My flatmate and I love Frieda’s Tearoom in Bournemouth (I have a post about it from a couple years back). So when we discovered that Frieda’s was running a ‘Tea Bus’ – an afternoon tea service on a double-decker bus while taking a picturesque tour along the Bournemouth coast – we set about booking it for part of her 30th birthday celebrations…

The pretty pastel blue bus picked us up from near Bournemouth pier ready for our tour, and we were able to catch tempting glimpses of tiered cake stands through the windows. There were 30 in our group so we managed to take over the whole top deck.

Here are the Tea Bus contact details if you would like to make a booking yourself!

Cakes & sandwiches galore

Inside, the interior was set up with groups of seats around central tables, each containing an epic afternoon tea creation to serve four people. There was a huge mound of cakes and sandwiches, cream and jam on the side for scones, and a bottle of orange juice for each person.

We all found our places and the bus set off on a route along the sea front towards Hengistbury Head. There, it stopped for a brief period and headed back towards Bournemouth again; we inhaled sandwiches and cakes the whole way, and were even rewarded with a beautiful rainbow over the sea!

Sandwiches served included smoked salmon and cream cheese on seedy bread (my favourite), egg on soft white bread, ham on seedy bread and I think the last type was cheese on tomato bread.

The cake selecton consisted of scones with cream and jam, chocolate fairy cakes with pink or green icing (flavoured icing, it was wonderful), lemon sponge cakes, strawberry sponge cakes, and macarons. All delicious and sugar-coma inducing!

I know what you’re thinking; “How did you eat and drink on a bus without faceplanting a cake and scolding yourself with tea?”. It was mostly fine, but there were a few times that it was a little challenging as we went over a few bumps!

Drinks weren’t a problem as they were served in ceramic takeaway-style cups with lids, so there was little chance of the liquid inside going anywhere.

A simple scone with cream can never fail to put a smile on my face. Messy scone eating commence! Scone or scone? Jam first or cream first? I just go freestyle – the order depends on my mood 😛

It was a wonderful way to spend an hour and a half and if I had the chance to go again, I think I would have a tough time refusing. Here is the Tea Bus info/booking website if you’re interested, and also don’t forget to go to the Tearoom!