with mature trees and Bournemouth’s famous pines abound. The south end of the chine footpath opens up to the beach. As you near the shore, there is an entrance to the gardens and children’s playground on the left side. The gardens are also accessible from West Overcliff Drive, on the clifftop, where there is plenty of free car parking. They were first laid out in the early 20C and renovated in the 1990s. The path down from the cliff top is initially quite steep but there are seats to rest up if needed. Beautiful, dazzling tropical plants and palms waft in the breeze during the spring and summer as the sea breaks in the distance. It is a haven, a place to calm your mind and on a lovely day you could be (well, about as far as the UK goes!) in the Mediterranean. If you get hungry there’s Vesuvios with good food and ice cream on the beach at the bottom of the path. May and June are when the plants really shine. Bournemouth pier is about a 25min walk along the promenade. Oh and watch out for the sheep eating plant!!...

Stunning gardens with a lovely Mediterranean atmosphere and great views of the sea. Could do with being a bit better kept and they clearly didn't understand how big some of the plants were going to get, for example the phoenix canariensis palms, some of which are planted right up against pine trees. There are actually many more species they could include, too, for example butia odorata, washingtonia and jubaea. They could do with introducing more varieties of agave than just Americana, too.

Very few of the species here are actually tropical and more Mediterranean/arid but they're definitely exotic and it's a fantastic environment to be in. Most of the plants here can survive along the entire South Coast and even a bit inland so it would be nice if more of the area was like this. You can get a good chunk of these...

A beautiful cliff top suntrap, often out of the wind, offering spectacular views over Bournemouth beach. Winding paths take you through a plethora of tropical plants, nestled into the chine hillside. Paths with various inclines take you from the clifftop down to the beach, where the trees are alive with the local squirrel population. Be sure to take some monkey nuts, they love em. The mid-level plateaux has a number of benches, ideal for a lunch stop with a view. Toilets on hand down in Alum chine, next to the well stablished...