Photo: DeFacto (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Things to do in Dorset
The best holidays are planned around great days out. Here's what's on the doorstep in Dorset, from big-ticket attractions to rainy-day savers.
Showing museums, aquariums and attractions with indoor areas — the ones that work whatever the forecast.
🎟️ This weekend near Dorset
Events from
Skiddle
Fri 13 Nov · 19:30
Comedy At The Fishermans Haunt
The Fishermans Haunt, Christchurch · 23.1 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 19:30
National Dance Company Wales presents Blue | Glas
Pavillion Dance South West, Bournemouth · 18.7 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 20:00
Feel Free Friday
Canvas, Bournemouth · 18.1 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 12:00
Poole Audio Tour: Bridges, Beacons, and Baden-Powell
Poole Methodist Church, Poole · 14.0 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Aquariums
18.7 mi from Dorset
Oceanarium
The Oceanarium is a tropical aquarium on Bournemouth's seafront, home to sharks, a loggerhead turtle, otters, jellyfish, clownfish and a colony of Humboldt penguins. You can walk t...
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Museums & Galleries
0.1 mi from Dorset
Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum
The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum tells the story of the Martyrs' arrest, trial and punishment, and how this led to the foundation of modern trade unionism. It grew from a small library...
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4.6 mi from Dorset
The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum is a large indoor attraction in Bovington, Dorset, telling the story of tanks and their crews. You can come face-to-face with over 300 tanks and hear powerful stori...
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4.6 mi from Dorset
The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum, in the Museums & Galleries category, brings the story of tanks and their crews to life in an awe-inspiring modern museum. You can come face-to-face with over 300 t...
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4.7 mi from Dorset
Cider Museum
Mill House Cider Museum in Owermoigne, Dorset, shows you how traditional cider was made, with displays of antique mills, presses and equipment dating back to the 18th and 19th cent...
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6.3 mi from Dorset
Dinosaur Museum
The Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester is Britain's original museum devoted entirely to dinosaurs, opened in 1984 close to the Jurassic Coast. Inside, you'll find pioneering interactive...
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6.3 mi from Dorset
The Teddy Bear Museum
The Dorset Teddy Bear Museum is a teddy bear museum in Dorchester, Dorset, south west England. It opened in 1990 in Bournemouth, before moving to Dorchester in 1995. It is the olde... — Wikipedia
6.6 mi from Dorset
The Tutankhamun Exhibition
This exhibition in the centre of Dorchester recreates Tutankhamun's tomb and treasures, including the ante-chamber and burial chamber as discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. You'll...
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6.7 mi from Dorset
The Keep Military Museum
The Keep Military Museum sits in Dorchester, Dorset, in a striking Victorian former barracks gatehouse built in 1879 and designed to resemble a Norman Castle. Inside, exhibits cove...
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9.4 mi from Dorset
Wareham Town Museum
Wareham Town Museum tells the story of the Wareham area of Dorset in southern England from prehistoric times to the present day, with a special exhibition on Lawrence of Arabia, wh... — Wikipedia
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9.4 mi from Dorset
Blandford Town Museum
Blandford Town Museum is a volunteer-run, free-to-enter museum in the centre of Blandford Forum, telling the story of the town and surrounding villages through permanent exhibits r...
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9.5 mi from Dorset
Blandford Fashion Museum
Blandford Fashion Museum is a historical fashion museum housed in Lime Tree House, a Georgian townhouse in Blandford Forum, Dorset. Founded by the late Mrs Betty Penny MBE in 1996,...
10.5 mi from Dorset
Tyneham
Tyneham is a ghost village abandoned in 1943 and former civil parish, now in the parish of Steeple with Tyneham, in the Dorset district, in the south of Dorset, England, near Lulwo... — Wikipedia
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11.4 mi from Dorset
Blue Pool
The Blue Pool is a nature reserve and tearooms set within the 300-acre Furzebrook Estate near Wareham on the Isle of Purbeck. Once a 17th-century clay pit, it filled with rainwater...
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11.4 mi from Dorset
Royal Signals Museum
Regimental museum in Tarrant Monkton, Dorset, United Kingdom
11.7 mi from Dorset
Nothe Fort
Nothe Fort is Weymouth's historic sea fort, set on the Jurassic Coast and home to a museum packed with things to explore. You can wander the maze of underground tunnels, visit the...
12 mi from Dorset
Weymouth Museum
Weymouth Museum tells the story of the town through a varied collection, from a Tudor carved panel to brewery memorabilia, plus items connected to Sandsfoot Castle, HMS Weymouth an...
12 mi from Dorset
Tudor House
The Tudor House Museum, often simply known as Tudor House, is an early 17th-century building, which remains a museum and one of the UK's best preserved Tudor buildings. It is in We... — Wikipedia
12 mi from Dorset
Museum of Jurassic Marine Life
The Museum of Jurassic Marine Life, home to The Etches Collection, is a modern museum showcasing amazing fossils of the marine life that lived in Jurassic Dorset's seas 157 million...
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Theme Parks
10.7 mi from Dorset
Sandworld
Sandworld is a sand sculpture festival set in Lodmoor Park in Weymouth, Dorset, where internationally renowned artists carve giant sculptures from sand and water alone, with new de...
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12.9 mi from Dorset
Dorset Adventure Park
Dorset Adventure Park is an outdoor activity park set across 18 acres of woodland near Corfe Castle, built around two lakes. You can take on the inflatable waterpark with its float...
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Zoos & Wildlife
25.1 mi from Dorset
Foxdown Childrens Farm
Foxdown Children's Farm is a small family-run working farm set high in the Marshwood Vale, West Dorset, with views towards the Jurassic coastline. Here you can wander at leisure, p...
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Where to stay near Dorset
Places to stay within easy reach of these days out.
More around Dorset
Itineraries
- A weekend in Bournemouth: an accessible itinerary · 2 days
- A weekend in Bournemouth with the kids · 2 days
- A weekend in Bournemouth · 2 days
Haunted Britain
Dorset packs a lot into a small space: a coastline that swings from arcade-and-ice-cream seaside to bare chalk cliff, a scatter of small museums run with real affection, and castles and manor houses that reward an unhurried morning. The trick is not trying to do it all in one go. Pick a corner — the Isle of Purbeck around Swanage, the Weymouth and Lulworth stretch, or the Bournemouth and Poole conurbation — and build the day around one anchor attraction.
The coast and countryside everyone comes for
Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove are the two names that end up on everybody's list, and for good reason: a natural limestone arch and an almost perfectly circular bay, close enough to walk between along the cliff path. Expect proper up-and-down walking rather than a stroll, sensible shoes, and a busier car park than you'd like in high summer — early starts help enormously.
Inland, the Hardy Monument sits high on the ridge with the sort of view that makes a flask of tea feel like an event. It's one of three National Trust landmarks in the county's line-up, along with the ruins at Corfe Castle, which rise out of a gap in the Purbeck Hills and look dramatic in any weather.
Good days out with children
Fancy's Family Farm in Weymouth is the obvious choice for younger children — small, hands-on and easy to combine with a beach afternoon. In Bournemouth, the Bournemouth Aviary is a gentle, low-cost sort of stop that works well as part of a wander rather than a whole day. Older children and teenagers tend to prefer New Forest Water Park, over towards the Bournemouth side, where the inflatables and open water will happily eat three or four hours.
Swanage is strong on family interest too. The Swanage Railway Museum appeals to children who like engines and adults who like detail, and the Museum of Jurassic Marine Life gives the Jurassic Coast story some teeth — literally, in places.
Where to go when it rains
Dorset's small museums are its secret weapon on a wet day. A few worth knowing:
- Sherborne Steam & Waterwheel Centre and Sherborne Museum, an easy pairing in the same town
- Blandford Fashion Museum and Blandford Town Museum, another two-in-one
- Museum of East Dorset, near Poole, for local social history
- Corfe Castle Town Trust Museum, a quick stop before or after the castle itself
- Crewkerne Museum, in the Lyme Regis direction, if you're exploring the western edge
- Tyneham School, a schoolroom left much as it was, and quietly moving
Blue Pool, near Poole, is a different sort of wet-weather option — gentler, greener, and better under light drizzle than driving rain. If you're heading over the county line, Glastonbury Abbey and the Glastonbury Tribunal in Somerset make a solid indoor-ish day, and The Rifles Museum in Wiltshire suits anyone with an interest in military history.
