Holiday cottages in Dorset

Beaminster: thriving little town (church, pubs, cafés, shops, museum, art gallery) in the midst of a conservation area, 5 miles north of the ancient historic market town of Bridport and 7 miles from the wide, unspoilt beach of West Bay on Dorset’s ‘Jurassic Coast’.

Holiday cottages in Beaminster, Dorset

Bridport: vibrant Georgian market town (arts centre, museum, art deco cinema) 1½ miles from the sea at West Bay (two good bathing beaches, one shingle/sand, one pebble, lively harbour/marina). Originally a thriving rope-making centre, now recognised, thanks to the River Cottage TV series, for its locally-produced food, readily available in the town’s shops, restaurants, cafés, pubs and markets (weekly street market). Gateway to the ‘Jurassic Coast’ (Charmouth, 7 miles; Lyme Regis, lovely seaside harbour town with sandy beach, 10 miles); surrounded by traditional villages and much of the area a designated ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ with great justification; cliff-top golf course and wonderful walks/cycle routes nearby.

Holiday cottages in Bridport, Dorset

Holiday cottages in Broadwindsor, Dorset

Burton Bradstock: very pretty village (two pubs, acclaimed beach café, PO/village shop, fine early medieval church, good children’s playground), ½ mile from the sand/shingle 18 mile long Chesil Beach. Golf, 1¼ miles. Bridport, 2 miles. Abbotsbury, with its famous swannery and lagoon, about 6 miles. This is beautiful, manicured countryside, relatively little known, good for gentle walking, Nat. Trust houses, Dorset thatched villages, all-pervading ‘Englishness’ and a ‘World Heritage’ site.

Holiday cottages in Burton Bradstock, Dorset

Caundle Marsh: hamlet (pub, shop) 6 ½ miles from Sherborne (very attractive, old, small town with superb medieval abbey, two castles - one built by Walter Raleigh - and famous public school). Mainline railway station, 5 miles. Golf, riding and fishing within 5 miles, and many fine houses and gardens, including Stourhead and Kingston Lacy (both Nat.Trust) and Longleat, within easy reach.

Holiday cottages in Caundle Marsh, Dorset

Charlton Marshall: village (pub, fine early 18th cent. church) in the valley of the River Stour (coarse fishing) on the road between Blandford Forum (very handsome Georgian town), 2 miles, and the sea at Poole and Bournemouth (superb sandy beaches), 12 miles. Poole Harbour (natural, huge) is beautiful with boats and Brownsea Island (Nat. Trust, red squirrels, woods). White cliff coast (Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove), about 16 miles.

Holiday cottages in Charlton Marshall, Dorset

Charmouth: large coastal village (shops, PO, pubs, church, seasonal weekly market), mostly old, thatched and Regency (Jane Austen liked and stayed in it), and the ‘Jurassic Coast’ cliffs (World Heritage Site) famous for fossils (a child found the ichthyosaurus here, fossil shop on beach). Long sandy/pebble ‘Blue Flag’ beach. Lyme Regis, a lovely old seaside/harbour town with famous cob (as in ‘French Lieutenant’s Woman’ film) and harbour with sand, 2 miles. Golf nearby. Market towns of Bridport, 7 miles and Axminster, 6 miles (mainline railway connection with Waterloo). Beautiful, hilly, wooded country inland. Good walks.

Holiday cottages in Charmouth, Dorset

Chedington: quiet hamlet on the north edge of the Dorset downs, about 2 miles from Corscombe. Beaminster (very attractive tiny town, good and nearest shops), 3 miles; Crewkerne, 4 miles; Somerset’s ‘Hamstone country’; Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park, golf, and the sea at West Bay and Chesil Beach, all about 10 miles.

Holiday cottages in Chedington, Dorset

Chideock: one of South Dorset’s prettiest villages, and only a mile from the sea (good seafront pub). It is built mainly of local golden sandstone; many thatched houses and cottages; PO/stores, two pubs, church; footpath to the beach (pebbly between cliffs); pub on the beach. Much of the surrounding country and coastline is designated as an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’, much owned by the Nat. Trust, and the coastline is a World Heritage Site (‘Jurassic Coast’). Excellent walking, birdwatching area; spectacular coastal scenery (Golden Cap). Bridport (small town, leisure centre with swimming pool, art centre, cinema), 2 miles; seaside West Bay (golf, good fish restaurant), 2½; Lyme Regis (pretty, with sandy beach, historic Cob, ‘French Lieutenant’s Woman’ connections, and boats for mackerel fishing), 7 miles. Weymouth (resort, sandy beach, sailing, Channel Island day-trips), 17 miles.

Holiday cottages in Chideock, Dorset

Christchurch: saxon port (King Alfred), now a picturesque resort town overlooking its big natural harbour. Separating the harbour from the open sea is Hengistbury Head, a mile long headland of low hills, dunes, sandbanks, part of it nature reserve (birdwatching), much of it car free, with sandy beaches on its sea side.

Holiday cottages in Christchurch, Dorset

Corscombe: pretty by-road village with ancient church and Dorset’s pub of the year, in hilly wooded farmland close to the edge of the Downs. Very attractive Beaminster (tiny town, nearest shops), 3 miles; the start of Somerset’s glorious ‘Hamstone country’, 5 miles; Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park, golf, and the sea at West Bay and Chesil Beach, all about 10 miles..

