Peak summer: every beach busy, the Quay lively every evening and the calendar at its fullest.
August is peak everything, and planning matters more than it does the rest of the year.
See Poole in summer.
Everything, and so is everyone. Beaches, harbour events, funfairs, boat trips and a full programme on the Quay. Weekdays are noticeably calmer than weekends, and getting on the water beats queueing for the sand.
Poole's crowds follow the school calendar and the weather: July and August are the peak, with half terms and bank holidays busy in miniature. Outside those, the beaches and the Quay are noticeably calmer.
Sandbanks hotels, harbourside flats a street back from the Quay and the quieter beds out at Hamworthy and Broadstone, with the areas each one suits.