Swanage Dorset

Advantages: Superb beach, stunning cliffs, spectacular countryside
Disadvantages: traffic, house prices, Chavs

...like stepping back in time, Swanage is a real old fashioned seaside town with a great beach. There's nothing nicer than standing up to my waist is the sea whilst watching the last of the tourists pack up and head home. For such a small town (population less than 10,000) there is a surprising amount of things going on. There is a full range of eateries and takeaways as well as some very special pubs, The evil empire of burger chains has yet to establish ...
...rehearsing and further away, the Swanage town band. Seagulls shriek around the chimney pots all day and people stop to pass the time of day. The downside? it is one of the dearest places in the country to buy a house. £250,000 will get you a small flat or a two bedroom house with no off road parking. Down by the Mowlem theatre the local chavs congregate, trying to look hard, although sitting on a 50cc scooter revving the engine usually causes laughter ... Read review

Advantages: great beach with watersports, lots to do and see
Disadvantages: like anywhere in Britiain the weather isn't guaranteed

The town of Swanage is a small seaside resort in Dorset (population 11,000). Swanage sits at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, about 10km south of Poole. It used to be a small port and fishing village until the Victorian era when it became the tourist seeking seaside town it is today. It's a lovely place and still very natural - on a clear day you can see for miles from the clifftops and even sea dolphins swimming offshore. The real attraction ...
...Group seaside award in 2003. Swanage is considered to be the British home of scuba diving because of its many offshore wrecks and crystal clear waters. The sheltered conditions of Swanage Bay caused by the Purbeck Ridge are taken advantage of by many diving schools and the dive shop in the town centre was the first to open in the UK. In addition to diving there are many other watersports available to people on the beach, water skiing, wind surfing, ... Read review

Advantages: Preserving a Phenomena. Tourism. International Recognition
Disadvantages: None

...from UNESCO for the Jurassic Coast of Dorset and East Devon. It looks likely to get it too! This is eighty five miles of coastline between Swanage in Dorset to Exmouth in Devon. This magnificent news puts this wonderful part of England on a par with The Grand Canyon and The Great Barrier Reef and will be the first time mainland Britain has been awarded such status. The significance of this recognition is only just registering with me. The whole Dorset coastline would be internationally recognised as one of outstanding universal value, and ranked with the most famous and exciting heritage sites in the world. World Heritage brings with it a responsibility to ensure that a Site, identified as of global importance, should be conserved for future generations and has the Governments full backing and commitment. In my excited state, I would... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great day out, full of nostalgia, and close to the sea-side...
Disadvantages: It was a four hour drive to Swanage from the midlands!

...The Swanage Railway was one of the highlights of my recent camping holiday to Swanage in Dorset. I'm by no means a railway enthusiast, but that didn't stop me having a brilliant day out and discovering a nostalgic treasure hidden away at the centre of a wonderful sea-side town. The tooting of the whistle passing up to our camp site soon became a familar sound, so that by the end of the week I had made my mind up to find out what the railway was all about. Swanage is located on the South Coast, a four-hour drive from my home in the midlands. The area is sometimes referred to as the Isle of Purbeck, even though it's not really an island... more of a peninsula. It is a place of great natural beauty with outstanding geological features at near-by Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. Then there's the sea-side attractions of Swanage itself, sandy... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Has a Park and Ride scheme into Swanage
Disadvantages: none really

...Living with a Railway Enthusiast,sometimes can be a bit of a bind! If ever we go out for the day it almost certainly has to incorporate a visit to a steam railway. One of the good things is he dosen't mind taking our 3yr old(who also likes a ride on a train) However..Since we have moved to our current home there are few and far between,but one that I don't actually mind going to even though its a 2 and half hour journey! is THE SWANAGE STEAM RAILWAY. Set on the Dorset coast between Weymouth and Poole harbour...Is the seaside town of swanage,and comes with it its very own steam railway... If we start at the other end of the line(which is where we usually embark) **Norden...This is basically a station which has been renovated by the volunteers of the swanage railway,with the help of the local council..here you can park your... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful