Highcliffe holidays - parks, hotels and Naish

Highcliffe - places to visit, where to eat and what's on 

• Local information for your day trip or holiday in Highcliffe

• Places to eat in Highcliffe

• Highcliffe restaurant reviews

• Where to stay Highcliffe holiday parks, hotels and homes

Highcliffe on Sea Village, located in the Parish of Highcliffe and Walkford, is a charming coastal destination that attracts both locals and visitors throughout the year. With a combined population of 13,725 as of 2021, this vibrant community offers a range of activities for everyone to enjoy. One of the main highlights is the renowned Highcliffe beach, which proudly flies the blue flag and is a favorite spot for walking, swimming, sunbathing, and even surfing. Whether you're a resident or a tourist, Highcliffe beach provides a picturesque setting to relax and soak up the sun.

If you're planning a stay in Highcliffe, it's advisable to book your accommodation in advance, especially during peak times. The limited availability of hotels, lodges, and holiday homes in Highcliffe makes it essential to secure your reservation ahead of time. This ensures that you have a comfortable and convenient place to stay while exploring the area. Whether you prefer a cozy hotel room, a charming lodge, or a spacious holiday home, Highcliffe offers a variety of options to suit different preferences and budgets.

Situated above Highcliffe beach, you'll find a large car park that provides easy access to the shoreline. Additionally, there is a delightful seaside eatery called the Cliffhanger, which offers a range of delicious meals and snacks. If you're in the mood for a quick bite, the Cliffhanger also operates a takeaway van right on the beach, allowing you to enjoy your food while taking in the stunning coastal views. Moreover, public toilets are conveniently located in this area, ensuring that visitors have access to necessary facilities during their time at Highcliffe beach. Whether you're looking for a place to park your car, grab a bite to eat, or use the restroom, the car park and the Cliffhanger provide convenient amenities for a pleasant beach experience.

From Highcliffe beach you can walk along the beach towards Mudeford Quay passing the zig-zag path leading up to Highcliffe Castle, on to Friar's Cliff Beach, perhaps stopping at the The Beach Hut Cafe.

A little further along is Avon Beach with the Noisy Lobster before strolling on to Mudeford Quay where there is the Haven Inn pub and Cafe. Still no arcades! For some a perfect holiday.

If you need an arcade fix then Bournemouth Pier and Boscombe Pier are not too far away.

Where to eat - Day and evening

We really are spoilt for choice when deciding on where to eat, as there are so many places to eat in Highcliffe:

The Globe Inn, Lymington Road, Highcliffe - Whitbread Inns

The Oaks, Lymington Road, Highcliffe - Heartwood Inns

Bistro My Way, Lymington Road, Highclife -  authentic French bistro

Sandpiper, Bure Lane, Mudeford - Greene King Flaming Grill

Haven Inn, Mudeford Quay

Noisy Lobster, Avon Beach Mudeford Christchurch

House Martin, Christchurch Road, Barton-on-Sea - Hall & Woodhouse

The Walkford, Walkford Road, Walkford - Greene King

Amberwood Inn, Ringwood Road, Walkford - Hall & Woodhouse

Lord Bute by Bradley Green, Lymington Road, Highcliffe - Hotel & Restaurant

The Kitchen at Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa

The Dining Room at Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa

The Cliff House, Marine Drive W, Barton-on-Sea - Eat, Drink, Sleep

Cat and Fiddle, Lyndhurst Road (A35), Hinton Admiral - Vintage Inn

Toby Carvery, Lyndhurst Road, Hinton

Colin Nash Restaurant at The Retreat, The Retreat New Forest Hotel, Lyndhurst Road, Hinton Admiral

The Bear of Burton, Salisbury Road, Burton - Fullers Hotel, Bar & Dining

The Oak Inn, Martin's Hill Lane, Burton - Traditional English country pub

TIDES, Lymington Road Highcliffe - Café, Bar, Eatery

Shahid's, Ringwood Road, Walkford - Indian, dine in or takeaway, delivery is available

Similan Thai Restaurant, Lymington Road, Highcliffe - Dine in only

KFC, Lyndhurst Road, Highcliffe - open from 11am

The Somerford Beefeater, Somerford Road, Christchurch - always a family favourite

Bamboo, Lymington Road, Highcliffe - Where Napoleon's used to be.

If you would like your Highcliffe, Mudeford or Christchurch hotel, restaurant or pub to have a featured section (free of charge) simply email chris@lodeals.com

Where to eat - Daytime or Evening only
The Cliffhanger, Waterford Road, Highcliffe - daytime only, open in evening for tribute and dining events

The Paddle, Lymington Road, Highcliffe - daytime only

The Coffee Garden, Lymington Road, Highcliffe - daytime only

The Catch, fish and chips, Lymington Road, Highcliffe - evenings, it's lovely to take fish and chips down to Highcliffe beach

Arowana, Ringwood Road, Walkford - very popular takeaway with varied menu, delivery available

Stewarts Garden Centre Restaurant - daytime only, always worth a visit, next to Sainsbury's

Review for The Globe Inn, Highcliffe - We have always found the food to be good and the service excellent. The lounge area is OK and has TNT Sports, however the wait at the bar for drinks can be quite long at busy time. The restaurant and bar is in front of the Premier Inn Hotel.

Review for The Oaks, Highcliffe - This opened as a White's Brasserie but has since become part of Heartwood Inns, other than that little has changed. Food is excellent and they have a nice bar area. At the back is a very pleasant outdoor area to relax with friends, especially in the summer. Some older visitors to Highcliffe may remember this as the Galleon.

Review for Bistro My Way, Highclife -  We have yet to visit this authentic French bistro and will update shortly.

