Any date · All of Dorset
Arts and culture
An annual week-long festival bringing authors to venues in and around Bridport, including novelists, historians, biographers, nature writers and poets. The programme also features musical, children's and culinary events, suiting book lovers of all kinds.
Nature and wildlife
A guided bird walk along Chesil Beach and the Fleet Lagoon looks for wildfowl, waders and sea birds. Species such as dunlin, ringed plover and oystercatchers may be seen, with the walk starting from the Fine Foundation Wild Chesil Centre on Portland and lasting around ninety minutes.
Nature and wildlife
A guided bird walk along Chesil Beach and Fleet Lagoon, spotting wildfowl, waders and sea birds such as dunlin, ringed plover and oystercatchers. Suitable for beginners and families, with time for questions about the nature reserve along the way.
Open all year
Lyme Regis has four beaches. Front Beach, part sand and part pebble, is the most popular for swimming and paddling, with RNLI lifeguards in peak season. Monmouth Beach leads to the ammonite pavement and the Undercliffs nature reserve. East Cliff Beach is rich in fossils, but its cliffs are unstable and it can be cut off at high tide. Dogs can use every beach except Front Beach all year.
Open all year
A collection of internationally inspired gardens spanning ten acres, including Italian, Japanese, Heather, Valley and Rock and Water gardens. The site also has a plant centre and a cafe tearoom, with nature trails for children during school holidays. Dogs are welcome in selected areas, and free parking is available on site.
Open all year
An island wildlife sanctuary in Poole Harbour with woodland, heathland and a lagoon, home to red squirrels and many bird species. Visitors can explore Scouting history, a former pottery and the remains of the village of Maryland. A free shuttle bus, Tramper wheelchair and BSL trail help make the island accessible.
Open all year
Isle of Purbeck Golf Club offers two heathland courses with views over Poole Harbour, set within a nature reserve where rare plants and birds can be seen. The 9-hole Dene Course suits golfers of all abilities, including beginners, while the Purbeck Championship course challenges more experienced players. The clubhouse has a restaurant and pro shop.
Open all year
Quiet sandy beaches on Mudeford Spit, good for bathing and popular with dog walkers, who can let dogs off the lead all year. You reach it on foot, by bike or on the land train from Hengistbury Head car park, about a mile away; the land train has a wheelchair carriage. There are cafés, restaurants and toilets, but no lifeguards, and barbecues aren't allowed.
Open all year
A Blue Flag beach of wide, clean sand and shingle, a favourite with locals and away from the bustle of Bournemouth Pier and the town centre. You can walk down from Southbourne high street through Fisherman's Walk. RNLI lifeguards, a pub, a kiosk and accessible toilets are here. Dogs aren't allowed on the beach from 1 May to 30 September.
Open all year
A seafront venue in Swanage offering cinema screenings, live theatre, comedy, dance and music performances. School holiday matinees provide indoor entertainment for families, while a sea-view bar serves snacks and drinks including local beer and cider.
Open all year
A historic house built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594 and home to the Digby family since 1617, near Sherborne. Visitors can join a guided tour of the state rooms and Tudor kitchen, explore the Family Museum in the cellars, and wander 42 acres of landscape gardens around a 50-acre lake with features such as Raleigh's Seat and the Fossil House. Family trails run through the season, and dogs on short leads are welcome in the gardens.
Open all year
A small family run aquarium on the Jurassic Coast, showing seashore and deeper water creatures. Visitors can feed a shoal of grey mullet by hand, hold a starfish, and get close to lobsters and crabs, alongside tanks of bass, wrasse, blennies and dogfish. There are also displays on local maritime history and footage of Lyme Bay's reefs and dolphins.
Open all year
Gorcombe Xtreme Sports is an activity centre offering quad biking, clay shooting, rage karting, paintballing, archery and crazy footgolf, alongside challenge courses with obstacles such as monkey bars and swinging ropes. Visitors can also use an indoor swimming pool, walk through a sunflower field, pick pumpkins and meet the site's goats, with a cafe on site.
Open all year
A quiet shingle bay inside the Army's Lulworth Ranges, a mile's walk (about 20 minutes) from the car park at Tyneham village, and a lovely spot for a picnic. The ranges are usually open most weekends and school holidays: check GOV.UK or call 01929 404714 before you go, and keep to the paths marked with yellow posts. There are no lifeguards or toilets on the beach, and don't sit near the cliffs.
