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Special offers

  1. Attraction Offers

    Attraction Offers

    There's so much to see in Dorset from historic castles, grand houses, family fun and animals galore. Whatever takes your fancy, use these offers and treat yourself to a great day out!

Itinerary Planner

Plan your visit to Dorset using the '+ Itinerary Planner' button. Add to Excursion

Select items throughout the site to build an itinerary of your choice.

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Getting to Dorset

By air

The main airports serving Dorset are Bournemouth Airport, Southampton Airport and Exeter Airport.

Dorset is also easily accessible from London Gatwick, London Heathrow and Bristol Airport.

By sea

Regular ferries arrive into:

Poole from Cherbourg, St Malo and the Channel Islands
Portsmouth from St Malo, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre and Bilbao
Weymouth from the Channel Islands and St Malo
The southeast of England (Ramsgate) from Dunkirk and Ostend, Belgium
The southeast of England (Dover, Folkestone and Newhaven) from France
The east of England (Harwich) from Hoek van Holland, the Netherlands and Hamburg, Germany

Main ferry companies offering services to these ports are:

Brittany Ferries, Condor Ferries, P&O Ferries

By train

The area is served by an excellent rail network from many principal towns in the UK to local stations throughout Dorset. South West Trains offer great discounted fares when you buy your ticket in advance on many longer distance routes to and from London. Why not take advantage of their advanced fares offers?

Full conditions of advance tickets are available on the South West Trains website. You can also buy your ticket online or at your nearest station call 0845 6000 650.

Direct trains from London depart from Waterloo Station and stop at Bournemouth, Dorchester and Weymouth.

London Waterloo to Exeter St Davids services call at Sherborne and Axminster (for Lyme Regis).

For all rail enquiries visit www.networkrail.co.uk

By bus

National Express Coaches operate services throughout the country.

By road

The following main motorway routes connect the east, ports and London with Dorset: M20 / M26 / M25 / M3 / M27.  The M3/A303 from London to Devon also passes through the northernmost part of Dorset.

Travelling around Dorset is easy too so leave the car behind and make travelling around all part of the fun!

With great travel options and one of the most accessible destinations in the South West, Dorset is the ideal place to book your holiday or short break away.

For more information contact one of our Tourist Information Centres.