Review for Sandpiper, Mudeford - This is a great value pub for both food and drinks. Martin has built a great team around him who all provide excellent service. this is our go to place for watching sporting events or for a random lunch. The Sandpiper has regular live music nights, Sky Sports and TNT Sports. Update October 2023 - The Sandpiper has now added roast dinners to their menu. The meat is good quality for such a value venue.

Review for Haven Inn, Mudeford Quay - Great location on Mudeford Quay and very popular during the summer with plenty of outdoor seating. The food is typical pub fare to a very good standard. We particularly enjoy visiting in winter months after a walk along the beach and then warming up in front of the wood burner.

Review for The Noisy Lobster, Avon Beach - Very nice! Fantastic location on the beach front. A couple of pounds more per person but well worth it. Food and service are both excellent, and this is my daughter in laws favourite restaurant. UPDATE February 2024 - We booked for 1pm on a lovely bright Saturday and after a very pleasant walk round Mudeford Quay and the surrounding area we found ourselves at The Noisy Lobster at 12.20pm and very hungry. No problem with arriving early and they promptly found us a table with great views of Avon Beach. Our meals, as expected were perfect and the service was very good. 

Review for the House Martin, Barton-on-Sea - They have recently added Sky Sports and TNT Sports with four large screens in the bar area. You can eat in the bar area but there is a lovely dining area at the back. Good food at typical pub prices. Music and quiz nights.

Review for The Walkford Pub, Walkford - This is a decent pub with good food as expected from a Greene King pub. The roasts are excellent as is their curry. They have a very large beer garden with a children's play area. They have regular music nights and a very popular quiz night on Tuesday evenings. Out back, they have a skittles alley.  

Review for the Amberwood Inn, Walkford - recently refitted to a high standard and appears to be positioning themselves as a gastro pub based on their menu, pricing and Facebook posts. I pop in occasionally to see friends but usually stick to bottled beer as I find their draught lagers taste off compared to other establishments locally. Update November 2023 - The Amberwood menu has changed again and is starting to look  more traditional and friends who have dined have been impressed. I am now looking forward to eating there and will update here again soon. However, I will still stick to the bottled lager.

Amberwood Inn Restaurant Review update 20th November, just eaten lunch at The Amberwood Inn. The menus looked OK and Tammy was very attentive and efficient. Fortunately we ordered before a booked wake arrived, after which Tammy was rushed off her feet, they needed another member of staff helping her or the landlord mucking in. I ordered Caesar Salad, which was OK. Julie ordered Fish and Chips which turned out to be disappointing. The fish was tasteless and small, despite asking and paying for the larger appetite version, plus the batter was soggy. Such a shame, this is our local and so want it to be good. We used to dine here at least twice a week before lockdown. We will dine again as keen for the new licensee to succeed, but they need to raise there game, nice décor is not enough.

Review for the Lord Bute by Bradley Green, Highcliffe - We have always had a good meal here and look forward to visiting again now that Bradley Green has taken over the running of the restaurant. 

Review for The Cliff House, Barton-on-Sea - If you are visiting Highcliffe then make sure you include The Cliff House, especially on a sunny day. Food, drink and service is excellent, and the views across to The Needles and towards Hengistbury Head are wonderful. Lovely garden area with outdoor bar. Music on Sunday afternoons plus special events throughout the year.

Review for Cat and Fiddle, Hinton Admiral - We always enjoy visiting a Vintage Inn and this is no different. Refurbished in early 2023, it was previously a Harvester, the interior is very relaxing and the outdoor area has been expanded. However, if push came to shove, I would choose The Crown Vintage Inn in Bransgore, a couple more miles away. It's just my personal preference.

Review for Toby Carvery, Lyndhurst Road, Hinton - Excellent. Our friends love this place when they come down from Watford to visit. They always remark on how generous the meat portions are compared to the Toby Carvery's near where they live.

Review for The Bear of Burton, Burton - This has a very nice garden area. The food has always been good, as has been the service. We have spent Christmas day here and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Review for The Oak Inn, Burton - They have different meal deals each day of the week. Good traditional pub food, we have eaten here a few times and have never been disappointed. Nice place to visit for a change.

Review for TIDES Cafe Bar Eatery, Highcliffe - I had bacon in a ciabatta at Tides, which was excellent. They have only recently opened and already they are always busy each time I walk by. I will certainly pop in again for breakfast. The owner of Tides Cafe Bar and Eatery has certainly paid attention to detail and is a good addition to Highcliffe.

Review for Shahid's, Walkford - Shahid's opened in early October 2023 and is already gaining a good reputation. I have already had an excellent takeaway and look forward to dining in soon. Shahids Walkford does not have a drinks licence at the moment, so bring your own booze, but if you forget then pop next door but one to the Premier Store where Ihaan has a good selection of wines and well stocked refrigeration units. Update November 2023, we dined in at Shahids and thoroughly enjoyed our meals and found the staff very attentive. We were seated by the window and it felt chilly and draughty, especially each time the door opened. Next time we will ask for a table to the rear. We will dine at Shahids again.

Review for The Somerford Beefeater, Christchurch - We will regularly visit this Beefeater. We find the service is really good and we just love their menu. We try to avoid certain tables, as some are underneath the air conditioning which can get cold, plus it makes the food get cold quicker.

Update 25 October 2023 - We chose from their new menu, which we all felt was bland and basic for a Beefeater. As usual the service was excellent, however, the gammon was small and fatty, whilst the chicken portion was also small and dry. We had an email offering 40% off mains, however the final bill still seemed a lot. We won't visit again until they launch a new menu, even if that is not until the Spring of 2024.