Overview

West Cliff is a funicular railway close to Bournemouth Pier. There are other cliff railways in Bournemouth. There is step free access and lovely views during the short trip from the beach to the top of the cliff. At the top there are beautiful views and West Cliff Green, a park, is close by.

Transport & Parking

The railway is a 5 minute walk from Bournemouth Pier. I'm not sure where the nearest bus stop is.

Access

It's entirely step free. At either end of the railway is a small ticket office. From the beach there is a ramp into a small ticket office. There is a counter at standing height. The railway only takes card payment. Staff manually open the doors when the carriage arrives. There is bench seating down both sides and there are poles to hold onto. On the upward ride there was a wheelchair user in the carriage and she sat in the space between the seats. The trip is short but the carriage moves slowly enough that you can enjoy the view as you travel. At the other end staff open the carriage door. The doors of the ticket offices were open as it was very hot when I visited, but they are press button automatic doors. I only had 15 minutes at the top as it was the journey I wanted rather than to explore the area when I arrived. Exiting the top ticket station, on the right is quite a steep sloping path down to the sea front. Almost immediately in front was a covered seating area. The member of staff had suggested I walk to the left, which is virtually flat pavement. From this I passed a couple of goats on the cliff side, and I walked onto the end of the road, which took a couple of minutes (but took me a little longer due to my mobility). At the end of the road is the entrance to West Cliff Green, a park with benches which has fabulous views along the coast line and down to the beach, see photos. There was also a notice board on the path along to the park which had a map and information board pointing out things to see in West Cliff and Poole Hill. There is also the Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott hotel which appeared to have a restaurant with a sea view terrace. However, I did not have time to visit it. If I came here again I would come earlier, as the last train is at 5pm, and spend longer exploring the area and sitting admiring the view before I returned to the beach.

Toilets

No toilets.

Staff

There was 1 member of staff at each ticket office and they collected the fares and operated the trains. They were extremely friendly, very pleasant and helpful with advising what to do at the top of the cliff. This was my favourite thing I did in Bournemouth as it was such a lot of fun.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

This was so lovely and very accessible. Loved it and highly recommend taking a trip.

Photos