Boscombe is situated on the coast with it’s own pier, beautiful gardens and flourishing local tourism industry. The main shopping area is based around a pedestrian precinct, including part of Sea Road, with shops, cafes and restaurants surrounding this open area. Towards the west more shops lead to the beautifully restored Victoria Boscombe Chine Gardens, and eastwards the shopping area leads towards Pokesdown, with the famous ‘antiques alley’ featuring antiques and bric a brac. Shops also flourish in adjoining roads, including Ashley Road and Palmerston Road leading towards Springbourne.

The precinct is home to both major high street chains and a variety of independent shops. There are two undercover shopping arcades leading off the precinct; the delightful Victorian Royal Arcade and the newly refurbished Sovereign Shopping Centre.

Boscombe is home to Bournemouth’s only regular street market. Boscombe Open Air Market operates every Thursday and Saturday between 9am and 5pm throughout the year, complementing and enhancing the local shopping offer, where you can buy fresh local produce, clothing and arts and crafts.

Recently Café Culture has arrived in Boscombe, with Costa Coffee and Caffe Nero trading alongside a wide variety of restaurants catering for all tastes and budgets. Boscombe also has a wide number of shops and cafes catering for different nationalities including Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Chinese and Egyptian, amongst others.

A Farmers’ Market operates on the first Sunday of every month on the precinct, between 10 am and 3pm, bringing fresh, home made produce including jams, chutneys, pies, pastries and cakes, local cheeses, sausages and fruit and veg.

Boscombe is well served by over 10 local bus services, including a service between the Bus Station and the sea front during peak holiday times. The main bus station is just behind the Sovereign Centre, a short walk through to the main shops.

One of the main features of Boscombe is accessible to all, with wide precincts and shopping arcades on one level. Boscombe has a Shopmobility scheme operating from Sovereign Centre car park which also features a good number of parent and baby car parking spaces and disability spaces.