Beach hut hire for 2026/27 is open: how it works

Bookings for the council's beach huts are open for the 2026/27 season. More than 250 huts are available to hire along the Bournemouth seafront, from Alum Chine in the west through Durley Chine and the town centre beaches to Boscombe, Fisherman's Walk and Southbourne, according to the town's tourism site.

The huts are booked by the day, the week or the season. The summer school-holiday weeks and the huts closest to the piers are the first to go, which is why the booking window opening in the autumn matters: a family that wants a week in August needs to move now.

Choosing a hut

Where you book changes the day you get. In short:

• Alum Chine and Durley Chine are the West Cliff beaches, quieter than the town centre, with the huts under the pines and the chines' cafés behind them. Durley Chine holds a Blue Flag for 2026.
• Bournemouth beach, either side of the pier, is the busiest stretch and the one with everything on the doorstep.
• Boscombe has the surf, the Overstrand's cafés and the overnight beach lodges, which are a separate booking.
• Fisherman's Walk and Southbourne are the calm end, below the zigzag paths, and Fisherman's Walk also carries a Blue Flag.

Our beach huts guide goes into what is inside a hut, what to bring, and the rules, and the older beach hut hire guide has the practicalities of the booking system.

A hut plus a bed

The most common question we get from families is how to combine a hut with somewhere to stay. The Flexiestays hotels sit on the West Cliff above Durley Chine and Alum Chine, a few minutes' walk down the chine to the huts, which makes a week's hut hire and an apartment with a kitchen a workable summer. The beaches guide explains the geography of the whole seven miles.