2 Nights in Bournemouth

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside…

I returned from Vegan Campout last Sunday. Back at work for one day and then the Tuesday after, I hopped on the train to Bournemouth with my friend. It’s a shame I couldn’t get anymore days off so I could have left Monday or Sunday night, but we still enjoyed ourselves with the little time we had left. You could say it was like a little weekend trip within the weekday.

Highlights

Diana and I had been friends for over 10 years, but this was the first time we went on holiday together. We fancied going to the seaside and was stuck between Brighton or Bournemouth. We picked the latter because it was a direct train ride. A big highlight from the holiday was having drinks and catching up. We had a lot of laughs in our hotel room. Every night, we had plans to go to the pier, but we always ended up near the bar or in our hotel room. We were so tired because of how much walking and swimming we did.

We underestimated that walk up the hill for sure. We did end up going to the pier Wednesday morning after going to the aquarium. We loved the aquarium and we made friends with all the animals and fish there. Our best friend there is Jimmy!

I had a great time trying this virtual reality game in the pier’s arcade machine. We went twice, afterwards I felt so dizzy as if I was on a roller coaster but it felt like I was really in Jurassic Park fighting prehistoric creatures.

I never thought I had the courage to do it, but I went down the zip wire. It was a lot of steps. The hardest thing was the jump, but once you jumped it was okay.

The worst bit about the trip was going home because I had to go work in the afternoon.

Costs

Planned Budget: £300

As I have been saving at least £50 a month from my salary, I was able to get this easily as I my main goal was to avoid using my credit card. I overestimated how much money I needed for Vegan Campout, so I still had some cash on me. The £300 budget included both cash and card payments.

Train: £45.25

I managed to get a nice discount because of my railcard. Had I have not booked the train in advance with my railcard, I would have likely have paid double the price.

Hotel: £165

My friend booked it, and we had a look at hotels together. Britannia by the East Cliff suited us because it was near the beach and it was a lovely room. Diana and I have been friends for years so we were okay sharing a bed. The hotel was £165 for each of us, so it worked out as £82.50 per night and per person. For the room we had and the inclusion of four buffet meals, I would say this was a great deal.

Food & Drinks: £25

This is a rough estimate. Before checking into our hotel we got some drinks and snacks to have at the hotel and for the beach. We also had lunch on the beach and shared a vegan chorizo and spinach panini which was lovely. Of course there was ice cream by the pier. Buffet breakfast and dinner was included with our hotel price, which made a big difference.

Activities: £51.50

Zip Wire from the top of pier to the beach was £20. The ride around the weel was £8. I spent £12 on the arcade machines on the pier. The Aquarium admission was £11.50. We saved £1.50 each by booking online.

My actual spend for the holiday came to £296.75. I was bang on with the budget which made me quite happy. On top of that, I also won a Starwars thing from the 2p slot machines and £20 from the casino slot machines. Not bad for a summer seaside holiday.

And of course. swimming, sunbathing and catching waves with your bestie on the beach is priceless. Now I sound like a MasterCard advert.