For those looking for holidays in Highcliffe, its location along the cliff tops on the far south-eastern tip of Dorset, almost touching the border of the New Forest National Park, makes it the perfect choice for a beach and forest escape.
Our holiday cottages in Highcliffe are within easy reach of the town’s high street, which is lined with an assorted parade of independent shops, galleries, boutiques, gift shops, food stores, and lovely places to eat – there’s no shortage of fabulous places for dinner.
But the main draw of this little town is the beach that runs for a few miles east to west depending on where you enter the beach, you’ll find it lined with colourful beach huts, leafy low-rise cliffs, sand dunes and walking paths. There are a good number of car parks, a couple of cafes and huts for refreshments, but by and large, the area remains beautifully unspoilt, and it doesn’t tend to get ridiculously busy, even in the height of the season.
Views from both the cliff top and the beach are wonderful, spanning the bay from the Isle of Wight in the east across to Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve to the west. The cliff top is home to Highcliffe Castle Golf Club where visitors are very welcome, and two more nature reserves - Steamer Point and Chewton Bunny which are well worth exploring and they are dog-friendly too.
Highcliffe beach starts with soft, clean golden sand with a signposted lifeguard service (to the left of the slope) during the summer. As you head further east, the sand eventually turns into pebbles. The gentle shelving from the shoreline offers easy swimming, kayaking and paddle boarding access. But if that feels too energetic, throw down a towel to sunbathe or just sit and look out to sea – a truly magical sight. The adjacent beach at Avon (to the west) and the far east of Highcliffe beach are popular spots for surfers, with plenty of benches and vantage points to watch the waves roll in.
Best of all, if you are bringing your pup for a dog-friendly holiday in Highcliffe, you’ll find that a large section of Highcliffe beach is open all year round for dogs to go off lead to run, play and swim!
The jewel in Highcliffe’s crown is Highcliffe Castle, a Grade I listed building said to be ‘the best remaining example of 19th-century romantic architecture ‘. It was built in the 1830s by Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay and was later rented to Harry Selfridge, founder of the famous London department store of the same name. Nowadays its manicured gardens and photogenic arches lend the castle to be used as a wedding venue, and when not in use by brides and grooms it’s open to the public with a calendar of exhibitions and events throughout the year.
It's just a five-minute drive to the New Forest from Highcliffe and there’s the option of travelling by train, with the mainline (London to Weymouth) station just over a mile away at Hinton Admiral. If you fancy exploring the area a bit more, make a beeline for Mudeford Quay to hire paddle boards and kayaks. You can also book a fishing trip or whizz around the bay in a high-speed RIB.
Make time to visit the very pretty and historic market town of Christchurch with its magnificent priory as it is only a few miles west. Further on, the buzzing metropolis of Bournemouth and Poole is easy to get to for shopping, bars and legendary nightlife. Close-by attractions include Snowtrax Alpine Activity Centre for dry ski slope fun, a day at Adventure Wonderland will ensure lots of smiles from the little ones and Bournemouth Aviation Museum, Sammy Millers Motor Bike Museum and Liberty’s Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre appeal to all ages.
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