Milford on Sea Beach: A long shingle beach with sand at the waters edge during low tide. Character beach huts line the beachfront providing a traditional seaside feel. The beach boasts fabulous views of the Isle of Wight & The Needles, plus a vista reaching to the Purbeck Hills, Hengistbury Head & Christchurch Harbour. The Needles Eye Cafe provides meals, snacks & ice creams on the promenade. At the end of the beach lies the Marine Cafe bar & restaurant with spectacular sea & Island views. (To reopen Oct/Nov 09)

Milford on Sea Village: Hosting a variety of shops from yesteryear. Local fishmonger, village butchers, greengrocers, model shop, antique shops, art shop, hairdressers, mini spa, florist, clothes shops, post office, chemist, mini supermarkets & off license. For relaxing & eating, there are three pubs, a creperie, fish and chip shop, Indian & Italian restaurants, fine dining at Westover Hall, or simply enjoy a sandwich, traditional cream tea or coffee & home made cakes in the numerous village tea rooms, or at the Needles Eye Cafe on the beach front. The traditional Village Green has several benches to watch the world go by, it also hosts a myriad of local events.

The Pleasure Grounds: (& Danes Stream or Danestream) Access from Park Lane at the west end

of village centre. The Danes Stream forms part of the Milford on Sea conservation area & runs the length of the parish, through the Pleasure Grounds, Westerly into Studland Common & Sharvells Copse, & Eastwards along the rear of the village shops exiting into Sturt Pond. The Pleasure Grounds have 14 acres of ancient woodland with a network of footpaths along the Danes Stream as it runs parallel to the coast. Legend has it that the Saxons once fought a fierce battle against the Danes nearby, and every year on the anniversary of the battle the water turns red!

Crabbing from Sturt Pond Wooden Bridge: Fish from the wooden bridge on Hurst Spit closest to Milford on Sea.

Great outdoor fun for the older kids! Crab fishing from the bridge at Sturt Pond is ideal for a lazy afternoon. Crab lines, nets & buckets available from The Needles Eye Cafe on the seafront or Milford Hardware store at Milford Motors on the Keyhaven Road in the village.

Sturt Pond Ponies: Field next to Marine Cafe & Sturt Pond.

This village has their very own New Forest Ponies in the grazing area at Sturt Pond. The horses graze four acres of land between Sturt Pond and Hurst Road. & in doing so, they eradicate course grass and improve habitat for wild flowers and herbs. (Visitors are requested, please do not feed these animals a it can affect their diet.)

Sturt Pond Bird Hide: A hidden sanctuary for bird watchers which overlooks the Sturt Pond area of the Keyhaven nature reserve. The bird hide can be found at the end of the concealed metal gated path between the Marine Cafe & black council sheds at the end of Milford Beach & the begining of Hurst Spit.

Keyhaven & Pennington Marshes Wildlife Reserve: One of the best bird watching spots in Hampshire is managed by the Hampshire Wildlife Trust. The saltmarshes and mudflats support an internationally important numbers of birds. During the breeding season you will find the Black-headed Gull (with up to 7,000 pairs regularly nesting), & several species of Tern including Little, Common and Sandwich Terns. Among breeding waders are Oystercatcher, Ringer Plover and Redshank. Several thousand Brent Geese visit the marshes over winter, along with waders such as Dunlin, Grey Plover and Blacktailed Godwit. The upper marshes and Hurst Spit support colourful plants such as sea campion, little-robin, thrift, yellow-horned poppy, sea aster and golden samphire. Glasswort and common cord grass can be found in the saltmarshes. Salt Production: Centuries ago the area was used for salt production. Pans were formed by building rudimentary sea walls on the mudflats and salt water was allowed in and left to partially evaporate. Complete drying was done in boiling vats. A few remaining remenants of this industry can be found towards the Lymington side of the marshes. The best views of the marshes and the Solent can be gained from Hurst Spit. You can access the marshes & Solent Way from the car park opposite the Gun Inn pub in Keyhaven.

Keyhaven Harbour: One of the most beautiful harbours on the Solent. The harbour is shielded by Hurst Spit, the massive shingle bar that leads to Hurst Castle. The two access points to the popular waters of the Solent make the harbour a perfect haven for small yachts and dinghies. The Hurst Ferry runs to the castle from the harbour quay. Close by is the The Gun Inn pub which is worth a visit after a stroll around the harbour waters.

Hurst Spit is a shingle bank which extends 2.5km (1.5m) from the end of Milford beach out into the Solent and to Hurst Castle & lighthouse. It is a great place to walk, with spectacular 180 degree views of the nature reserve, Solent and Isle of Wight. The spit is also an important coastal defence, protecting the Western Solent from flooding and sheltering the designated area of salt marsh. The waters inside the spit are often used by Kite Surfers & Wind Surfers on breezy days, and is also a popular sea fishing location.

Milford WW2 Pill Box: Seafront, Hurst Road, Milford on Sea SO41 0PY.

During World War Two areas of Milford on Sea were restricted zones commandered by UK Troops. It was also one of the departure points for the DD Landings. As part of the coastal defences Pill Boxes lined the shore & cliffs in Milford on Sea. There were also 'dragons teeth' tank defences at Taddiford Gap & along towards Barton on Sea. These have now either been removed or fallen into the sea.

Soaring Steel Seagull: Seafront, Hurst Road, Milford on Sea, SO41 0PY. OK, it's a loo. The public toilets were built by the renowned architect John Pardey. Unusually, the public conveniences walls are lifted off the ground and the roof is lifted off the walls, introducing air gaps for natural ventilation. The structure has a distinctive aluminium gull-wing roof which is durable to the high winds and pebbles flying up from the nearby beach. Vandal proof uplighters are integrated into the floor and this was the first public convenience where covered lighting was introduced to each cubicle. It has even featured on the Radio 4 'Today' programme, when Lucinda Lampton chose it as one of her four favourite loos!