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Things to do
We’re quite new to Lymington – so we’re discovering things as we go along.
A Trip on Zen Dog
I offer 2-hour, 4-hour and 6-hour trips from £295 -these can include sightseeing, swimming, sunbathing and trips to wonderful restaurants – see Charter Trips
Walk – the Lymington to Keyhaven nature reserve path round the water’s edge is a great place to start. As you leave the bridgehead into the car park, just turn left and keep going!
Here’s a photograph of one of the signs.
There’s a website with more info
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/countryside/lymington-keyhaven.htm
Beyond that, there are fantastic walks all over the New Forest.
We like the area towards Beaulieu shown below – lots of parking, nice walks, ponies and donkeys.
Cycle
The marina hires out bikes and even has a couple of electric bikes!
You’ll need to book in advance – telephone the marina office on 01590 677071.
Beaulieu Abbey and Motor Museum
Bealieu is a great day out for everyone. The motor museum has great exhibits – the Top Gear cars are there this year
Bucklers Hard
Bucklers Hard is a beautiful preserved Napoleonic era ship building village with a hotel, pub and museum
Exbury Gardens and Steam Railway
Created by the Rothchilds, Exbury is just a beautiful place to visit.
Lymington Town Centre Shopping and Eating
stroll along the path behind the marina’s main building. Pass the Sea Water Baths (see below), pass the back of the Mayflower pub, the RNLI Lifeboat station and the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Keep straight on past Berthon Marina to Town Quay. Stop for a coffee or breakfast at Coffee and Drift on the left. Have a look in Musto on the left. Carry on up the cobbled street – maybe grab and ice cream. Bear left, up more cobbles and you are at the start of the High Street. Gosport Street off to the right has the excellent Eat Pizza restaurant. Carry on up the High Street. There are shops galore. There are 2 pasty shops on the left in quick successsion. Look out for Sir Ben Ainslie’s gold post box – celebrating his 2012 Olympic success. There’s a decent but not very exciting cafe with a back garden called Lounge on the right. There are several alleyways off to the right, many with cafes – we like Maison and the Larder. You’ll find Joules, Fat Face, Quba, Crew, and lots of other big name shops plus Elliots department store.
On Saturday mornings the whole High Street is taken over with market stalls.
Open Air Swimming Pool
Lymington Sea Water Baths is open through the summer – it has swimming lanes and a large inflatable obstacle course.
Crazy Golf
Lymington Adventure Golf by the ferry terminal is brilliant fun for everyone. There’s even a water hazard with a scale model Isle of Wight ferry that has to be caught from one side to the other.
Proper Golf
Don’t play so can’t recommend
Isle of Wight
Go over to Yarmouth, IOW. You can take the car or go as a foot passenger on the Wight Link ferry. It leaves from the other side of the Lymington River – about an hour walk from the Yacht Haven. It costs a lot to leave a car at their car park – currently £18 per day – and you won’t be able to have a drink or two over there.
So, 2 options –
walk into town and catch the train from Lymington Town to Lymington Pier – about 2 minutes and £2 each
Or, better still, catch the Coral Star, a beautiful wooden trip boat that runs from Lymington Town Quay (or the Harbour Master’s Pontoon by the Lido on request). Coral Star has a small bar on board and Tim the owner and skipper is a lovely guy. You need to call to book – tell them I sent you as they look after me with free trips!data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Once in Yarmouth, there are sight seeing buses and a regular hourly bus to the Needles which is a bit of a theme park and visitor attraction. Yarmouth has some great pubs and restaurants.
The Hut at Colwell Bay is our favourite place – a cross between a Caribbean and Ibiza beach bar. You need to book but they will collect you from Yarmouth Harbour in their vintage Land Rover.
The Terrace Restaurant in Yarmouth is excellent. There’s also the George Hotel which has a lovely water side garden, On the Rocks (cook your own steaks) and Off the Rails, an excellent railway themed cafe
Beaches
There are no public beaches to the east of Lymington.
There’s a stony but lovely beach at Milford on Sea – the best bit is by the Hordle Cliff car park at the eastern end.
Barton on Sea has a stony beach
The sand starts at Highcliffe Castle – there’s a car car behind it and a gentle walk down to a quiet beach.
Further West, there’s Friar’s Cliff, Steamer Point and Avon beaches between Highcliffe and Christchurch. Avon Beach has the nest facilities with restaurants, ice cream etc but gets busy as a result. Going yet further West, Southbourne beach is very sandy and then there’s uninterrupted sand past Boscombe and Bournemouth piers all the way to Poole.