Dorset

Holiday hot spot Dorset offers a checklist of charms. Its shoreline is one of Britain’s best and boasts the Jurassic Coast – a World Heritage Site flecked with sea-carved bays, crumbly cliffs and beaches loaded with fossilised souvenirs. Swimming, kayaking and hiking here are memorable indeed. Inland, Thomas Hardy's lyrical landscape serves up vast Iron Age hill forts, rude chalk figures, fairy-tale castles and must-see stately homes. Then there are resorts alive with party animals, golden beaches flanked by millionaires' mansions, and sailing waters that have hosted Olympic events. Time then to add Dorset to your holiday list.

Explore Dorset

Durdle Door
Durdle Door is the poster child of Dorset's Jurassic Coast. This immense, sea-fringed, 150-million-year-old Portland stone arch was created by a…
Kingston Lacy
Dorset's must-see stately home looks every inch the setting for a period drama. It overflows with rich decor, most famously in the Spanish Room, which is…
M
Maiden Castle
Occupying a massive slab of horizon on the southern fringes of Dorchester, Maiden Castle is the largest and most complex Iron Age hill fort in Britain…
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Tout Quarry
Portland's white limestone has been quarried for centuries and has been used in some of the world's finest buildings, such as the British Museum and St…
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Cerne Giant
Rarely do you find such a nudge-nudge, wink-wink tourist attraction. Nude, full frontal and notoriously well endowed, this hillside chalk figure is…
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Dorset County Museum
The Thomas Hardy collection here is the world's largest, offering extraordinary insights into his creative process. You can see from text in Hardy's…
A
Abbotsbury Swannery
Every May some 600 free-flying swans choose to nest at this swannery, which shelters in the Fleet Lagoon, protected by the ridge of Chesil Beach…
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Portland Lighthouse
For a real sense of Portland's remote nature, head to its southern tip, Portland Bill, to climb the 41m-high, candy-striped lighthouse. It offers…
Wimborne Minster
A monastery was first founded in Wimborne, 10 miles north of Bournemouth, in around AD 705 by St Cuthburga. Most of the present-day Wimborne Minster was…

Durdle Door
Durdle Door is the poster child of Dorset's Jurassic Coast. This immense, sea-fringed, 150-million-year-old Portland stone arch was created by a…
Kingston Lacy
Dorset's must-see stately home looks every inch the setting for a period drama. It overflows with rich decor, most famously in the Spanish Room, which is…
M
Maiden Castle
Occupying a massive slab of horizon on the southern fringes of Dorchester, Maiden Castle is the largest and most complex Iron Age hill fort in Britain…
T
Tout Quarry
Portland's white limestone has been quarried for centuries and has been used in some of the world's finest buildings, such as the British Museum and St…
C
Cerne Giant
Rarely do you find such a nudge-nudge, wink-wink tourist attraction. Nude, full frontal and notoriously well endowed, this hillside chalk figure is…
D
Dorset County Museum
The Thomas Hardy collection here is the world's largest, offering extraordinary insights into his creative process. You can see from text in Hardy's…
A
Abbotsbury Swannery
Every May some 600 free-flying swans choose to nest at this swannery, which shelters in the Fleet Lagoon, protected by the ridge of Chesil Beach…
P
Portland Lighthouse
For a real sense of Portland's remote nature, head to its southern tip, Portland Bill, to climb the 41m-high, candy-striped lighthouse. It offers…
Wimborne Minster
A monastery was first founded in Wimborne, 10 miles north of Bournemouth, in around AD 705 by St Cuthburga. Most of the present-day Wimborne Minster was…

Latest Stories from Dorset

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Dorset.

See
Durdle Door
Durdle Door is the poster child of Dorset's Jurassic Coast. This immense, sea-fringed, 150-million-year-old Portland stone arch was created by a…
See
Kingston Lacy
Dorset's must-see stately home looks every inch the setting for a period drama. It overflows with rich decor, most famously in the Spanish Room, which is…
See
Maiden Castle
Occupying a massive slab of horizon on the southern fringes of Dorchester, Maiden Castle is the largest and most complex Iron Age hill fort in Britain…
See
Tout Quarry
Portland's white limestone has been quarried for centuries and has been used in some of the world's finest buildings, such as the British Museum and St…
See
Cerne Giant
Rarely do you find such a nudge-nudge, wink-wink tourist attraction. Nude, full frontal and notoriously well endowed, this hillside chalk figure is…
See
Dorset County Museum
The Thomas Hardy collection here is the world's largest, offering extraordinary insights into his creative process. You can see from text in Hardy's…
See
Abbotsbury Swannery
Every May some 600 free-flying swans choose to nest at this swannery, which shelters in the Fleet Lagoon, protected by the ridge of Chesil Beach…
See
Portland Lighthouse
For a real sense of Portland's remote nature, head to its southern tip, Portland Bill, to climb the 41m-high, candy-striped lighthouse. It offers…
See
Wimborne Minster
A monastery was first founded in Wimborne, 10 miles north of Bournemouth, in around AD 705 by St Cuthburga. Most of the present-day Wimborne Minster was…

Guidebooks

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