Bournemouth town centre is the town centre of Bournemouth, where the High Street is located.
Most of the town centre around The Square has been pedestrianised, with only Richmond Hill as a cul-de-sac for vehicular access, Exeter Road and Gervis Place for limited vehicular usage, and Avenue Road and Bourne Avenue for general vehicular usage, neither of these 3 groups can be crossed by vehicles to the others. Commercial Road and Old Christchurch Road are the High Street of Bournemouth, which has been pedestrianised between The Triangle and Richmond Gardens Shopping Centre.
Exeter Road and Gervis Place is the only vehicular road connecting the east and the west of the town directly through the town centre, however, motor vehicles are banned except buses, taxis and loading. Therefore, most of the traffic across are buses. General motor traffic going across the town can either use Bath Road in the south near Bournemouth Pier, part of the Ring Road, or Wessex Way in the north.
Westover Road, Gervis Place and Hinton Road forms a circular one-way system on the east of the town centre.
Places in the town centre[]
The Square[]
The Square is the central point of the whole town, on the intersection of Gervis Place, Exeter Road, Commercial Road, Avenue Road, Bourne Avenue, Richmond Hill and Old Christchurch Road in clockwise order.
The Triangle[]
Central Gardens[]
Lower Gardens[]
Bus traffic[]
The section of Gervis Place between Exeter Road and Westover Road, and Westover Road, form the major bus hub of Bournemouth town centre, with the bus stops on Gervis Place named Bournemouth Square and the bus stops on Westover Road named Westover Road. Platforms are lettered at Bournemouth Square (M-Z) and numbered at Westover Road (1-4).
As of July 2021, the following routes serve Bournemouth town centre:
| Route number | Operator | Destination | Service level | Boarding location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellow Buses | Westbourne - Lower Parkstone - Longfleet - Poole Quay | up to every 30 minutes | Westover Road, Bournemouth Square, The Triangle |
| Lansdowne - Boscombe - Pokesdown - Southbourne - Tuckton - Christchurch | up to every 10 minutes | The Triangle, Bournemouth Square | ||
| 1a | Yellow Buses | Lansdowne - Boscombe - Pokesdown - Iford - Christchurch - Somerford | up to every 10 minutes | Bournemouth Square |
| Highcliffe-on-Sea - New Milton | up to every 30 minutes | |||
| 1b | Yellow Buses | Lansdowne - Boscombe - Pokesdown - Beaufort Road - Tuckton - Christchurch | up to every 30 minutes | |
| 2 | Yellow Buses | Lansdowne - Springbourne - Boscombe - Pokesdown - Iford - Hospital - Townsend - Castlepoint | up to every 15 minutes | Westover Road |
| Northbourne - Kinson - Bearwood | up to every 30 minutes | |||
| 3 | Yellow Buses | Westbourne | up to every 15 minutes | Westover Road, Bournemouth Square |
| Lansdowne - Rail Station - Charminster - Broadway - Castlepoint - Hospital | The Triangle, Bournemouth Square | |||
| 4 | Yellow Buses | Lansdowne - Rail Station - Winton - Moordown - Muscliff - Castlepoint - Hospital - Iford - Christchurch Bargates | up to every 30 minutes | Westover Road |
| 4a | Yellow Buses | Charminster - Winton - Moordown - Northbourne - Kinson - Bear Cross | up to every 30 minutes (Mon - Sat daytime operation only) | Bourne Avenue, The Triangle, Bournemouth Pier, Westover Road |
| 5 | Yellow Buses | Lansdowne - Rail Station - Charminster - Winton - Ensbury Park - East Howe - Kinson | up to every 7/8 minutes (5/5a combined) | Bournemouth Square |
| 5a | Lansdowne - Rail Station - Charminster - Winton - Ensbury Park - West Howe - Kinson | |||
| 6 | Yellow Buses | Lansdowne - Railca Station - University - Wallisdown | up to every 30 minutes | Westover Road |
| High Howe - Bearwood - Merley - Wimborne - Canford Bottom | up to every hour | |||
| 11 | Yellow Buses | East Cliff - Boscombe Pier - Southbourne Overcliff - Hengistbury Head - Tuckton - Christchurch - Mudeford | every 2 hours (low season) / every hour (high season) | Bournemouth Pier |
| 12 | Yellow Buses | East Cliff - Boscombe Pier | every hour (low season) / every 30 minutes (high season) | The Triangle, Bournemouth Square, Bournemouth Pier |
| West Cliff - Westbourne - Alum Chine | Bournemouth Pier, Westover Road, Bournemouth Square, The Triangle | |||
| 13 | morebus | Lansdowne - Rail Station - Winton - Moordown - Northbourne - Parley Cross - Ferndown - Colehill - Wimborne | up to every 30 minutes | Bournemouth Square, Bournemouth Pier |
| 16 | morebus | Westbourne - Branksome - Alder Hills - Alderney - Sea View - Longfleet - Poole | up to every 30 minutes | Bournemouth Square |
| 17 | Lansdowne - Rail Station - University - Wallisdown - Alderney - Sea View - Longfleet - Poole | |||
| 18 | Yellow Buses | Westbourne - Branksome - Upper Parkstone - Sea View - Canford Heath - Hillbourne - Broadstone | up to every hour (Mon - Sat daytime operation only) | Bournemouth Square |
| 20 | morebus | Westbourne - Penn Hill - Whitecliff - Poole | up to every hour (Mon - Sat daytime operation only) | Bourne Avenue |
| Charminster - Castlepoint | ||||
| 32 | morebus | Lansdowne - Rail Station - Winton - Ensbury Park - Northbourne - Bear Cross - Bearwood - Merley - Broadstone - Fleetsbridge - Stanley Green - Oakdale - Longfleet - Poole | 2 departures only on Monday to Saturday | The Triangle, Bournemouth Square |
| 33 | Yellow Buses | East Cliff - Boscombe - Littledown - Hospital - Iford - Pokesdown - Southbourne - Hengistbury - Christchurch | up to every hour (Mon - Sat daytime operation only) | Bournemouth Square, Bournemouth Pier |
| 36 | Yellow Buses | Bourne Valley - Talbot View | up to every hour (Mon - Sat daytime operation only) | Bourne Avenue, The Triangle |
| Bourne Valley - Talbot Woods - University (Fern Barrow) - Wallisdown - West Howe - Bear Cross - Kinson | The Triangle, Bourne Avenue | |||
| 50 | morebus | West Cliff - Westbourne - Branksome Chine - Canford Cliffs - Sandbanks - Shell Bay - Studland - Swanage | up to every 30 minutes | Bournemouth Square |
| Lansdowne, Rail Station | ||||
| 70 | morebus | West Cliff - Alum Chine - Branksome Chine - Canford Cliffs - Lilliput - Whitecliff - Poole | every hour | Bournemouth Square |
| East Cliff | ||||
| m1 | morebus | Westbourne - Branksome - Lower Parkstone - Longfleet - Poole | up to every 3/4 minutes (m1/m2 combined) | Bournemouth Square |
| m2 | Westbourne - Branksome - Upper Parkstone - Longfleet - Poole | |||
| m1 | Lansdowne - Rail Station - Charminster - Broadway - Castlepoint | up to every 7/8 minutes | ||
| m2 | Lansdowne - Boscombe - Pokesdown - Southbourne | up to every 7/8 minutes | ||
| X1 | morebus | Lansdowne - Hospital - Iford - Fairmile - Christchurch - Highcliffe-on-Sea - Barton on Sea - New Milton - Milford on Sea - Everton - Lymington | up to every 30 minutes (X1/X2 combined), 4 departures on Sunday only | Westover Road |
| X2 | morebus | Lansdowne - Hospital - Iford - Fairmile - Christchurch - Highcliffe-on-Sea - New Milton - Pennington - Lymington | ||
| X3 | morebus | Lansdowne - Boscombe - Hospital - Ringwood - Fordingbridge - Charlton - Salisbury | up to every 30 minutes | |
| X6 | morebus | Lansdowne - Hospital - Ringwood - Verwood - Three Legged Cross - West Moors - Tricketts Cross - Ferndown - West Howe - Alderney - Longfleet - Poole | approximately once per hour on weekdays, 3 departures on Sunday to Ferndown only |
Most of the routes which has a destination of Bournemouth have its terminus at either Bournemouth Square or Westover Road. Exceptions include Yellow Buses route 1, which its short workings to Bournemouth terminates at The Triangle; Yellow Buses route 11, with Bournemouth Pier as its terminus; Purbeck Breezer route 50 at Bournemouth station and Purbeck Breezer route 70 at East Cliff. And among all routes serving Bournemouth, only routes 11, 20 and 36 do not have a stop at either Bournemouth Square or Westover Road, with 11 only serving Bournemouth Pier, 20 and 36 serving Bourne Avenue.
For routes travelling through Gervis Place in westbound direction, Yellow Buses routes call at Westover Road before stopping at Bournemouth Square, with the exception of route 18, but morebus routes do not stop there. Eastbound direction, Yellow Buses routes call at Odeon bh2 as an alighting-only stop on Exeter Road before calling at Bournemouth Square, but morebus routes do not stop there.
Routes from Bournemouth Square / Westover Road to Lansdowne, morebus routes use Hinton Road, and Yellow Buses routes make a detour through St. Peter's Road and Old Christchurch Road until Lansdowne roundabout before 20:00 and uses Hinton Road only after 20:00, with the exception of route 6 which uses it all day. Routes which serve East Cliff instead of Lansdowne, including 12 and 33, always use Hinton Road to access East Cliff.
Buses terminating at Bournemouth town centre turns around in the following ways:
- 1/32: Turning at The Triangle, serving Bournemouth Square both bounds.
- 1a/1b/5/5a: Run on Bath Road near Bournemouth Pier westbound, terminating at Bournemouth Square eastbound, and head for St. Peter's Road (daytime) / Hinton Road (evening) for Lansdowne.
- 2/737: Run on Westover Road westbound, terminating there, and turn back to St. Peter's Road (daytime) / Hinton Road (evening) for Lansdowne.
- 4/6: Run on Bath Road near Bournemouth Pier westbound, calls at the Odeon bh2 alighting-only stop, runs non-stop through Gervis Place eastbound, Hinton Road, and terminates at Westover Road. Departing there, head for St. Peter's Road (route 4 daytime) / Hinton Road (evening / route 6 all day) for Lansdowne.
- 4a: from Richmond Hill roundabout, terminates at Bourne Square (Bourne Avenue). After departing from the terminus, serves The Triangle, Bournemouth Pier, Westover Road and St. Peter's Road then returns at Richmond Hill roundabout.
- 11: Terminates and turns back at Bournemouth Pier, does not serve Bournemouth Square / Westover Road
- 13/33: Runs on Westover Road westbound (non-stop for 13, stopping there for 33) and terminates at Bournemouth Square westbound. After departing from the terminus, runs on Bath Road eastbound, serving Bournemouth Pier and head for Lansdowne through Bath Road (the school day departure of route 33 from Alum Chine serves the eastbound stop at Bournemouth Square instead of westbound and does not call at Bournemouth Pier)
- 16/17: Through service, directly traverse Gervis Place both bounds without turning back.
- 18: Calls at Bournemouth Square eastbound as an alighting-only stop, then run non-stop through the loop of Hinton Road and Westover Road, and terminates at Bournemouth Square westbound.
- X1/X2/X3/X6: Run on Westover Road westbound, terminating there, and turn back to Hinton Road for Lansdowne.