Things to do in Christchurch: Priory, Quay, Mudeford and Highcliffe

Christchurch is older than Bournemouth by about a thousand years and looks it, in the best way. It sits where the Stour and the Avon meet the sea, ten minutes from Bournemouth by train, with a Priory, a Quay, a harbour, two beaches and a headland that is the best walk in the area. This is the town in a day, from the centre outwards.

The Priory and the town

Christchurch Priory is the church that gives the town its name, a former monastery church that survived the Dissolution because the townspeople kept it as their parish church, and one of the longest parish churches in England. It is free to enter and the tower, the choir stalls and the reredos are worth an hour. Around it are the castle ruins and the Norman Constable's House on the river, the Red House Museum in the old workhouse, and a high street of independent shops that ends at the Quay.

The Quay and the Quomps

The Quay is where the Stour widens into the harbour, with rowing boats for hire, the Place Mill by the bridge, and the Quomps, the riverside green where the town holds its summer events, including the Stompin' on the Quomps jazz weekend in July. It is a good place to sit with a coffee and watch the boats, and the walk along the river to Stanpit Marsh starts here.

Stanpit Marsh and the harbour

Stanpit Marsh is a nature reserve on the northern shore of Christchurch Harbour, flat, wide and full of birds, with the ponies that graze it and a view across to Hengistbury Head. The circular walk from the Quay takes an hour and a half and is one of the quietest things you can do in the conurbation.

Mudeford Quay and the sandbank

Mudeford Quay is at the harbour mouth: a working quay with crab lines over the edge, a pub, a café and the ferry across the Run, the fast channel that separates the quay from Mudeford Sandbank. The sandbank is where the famous beach huts are, the ones that make national news for their prices. They are private, but the beach in front of them is not, and the café, the open sea on one side and the harbour on the other make it a fine afternoon. You can also reach it on foot or by land train from Hengistbury Head, which we cover in the Hengistbury Head guide.

Highcliffe Castle and the beach

East of Mudeford the coast rises to Highcliffe, where the Grade I listed castle, a nineteenth-century mansion with a Gothic front, stands in its grounds above the beach with a tea room and the zigzag path down to the sand. Highcliffe beach holds a Blue Flag for 2026, and Avon Beach at Mudeford holds a Seaside Award. Highcliffe also hosts the Cliff Top Music Festival in early September, which this year fell on 5 September.

The festivals

Christchurch's calendar is busier than its size suggests: the Christchurch Food Festival in May on the Quay and the high street, Stompin' on the Quomps in July, the Cliff Top Music Festival at Highcliffe in September, and the Christmas lights and market in December. Our events calendar has the dated ones.

Where to stay and how to get there

Christchurch is ten minutes from Bournemouth by train and on the number 1 bus through Southbourne, so it works as a day out from a Bournemouth base; the Bournemouth to Christchurch cycle route along the seafront is the best way to arrive on a fine day. Flexiestays' own apartments are in central Bournemouth, a short hop from Christchurch; the serviced apartments for Christchurch page explains the options for a stay built around the town, and our older Christchurch guide has more on the history. The Bournemouth Guide maps every listing.