Heritage and houses
For a slower day, Forde Abbey is the headline heritage visit, with Shute Barton, Fiddleford Manor, Ashcombe House, Trafalgar House and Avon Tyrrell House filling out the stately-home options. Opening arrangements vary considerably between these — several are limited or by arrangement — so check before you set off rather than turning up hopeful.
How to group it into a sensible day
A Purbeck day: Corfe Castle first thing, the Corfe Castle Town Trust Museum while you're there, then on to Swanage for the Swanage Railway Museum or the Museum of Jurassic Marine Life and a late afternoon on the seafront.
A Weymouth day: Fancy's Family Farm in the morning, harbour and beach in the afternoon. A Lulworth day stands alone — Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove and the cliff path between them is enough.
Where to eat
All of these hold a 5-star food hygiene rating, which is a decent starting filter. The Old Rooms Inn and The Holes Bay cover the pub end of things — proper sit-down lunches, good after a cliff walk. Burnt Toast is the one for a tea-room breakfast or an afternoon stop. The Italian Bakery is handy for picnic supplies before a day at Durdle Door, and Creams does what the name suggests, which matters when you've promised ice cream.
Making it a short break
Two or three nights lets you split the county sensibly: one day on the Purbeck side, one around Weymouth or Lyme Regis, and a slower third day for Forde Abbey or the Blandford museums. There are 1,126 places to stay in Dorset on BritStays, so basing yourself near your chosen anchor — rather than in the middle and driving both ways — usually works out better.
Practical notes: book coastal parking ahead or arrive before mid-morning in summer, carry layers for the cliff paths whatever the forecast says, and ring the smaller museums before travelling, as several open seasonally or on limited days.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best things to do in Dorset with children?
Fancy's Family Farm in Weymouth suits younger children, and the Bournemouth Aviary is an easy stop while you're in town. Older children usually prefer New Forest Water Park on the Bournemouth side. In Swanage, the Swanage Railway Museum and the Museum of Jurassic Marine Life both go down well on a mixed-age day.
Where can you go in Dorset when it rains?
The county's small museums are the answer. Try Sherborne Steam & Waterwheel Centre and Sherborne Museum in the same town, Blandford Fashion Museum and Blandford Town Museum as a pair, the Museum of East Dorset near Poole, Corfe Castle Town Trust Museum, Crewkerne Museum towards Lyme Regis, or Tyneham School. Many open seasonally, so ring ahead.
Which Dorset landmarks are National Trust properties?
Three of the main landmarks in the county are National Trust, including Corfe Castle and the Hardy Monument. Other heritage sites to consider are Forde Abbey, Shute Barton, Fiddleford Manor, Ashcombe House, Trafalgar House and Avon Tyrrell House.
Can you walk between Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove?
Yes — there is a cliff path linking the two, and most people treat them as a single outing rather than separate trips. It is a genuine up-and-down walk rather than a flat stroll, so wear proper shoes and take layers whatever the forecast says.
Where should I eat in Dorset?
The Old Rooms Inn and The Holes Bay are good pub choices for a sit-down lunch, Burnt Toast is a tea room for breakfast or an afternoon stop, The Italian Bakery is useful for picnic supplies, and Creams covers ice cream. All of them hold a 5-star food hygiene rating.
How many places are there to stay in Dorset on BritStays?
There are 1,126 places to stay in Dorset listed on BritStays. For a two or three-night break, it is usually easier to base yourself near your main anchor — Swanage for Purbeck, or Weymouth for the Lulworth and Durdle Door side — rather than in the middle of the county.
More ways to explore
Not booked yet? See the best places to stay in Dorset.