Information about Poole / Bournemouth - UK

Good morning people,

I've just been offered a job in the Poole area of Southern England today. Now I've never lived there and I am just wondering what the town/city is like and what would be the places to live there. The contract is only for 7 months so I wouldn't be putting down too many roots there. But I was wondering what is it like say compared to Munich. I guess at least I will have the summer months there.

Would it be better to live in Bournemount ? With regards to night life and things to do and see ?

Mushi,
pete

might be trickier to persuade your girlfriend to move in with you I suppose

Poole and Bournemouht (not Bournemount) are both pretty nice places to live.
If you like windsurfing there are some great places near by inlcuding the excellent Lulworth Cove.
However they are both out in the sticks a bit although there is a pretty good nightlife in Bournemouth in the summer, there are also hoardes of Stag and Hen weekends going on.

You can't compare it to Munich. Niether Poole nor Bournemouth are particularly interesting. There's some nice countryside nearer Poole though, on and around the Isle of Purbeck. Lots of retired people.

you say that as if its a good thing

Poole is exactly the same as Munich in that it is totally different. Poole is a pleasant little seaside town on the south coast.

In Poole Harbour is Brownsea Island which is the birthplace of the Boy Scout foundation and famous for its peacocks. Baden Powell used to love taking little boy scouts over there to show them his prize cock.

Nice place. A little sleepy, but very pleasant indeed. Bournemouth can get a bit rough and all street signs are in Braille

One of my uncle's lives there. He loves it. Its right by the sea and there is lots of nice countryside - I can think of worse places to live!

The fact that it is near the sea interests me, I miss the sea breeze

Does anyone know of 'good' areas to look for accommodation in Poole ?

Hamworthy/Upton/Waterloo/Broadstone/Oakdale/Parkstone/Branksome

I love Bournemouth. Its great. Massive Harry Ramsdens chippy, a pier, amusement arcades, scampi n chips widely available, seafood stalls, the pier again. Blinding. Shitloads of old people live in those thar parts, but there's still plenty of life. I should also mention again that you can get scampi and chips everywhere. Very important.
Also, its in England, so shops actually sell stuff that you might want, and supermarkets offer a choice of products. Might be tricky finding weissbier sadly, or I might well be living there myself.

Personally I would go along the coast to Lulworth or inland to Wimborne

Best area of Poole is Sandbanks, but I've heard it's the most expensive place to live in England outside London. And you'd have Harry Redknapp as a neighbour.

You could live in one of the lovely villages around there and drive in. Excellent pubs with good local ales.

i come from poole . the town itself is nothing special . the harbour is great in the summer . i perfer bournemouth as it has better nightlife more shops etc. its not cheap to buy or rent houses in poole/bournemouth.

Which would be like living nextdoor to Judas Escariot

Unless of course we escape the drop then it will be like living next door to God!

Poole is nice. Very relaxed. Nice seafood/fish restaurant down some quite narrow road, as I remember. Don't eat the oysters. There's also a lovely tiny little Italian place that do the best Bruschetta Romana.

Very expensive to live in if you go to the right/wrong area. Stay away from Sandbanks unless 1 you are a millionaire or better, or 2 someone else is paying. I chose option 2

Bournemouth is fine if you like clubbing, but there are no pubs to speak of. Also good if you like a fight on Saturday night.

Don't people just go to Poole/Bournemouth to die of boredom and old age?

I used to go the beach at Sandbanks in summer almost every weekend when I was growing up, and often during winter too. It's so nice. But in central Bournemouth things can get nasty and full of drunk teenagers at night, but no different from any other UK city It's also true that there are loads of old people living just outside, especially along the coast. Depends what you're after really, but you'll surely be able to find somewhere that suits you. If you're only there for a few months, I just recommend staying away from anywhere central or anywhere full of students.