Everyone loves the beach – and Bournemouth is home to the best beach in the UK! If you want to spend your weekends sunbathing, surfing or building sandcastles (and why not?), then you couldn’t do much better than Bournemouth. Although Bournemouth Beach is a firm favourite, there’s a huge range of Jurassic Coast beaches to choose from.

If the idea of sand between your toes makes you squirm, you might be more at home in the gardens, or why not head out to the New Forest? Right on the doorstep, this national park is the perfect place for a walk or picnic – just beware of the sandwich stealing ponies (I speak from experience).

Summer activities in Bournemouth speak for themselves, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do in the colder months. The town centre is the perfect place if you need some retail therapy after finishing a particularly gruelling essay – it’d be rude not to make use of the coveted NUS card. If you need something a bit stronger than retail therapy, there are plenty of bars and clubs across the town. You’ll also find cinemas, an Oceanarium, theatres, music venues and art galleries – there’s definitely a lot of culture in Bournemouth.

Look out for the Cool Coast Ice Rink later in the year, where seasoned skaters can show off their skills and everyone else can stumble around Bambi-style. Winter forest walks (plus wellington boots) can actually be really fun – just watch out for the mud. And you can still go to the beach, but you can probably leave the factor 30 at home.

Whatever the weather, Bournemouth is a great location. Just remember to set aside some study time!