Sandbanks Beach

Sandbanks peninsula and Haven Point

A 2.8-mile hour-and-a-half circuit of the peninsula, out along the harbour shore to the chain ferry at Haven Point and back on the sea side, entirely flat on promenade, boardwalk and sand. Park in the main Sandbanks pay and display beside the beach, which is enormous, expensive in season and still full by mid-morning in July; the number 50 bus from Bournemouth runs every fifteen minutes and takes dogs. Most of Sandbanks beach is a Blue Flag exclusion zone from 1 May to 30 September, but the stretch from the western end of the promenade to Haven Point by the chain ferry allows dogs all year, and that is the end to aim for; leads on the promenade throughout.