National Trust - Brownsea Island - Poole

The National Trust - Brownsea Island is a unique and beautiful tourist attraction and nature preserve located at Address: Harbour, Poole BH13 7EE, United Kingdom. This delightful destination offers a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, with plenty of unique walks, forests, beaches, birds, deer, and red squirrels. Visitors can enjoy a large, serene lake in the center, numerous benches for resting and admiring the scenery, a playground for children, and a café near the ferry stop. A boat trip doesn't include entry into the island itself, but the experience is still affordable and enjoyable for all.

With a 4.8/5 average rating on Google My Business, this company has 2813 reviews, which highlight the beauty and tranquility of Brownsea Island. Visitors recommend the island for its peaceful atmosphere, natural beauty, and family-friendly amenities. Although there are separate costs for the boat trip and entry to the island, the overall experience is deemed worthwhile for the opportunity to explore this stunning location.

👍 Reviews of National Trust - Brownsea Island

Sue G.

5/5

Absolutely beautiful!
Very quiet, tranquil, full of unique walks,forests, beach,birds,deer and red squirrels. Large lake in centre, lots of benches to sit and breathe in the scenery. Play area for children, cafe near ferry stop.

Chris S.

5/5

Great day out for all, great scenery. Be prepared that the boat trip doesn't include entry into the island itself so there are two seperate costs, still think its sub £25 pp all in. Would be nice if there was some more bins dotted around the trails, especially in hot-spot area like the beach on the far side.

Warren H.

5/5

Good ferry over (not NT extra cost) , quay is yards from reception and cafe/toilets. Shortish walk to bird hides on North Shore then double back to go (long walk) to South and West Shore. View points along the way , paths clearly marked. This is a nature reserve, there are no playgrounds for kids and if you want to see wildlife you have to be quiet. There's a small, very narrow beach on South Shore but it's not a bathing beach.

Emma H.

5/5

Brownsea Island is a lovely day out and important to support due to it's unique ecology. It could be expensive if you aren't National Trust members as you have to pay for the ferry separately. And pay again if you want to go in the Wildlife Trust area. It does make for a lovely day out, with the ferry part of the adventure. It has toilets and a bar below decks (above deck will be much colder, below can get a bit hot!). There is a lovely cafe who make the best crab sandwiches but service is a little chaotic! Distances on the map are further than they appear. They could do with running the hop on hop off more than twice a day (all terrain manual wheelchairs are only any good if you have someone fit to push them!). Or all terrain mobility scooters! They did a great job of an Easter egg hunt with activities themed around birds. We didn't spot any red squirrels ,(but there are only 250 on the 500 acre island), but we saw magnificent pheasants, ducklings, and lots of lovely flowers. We enjoyed the history of Scouting and the natural Play area too. A later (6pm?) last boat back during good weather/weekends/ school holidays would be great too.

Kath L.

5/5

Amazing place to visit, we spent 4 hours there and were able to see everything we wanted at a leisurely pace. The trading post was a nice stop off, the staff and volunteers were all lovely and very knowledgeable.

Shalom B.

5/5

Such a beautiful island to wander around with a plethora of viewpoints offering breathtaking views. You can really immerse yourself in woodland walks and one half of the island is for birdwatching with several excellent hides for viewing a vast array of seabirds etc. The boat ride only takes 20-25 mins from Poole Quay.

David L.

5/5

Only a 20-minute ferry ride (£14.50 p.p. return, as of July 2025, NO discounts) from Poole Quay, the island is free for National Trust members. It's about an hour to an hour and a half walk around the whole island. It is very peaceful and calm. There are views across to Purbeck, Sandbanks, and Poole. There are bird hides and supposedlyvred squirrels but we didn't see any.

Karen A.

5/5

Our first trip to Brownsea Island. Saw a wide variety of wildlife, we even saw the red squirrels! Very peaceful and quiet, various walking trails throughout the island. Would recommend around 3 to 4 hours to explore fully. We also ate at the café, nice Cornish pasties and a good selection of sandwiches.