Although our reception is in the village of Sopley, it's a tiny village with limited accommodation and no shops.

We recommend staying in either Christchurch or Southbourne as they both have lots of amenities and are easy to get to both the ceremony and reception venues. If you do wish to stay in Bournemouth, please allow for at least 30 minutes travel time to Christchurch as traffic in the UK is very different from overseas!

There are lots of other lovely places in addition to these listed, and multiple options on both booking.com and Airbnb.

Airports

For those flying to attend our wedding, we recommend London Heathrow or London Gatwick as your main airports. Bournemouth is roughly 2-2 1/2 hours from either of these airports and there are many options for getting there. Flights won't be available until 12 months before the date, however not all airlines make them available until nearer the time. We'd recommend booking about 6 months prior to travelling.

There are also smaller airports in both Bournemouth and Southampton that have multiple desitinations in Europe, so it's also worth checking those if not flying from Australia.

Getting to Bournemouth

There is a direct train from London Waterloo to Bournemouth (2 hours) that also stops at Christchurch www.southwesternrailway.com

Another option is coach, departing from London Victoria to Bournemouth. This is significantly cheaper than the train but does take 3 hours www.nationalexpress.com

If you wish to hire a car, then there are also multiple car hire companies in the UK available from most of the airports.

If you're really struggling with getting down to Bournemouth or need any help with accommodation please reach out to either of us.