Open all year
A natural, tranquil Blue Flag beach between Shore Road and Branksome Chine, with sandy cliffs and wooden huts, a short walk from the restaurants and shops of Canford Cliffs village. RNLI lifeguards patrol and there are toilets. Getting down from the car park can be difficult; for easier access the council suggests Sandbanks, Shore Road or Branksome Chine. Dogs aren't allowed from 1 May to 30 September.
Open all year
Sandy beaches beside the historic Boscombe Pier, with views across Poole Bay and plenty to do: surf equipment hire, climbing boulders, slacklining and free electric barbecue hotplates. RNLI lifeguards patrol, and there's a pub, restaurants and kiosks. Boscombe Undercliff car park next to the beach has good level access, and a beach wheelchair and Mobi-Mat matting are available from May to September.
Open all year
A steel sculpture at South Haven Point, just before the ferry to Sandbanks, marks the end of the 630-mile South West Coast Path. The final leg from Worth Matravers passes Old Harry and three miles of sandy beaches, with views across Poole Bay to Bournemouth and the Isle of Wight. The last half mile of beach is popular with naturists. Bus 52 runs from the Sandbanks side of the ferry to Parkstone station.
Open all year
A relatively unspoilt pebble beach below imposing clay and ironstone cliffs, within the Hengistbury Head nature reserve. There's plenty of parking, with toilets and cafés at both ends. Well-behaved dogs are welcome on the beach, but keep them on a lead off the beach so they don't disturb rare wildlife. Barbecues aren't allowed anywhere on Hengistbury Head.
Open all year
A working lighthouse on Portland Bill, standing 41 metres tall with its distinctive red and white tower. Visitors can climb 155 steps to the lantern room for views along the Jurassic coast, and explore displays in the refurbished visitor centre. Climbers must be at least 1.1 metres tall.
Open all year
A former Cistercian monastery turned private family home, set on the banks of the River Axe with around 30 acres of award-winning gardens and ponds. The gardens change through the seasons, from spring bulbs and tulips to summer roses and dahlias, autumn colour in the arboretum, and a working walled kitchen garden growing vegetables and pumpkins.
Open all year
Ruined hilltop castle in the Isle of Purbeck, partly destroyed during the English Civil War. Visitors can explore fallen walls, spot murder holes and arrow loops, and take in wide views across Purbeck. A thousand years of royal and family history, from Henry I to the Bankes family, unfolds across the site, appealing to both adults and children.
Open all year
A subtropical garden set in a sheltered woodland valley with its own micro-climate, close to the Fleet Lagoon and Chesil Beach. It holds notable collections of camellias, magnolias, rhododendrons and hydrangeas, alongside a Victorian garden, Burma Rope Bridge and views of the Jurassic Coast. There is a coffee shop, gift shop and plant centre on site, with free car parking and dogs welcome on leads.
Open all year
A historic wildlife site on the Dorset coast where visitors can walk among a colony of nesting mute swans. Hand feeding sessions take place daily alongside a talk from the swanherd, and families can enjoy the Brambly Hedge Trail, a willow maze and pedal go-karts. There is also a herb garden, a reed cutter's display and a café.
Open all year
A Grade I listed 19th-century castle set in grounds with direct access to a sandy beach and the nearby Steamer Point nature reserve. Room hosts share the history of the building and past residents, including department store founder Harry Gordon Selfridge, who once lived there. The grounds suit a relaxing stroll or a family picnic, and there are tearooms on site.
Open all year
A maritime museum in Poole's Old Town telling the story of the town and its people shaped by the sea. Visitors can see three immersive galleries, an Iron Age logboat nearly ten metres long, interactive displays and family-friendly trails, with free entry. The site also includes Scaplen's Court, a preserved medieval merchant's house with a walled herb garden.
Open all year
Poole's historic quayside, where tall ships, fishing boats and Sunseeker powerboats come and go, and boats leave for harbour cruises, Swanage and Old Harry, and for Brownsea Island every 30 minutes in season. Explore the Old Town on the Cockle Trail, head up to the viewing platform of the Sea Music sculpture, try crabbing or sit with the life-size statue of Lord Baden-Powell. Shops, cafés, restaurants and pubs line the quay.
Open all year
Pleasure boat trips departing from the quayside in Poole, giving views of Poole Harbour and the Dorset coastline. Cruises last around an hour, with booking preferred in advance though visitors can also turn up at the kiosk on the day.