If you’re visiting Dorset for the first time, chances are you already know about the big hitters: Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Lyme Regis and the Jurassic Coast. They are famous for good reason. But Dorset is a big county, and some of its best bits are nowhere near the sea. If you’re planning a Dorset holiday, a weekend away or simply looking for things to do while you’re here, these are a few of our inside tips for seeing a little more of the county.
Start with Visit Dorset
The days of arriving in a town and making straight for the Tourist Information Centre are largely behind us, but thankfully there is now a rather enormous online equivalent.
Visit Dorset is an excellent starting point for planning a trip, with places to stay, attractions, walking routes, food and drink ideas, events and guides to different parts of the county.
It’s especially useful if you know roughly where you’re staying, but have no idea what else is nearby.
Don’t spend the whole holiday on the coast
Yes, Dorset has a spectacular coastline. No, Dorset is not just a coastline.
Head inland and the county changes completely. There are chalk downs, hidden valleys, ancient hillforts, tiny villages, market towns, water meadows and miles of countryside where you can walk for hours without seeing another human, let alone a souvenir shop.
North Dorset, the Blackmore Vale, Cranborne Chase and the chalk hills around Dorchester all offer a very different version of the county.
If you want to find what feels like the ‘real’ Dorset, give yourself at least one day away from the beaches.
Get out on foot
Dorset is particularly good walking country, and you don’t need to tackle the South West Coast Path to find the best of it. North and West Dorset, the Blackmore Vale, Cranborne Chase and the chalk hills around Dorchester all offer a very different version of the county.
Our Dorset Walks cover the whole county, from around five to 15 miles. They’re nearly always circular, with sensible parking at the start and an interactive map you can follow on your phone. No ‘go north-east for 267 yards, then take the second gate past the rhododendron bush’ directions here.
Climb a hillfort
Some of Dorset’s best attractions are completely free. The county is covered in prehistoric earthworks, and several make magnificent places for a walk. Maiden Castle outside Dorchester is among the largest Iron Age hillforts in Europe, while Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill in North Dorset combine huge views with thousands of years of history.
There is something particularly satisfying about standing on a Dorset hilltop and realising people have been choosing that same spot for several millennia.
Look beyond Gold Hill in Shaftesbury
Obviously you should see our famous Gold Hill (yes, the one of Hovis advert fame). It would be silly not to. But don’t just take the photograph and leave. Shaftesbury is one of Dorset’s loveliest small towns, with independent shops, cafés, galleries and some extraordinary views appearing unexpectedly between buildings and at the ends of streets. Walk around the Abbey ruins, wander along Park Walk and give the town a couple of hours rather than 20 minutes.
Step inside Sherborne Abbey and Wimborne Minster
Dorset’s churches are often among its most impressive historic buildings, and two are particularly worth seeking out. Sherborne Abbey dominates the centre of Sherborne and has more than 1,300 years of history behind it. Wimborne Minster is another extraordinary building, right in the middle of a town that is well worth exploring beyond the Minster itself – and look out for the chained library. Even if historic churches aren’t usually ‘your thing’, both deserve a look inside.
Check what’s actually happening while you’re here
One of the easiest ways to make a trip memorable is to stumble across something you didn’t know was happening. Village fetes, food festivals, agricultural shows, theatre, live music, exhibitions, fairs, open gardens and all manner of wonderfully Dorset events fill the calendar throughout the year. Our Dorset Life What’s On calendar is updated with events across the county, so have a look before you arrive – and again once you’re here.
Leave some room for accidental Dorset
Finally, don’t organise every hour. Turn off the main road occasionally. Stop in the town you hadn’t planned to visit. Walk down the lane because the view looks interesting. Go into the village pub. Turn round and go and buy something from the farm shop you just passed the sign for. Follow the brown sign. The famous Dorset attractions are famous for a reason, but very often it’s the places you weren’t actually looking for that you remember afterwards.
