Here’s the ultimate guide to over 50 family friendly things to do in Dorset with free admission for children.
With the cost of living continuing to rise, be sure to take advantage of these fantastic budget friendly days out when visiting with your children or grandchildren.
When you visit one of these attractions your day out becomes that little bit more affordable, and means you can stretch your money even further. These ideas are perfect for parents and grandparents seeking ideas to keep children happy during school holidays.
Many of the attractions have picnic areas so you can save even more money by bringing your own homemade lunch. And some also have cafés serving delicious and reasonably priced food and drink.
The majority of the attractions included in this blog offer free entry or discounted tickets for pre-school children under the age of 3. Some also allow children up to the age of 5 to get in for free.
For families with older children and teenagers, you can get free tickets at the following five Dorset attractions.
Holme For Gardens
Whatever the season, the 15 acres of landscaped gardens at Holme For Gardens have something new to see.
Don’t forget to stop by the picturesque Orchard Café for a drink, cake or lunch. With seating indoors in a light, bright conservatory and outdoors next to the pond, the café caters for all weather.
There’s also a gift shop and garden centre too, and dogs on leads are welcome in the garden and café.
Tickets cost £8 for adults, with children under 17 years old getting free admission.
Blandford Fashion Museum
For anyone with a passion for fashion trends, Blandford Fashion Museum is the place to visit. The dresses, clothes and accessories in the museum collection date from the 1760’s to the 1980s, showing how fashion, material and patterns have changed over the years.
Entry is £6 for adults, £5 for Senior Citizens, £4 for students and children under 16 years old admitted for free.
Dorset Museum & Art Gallery
See 250 million years of history come alive, find out about famous author Thomas Hardy or what life used to be like in Dorset during Roman times. For all this and much more, visit Dorset Museum and Art Gallery.
The museum is set over 4 floors and houses permanent and touring exhibitions on all aspects of Dorset’s history. There are interactive touchscreens, ancient objects which can be held and you can even crawl through the head of prehistoric Pliosaur – if you’re small enough!
When booking online in advance, adult tickets cost £13.50 and children under 16 years old get free entry. Don’t worry if you don’t have time to look at all the exhibits, because ticket prices include unlimited entry to the museum for 1 year.
Swanage Pier
Swanage Pier offers a bargain entry price of just £2 for adults, with a child under the age of 14 years accompanying a paying adult getting free entry. It’s one of the cheapest attractions in Dorset and is a fantastic place to take a stroll above the waves of Swanage Bay.
There’s lots of benches to sit and have a picnic on, and during the summer it’s sometimes open late for visitors to watch the sunset over the town.
Athelhampton House and Gardens
Children will love playing hide and seek in the topiary gardens at Athelhampton House and Gardens, as well as reading about the ghost stories of the Grey Lady and Hooded Priest. For adults, the beautiful Tudor house and 5 acres of gardens are a delight to walk around, and there’s a restaurant and gift shop too.
Tickets for the House and Gardens cost £22.50 for adults (£15 for a Garden Only ticket), with children under 12 years old getting free admission to the gardens. Tickets for the House for children 5 to 11 years old cost £5, with children under 5 free.
More budget friendly days out
Whether you’re looking for things to do on no-spend days or cheap attractions and activities to keep costs down, we’ve got all the information and inspiration you need.
Our top 10 free days out highlights lots of free attractions to visit and activities to do which cost nothing. Why not go fossil hunting, discover a giant, explore a castle or visit a nature reserve? Once you've done all those, there's another 200 free things to do in Dorset!
For budget friendly holidays offering value for money, check out our low cost holidays blog. With a mixture of free things to do as well as budget friendly attractions, choose from rockpooling, donkey rides and activity trails. The blog also includes cheap accommodation options such as campsites and holiday parks.
If you want to mix some free and low cost days out with cheaper attractions and activities, why not to choose to visit one of our 30 things to do for under £30?