Holiday cottages in Corscombe, Dorset

Maiden Newton: large chalk stream village (pub, shops, PO, bakery, restaurants, railway station) 7 miles north-west of Dorchester (county town, museum). Of geological and historic interest (Norman church, famous Maiden Castle, Iron Age hill-fort, 10 miles), the village was the inspiration for Thomas Hardy’s ‘Chalknewton’ in many of his works. Nature trail along disused railway branch line to Bridport (11 miles east) passes through water meadows where butterflies, dippers, kingfishers and otters thrive. Weymouth (seaside town, day trips to Channel Isles), 17 miles.

Holiday cottages in Maiden Newton, Dorset

Melbury Bubb: farm hamlet with fascinating church, beautifully sited below a wooded hill. This is West Dorset at its best, rolling countryside, unhurried, soft and gentle. Footpaths all round, lovely walking, huge views. Evershot (pub, own bakery, PO/shop, Emma film set), 1½ miles; Sherborne (attractive small town, abbey, castle), 6; the coast at Abbotsbury (famous swannery), about 15 miles or at Weymouth (sandy beach), 18. Leisure centre, 5½ miles (Yeovil). Riding, golf, swimming pool, clay pigeon shooting, all locally.

Holiday cottages in Melbury Bubb, Dorset

Milborne St Andrew: small village (church, pub, two shops) in a valley below the great chalk downland arc of the Dorset hills midway between Dorchester (county capital) and Blandford Forum (handsome Georgian market town), 8 miles from each. Lovely countryside. The ‘World Heritage’ south coast at beautiful Lulworth Cove, 17 miles; Poole and Bournemouth , 15 miles; Weymouth (Georgian resort town with sandy beach), 18 miles.

Holiday cottages in Milborne St Andrew, Dorset

Monkton Wyld: hamlet with church in oak-wooded hills, 2 miles inland from Charmouth and the fossil-cliffs coast, close to Devon and to the beautiful, richly fertile Marshwood Vale. Pretty Lyme Regis, 4 miles.

Holiday cottages in Monkton Wyld, Dorset

Sandbanks: sandy beach-lined peninsula at the mouth of Poole's enormous and magnificent natural harbour, thronged with yachts, used by bigger ships also, including ferries to France. Sandbanks, with beach shops, pub, cafes and restaurants, is reckoned among the south coast's top sea bathing places and is excellent for windsurfing and sailing (still unspoilt creeks to explore); bikes and boats for hire. Ferries cross the harbour to Purbeck (more miles of sandy beaches, sand dunes) and pretty Studland via Brownsea Island (Nat. Trust: woods, gardens, bird sanctuary and red squirrels). Poole town was popular with pirates in its early (13th cent.) days, its harbour with smugglers. Its oldest part, behind the quay, is a 'conservation area', mainly Georgian. It has an arts centre and famous pottery, good parks, outstanding gardens (Compton Acres), fine golf course. Bigger resort Bournemouth (good aquarium, IMAX cinema) is its adjoining neighbour. Nearby inland, beautiful Dorset farmland, Corfe Castle (spectacular ruins), the New Forest and Beaulieu with its abbey and vintage cars.

Holiday cottages in Sandbanks, Dorset

Shaftesbury: interesting, attractive, small Saxon hilltop town that grew around its 9th cent. abbey (now ruined) constructed by King Alfred. Full of quaint corners, arts and crafts, with regular farmers’, book and flea markets, and stunning views over three counties. Thomas Hardy’s ‘Shaston’ in his novels. Mainline railway station at Gillingham, 6 miles. Bath, 35 miles; Dorchester, 28; Stonehenge, 26; the south coast at Sandbanks, Poole, Bournemouth, 25-30 miles; many fine houses and gardens, including beautiful Stourhead and Kingston Lacy (both Nat.Trust) and Longleat, within easy reach.

Holiday cottages in Shaftesbury, Dorset

Shillingstone: village (Shop, P.O. Pub, part Norman Church) below the chalk downs on the A357 Blandford Forum to Sherborne road, 4 miles from Blandford Forum (handsome Georgian small town beside the River Stour). On the hilltops - Hambledon and Hod - are Iron Age forts, beech trees, a Yew wood and much wildlife: excellent walking. The sea at Weymouth (resort town, sandy beach) about 28 miles or Lulworth Cove (very beautiful) about 21 miles.

Holiday cottages in Shillingstone, Dorset

Stour Provost: little Dorset village (church, pub, shop) of old stone houses peaceful in lanes between the rich farming vales of Stour and Blackmore: 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' country. Tremendous views from the wooded top of Duncliffe Hill, 1 mile. Good walking, many footpaths. Shaftesbury, 6 miles; Gillingham (on the railway), 3.5; Stourhead (beautiful gardens with statues round lake), 7.5; Salisbury, 22.

Holiday cottages in Stour Provost, Dorset

Whitchurch Canonicorum: small hillside village (fine medieval church, pub, thatched cottages) in the lovely Marshwood Vale with its River Char which winds down to Lyme Bay at Charmouth, 2½ miles away. Lyme Regis (lovely old seaside/harbour town with sandy beach), 4 miles; Bridport, 5½.

Holiday cottages in Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset