DORSET COAST: An in-tents experience

I have. My young family and I have just spent a week in Poole and Bournemouth, in a tent, in the spring, and we are now daydreaming about buying a home overlooking the glistening waters of the Atlantic.

Last year we spent a week in west Dorset and thought we’d found paradise. If I’m honest, we thought nothing could beat the rugged fossil-encrusted coastline that side of Weymouth – especially the more built-up end bordering Hampshire. How wrong we were.

I can now truly say that Dorset has it all, and Bournemouth and Poole are great bases to settle for a few weeks of R&R.

The area, with its seven miles of golden sandy beaches, has launched its Coast with the Most campaign, boasting that it can offer just about anything you want from the sea.

There’s sailing, swimming, surfing, jetskiing, coasteering, kayaking, and fishing, with prices starting at just £10.

And landlubbers can lounge in the sun (honestly – no rain in April, what would high summer be like?), eat good food, paint pots (more of that later), shop, and enjoy numerous museums and entertainments.

I’ve never really thought a traditional coastal resort like Bournemouth could offer the type of relaxing holiday I wanted, but this place is more than a kiss-me-quick hat and donkey ride town. It’s upmarket, and offers a wealth of the more traditional seaside pursuits, but with a touch of elegance and class.

The prom alone, which goes on for miles, is itself a wonderful place to get lost in the atmosphere. In one direction it leads you to the genteel area of Alum Chine, and in the other Boscombe, the once shabby end of Bournemouth’s seafront, which has been transformed into a Bohemian paradise.

Boscombe is home to Europe’s first artificial surf reef, which harnesses the sea’s power to produce bigger waves for surfers to enjoy – although news reports this week suggested it doesn’t actually work very well. However, where you get surfers you get cool shops, trendy bars and dudes with long blond hair and shorts.

Even Boscombe’s amenities are hip. You can still see smartly painted beach huts overlooking the sands, but you will also find two-storey blocks of beach pods, individually designed by Red or Dead’s Wayne Hemingway (who also fashioned the nearby public loos and showers).

Each pod has a balcony overlooking the surf, mains electricity, a microwave, toastie maker and kettle, and wooden deckchairs and patio furniture.

Although there’s a novelty value to the pods, they are little more than concrete cells with no running water. And with two flights of stairs in a communal stairwell reminiscent of a 1960s tower block, its not safe enough to watch from the balcony as very small children play on the beach. Give me a multi-coloured hut any day.

That, however, was one of few flaws in an otherwise perfect week away.

Bournemouth also has a sweet little train running along the prom, a wonderful bike hire service, and a well manicured garden winding its way up to the town centre’s shops and restaurants. It certainly has none of the worn-out, down-at-heel atmosphere oozing out of other Victorian resorts.

A favourite place with my children was the Oceanarium, well placed by the pier, which is small yet perfectly formed. It has a catalogue of fish and other marine life, including huge turtles and sharks in a tank with a tubular underwater walk-way.

It was just as well the entrance ticket lasted all day, allowing you to come and go as you pleased, because our little ones demanded we go round twice.

If you fancy a slightly slower pace, then travelling west of Bournemouth towards Poole – the gateway to Europe’s largest natural harbour – is a good place to go.

This little town has a bustling quay, perfect for watching the world go by. It also has a fantastic free museum, so well thought-out that even our two-year-old son was kept occupied.

The town is also base to Poole Pottery, and you can watch its master potter and ‘paintresses’ at work, as well as use your own flair to decorate pots, plates jugs and knick-knacks before they are fired for you to take home.

Just outside, on the quay, is a myriad of boats ready to take you out of the harbour, including the ferry to National Trust-owned Brownsea Island, one of the few UK places where you can spot red squirrels.

Be warned though: as well as the boat fare, there is a fee to get on to the island.

My family plumped for a one-hour tour of Old Harry Rocks, chalk stacks proudly jutting out from the coastline past Studland Bay. When the sun shines, there is nothing more beautiful than a trip out to sea from this particular resort, and it also gives celebrity spotters the chance to nose Harry Redknapp’s back garden. The Spurs manager lives on the affluent strip of land called Sandbanks, where the multi-million-pound homes – including his mock Tudor pile – look out to the harbour on one side and the open sea on the other.

This little peninsula, halfway between Poole and Bournemouth, isn’t exclusively for the rich and famous. It too has gorgeous beaches to explore, and is home to the chain ferry taking cars across the drink to the beautiful Shell Bay.

My husband saw Sandbanks from a different viewpoint as he skidded across the surf on a jetski.

Even though he was a virgin when it comes to this form of transport, he came back exhilarated from his two-hour ride, bragging that he hadn’t fallen off once.

All week we were busy, and at the end of each tiring day we headed back to our tent at South Lytchett Manor Caravan and Camping Park in Lytchett Minster, near Upton.

This five-star campsite has paid attention to detail so even first-time campers like us found it hard not to enjoy life under canvas.

The tent area surrounds a fenced grassy playground, so you can feel safe in the knowledge that your children are secure while you fry breakfast over a campfire.

The shower blocks and washing-up areas are clean, and there are disabled-friendly family bathrooms, making it easier to clean small children.

For those whose idea of camping is to take the mod cons with them, pitches have TV hook-up and there is free wi-fi in certain areas of the site.

Most importantly, the nearby pub is within walking distance, child-friendly, cooked good food, and offered a free bottle of plonk with two main courses. Bliss.