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Welcome to the Itinerary Planner. Use this tool to build your own journey or choose from an exciting range of specially selected tours.

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Trek through the beautiful West Dorset countryside with a Llama

Trek through the beautiful West Dorset countryside with a Llama

Dippy on Tour 2018, Dorset County Museum

Dippy on Tour 2018, Dorset County Museum

You are here: Explore > Areas To Visit > West Dorset > Attractions in West Dorset

Attractions in West Dorset

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Athelhampton House and Gardens

Athelhampton House & Gardens is one of the finest English manor houses, with beautiful furnished…

Athelhampton House and Gardens, Dorset
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Do you need some ideas and inspiration for days out in West Dorset?  Let us help you find that perfect place to visit to fill your days with new and exciting experiences to share back home.

Make sure you make the very most of your stay in this beautiful part of the country!

Castles, houses and gardens galore!

Travel back through the centuries and discover our sumptuous stately homes such as Athelhampton’s Tudor manor with its unique topiary garden or Mapperton, location for Hollywood’s Far From the Madding Crowd blockbuster and home to spectacular formal valley gardens. 

Visit a castle or two in Sherborne – one boasting Capability Brown’s beautiful lakeside gardens and the other a romantic ruin where the kids can let their imaginations run wild! Take inspiration from the many garden settings around West Dorset – water gardens, sub-tropical gardens, walled kitchen gardens – all offering ideas to recreate in your own back garden.

Animal magic!

There lots of family fun to be had at our animal themed attractions.  Trek with a donkey, picnic with a llama or let the kids enjoy being a farmer for the day at one of our fun farm parks.  Marvel at the mass feeding of Abbotsbury’s world famous swans or patiently wait for a badger from a comfortable hide in a stunning countryside setting.

Experiences not to be missed

When did education become so much fun? Little ones can soak up history in the most imaginative ways at our fascinating museums covering everything from Tutankhamun to military history and rural bygones, dinosaurs and prehistoric treasures as well as toys and giant teddies! Grown ups may also enjoy going behind the scenes on a wine or brewery tour, sampling a favourite tipple and buying a bottle or two to take home – souvenirs don’t get much better! 

Discover nostalgic classics and exciting super cars of today at Haynes Motor Museum or take off at the Fleet Air Arm Museum where you’ll experience the thrills and sounds of a flight deck, feel the wind in your hair and even see a nuclear bomb!

There’s so much to see and do you really will have to keep coming back to West Dorset to discover everything that this special place has to offer. Start planning your next day out now!
 

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Number of results: 59

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  1. Sherborne Museum

    Add Sherborne Museum to your Itinerary

    Tripadvisor

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating - 75 reviews75 reviews

    Sherborne Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    SHERBORNE

    *Temporarily closed*. Sherborne Museum is housed in what used to be the gatehouse and almonry of the monastery once associated with the Abbey.

    Free
  2. 1610 Dorchester Sports Centre

    Add 1610 Dorchester Sports Centre to your Itinerary

    1610 Dorchester Sports Centre

    Type

    Type:

    Leisure/Swimming Pool

    DORCHESTER

    A family friendly centre offering the local community an all inclusive wellness and sports facility to enjoy. The facility offers something for everyone including a 50 station fitness studio with the latest Technogym equipment, and a well equipped…

  3. Beaminster Museum

    Add Beaminster Museum to your Itinerary

    Beaminster Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    BEAMINSTER

    *The museum will be closed for the 2020 season because of building work. They provisionally plan to re-open on Good Friday 2021*. Beaminster Museum in West Dorset is a small museum of local history which visitors from far and wide have declared…

    Price £1.00 to £2.00 Per Ticket
  4. Sherborne Castle, Dorset

    Add Sherborne Castle and Gardens to your Itinerary

    Tripadvisor

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating - 536 reviews536 reviews

    Sherborne Castle and Gardens

    Type

    Type:

    Historic House/Palace

    SHERBORNE

    Awards

    • Visit Britain We're Good to Go 2020We're Good to Go

    Public open season from 1st April 2021

    Built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594 and the stately home of the Digby family since 1617. Walk in the footsteps of SIR WALTER RALEIGH in the home he built more than 400 years ago. Take a leisurely stroll around…

    Price Free to £9.00 Per Ticket
  5. St. Johns Almshouse

    Add St. Johns Almshouse to your Itinerary

    St. Johns Almshouse

    Type

    Type:

    Historic House/Palace

    SHERBORNE

    Picturesque 15th Century almshouse

  6. Langham Estate

    Add Langham Wine Estate to your Itinerary

    Tripadvisor

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating - 106 reviews106 reviews

    Langham Wine Estate

    Type

    Type:

    Vineyard

    DORCHESTER

    LATEST UPDATE: The Langham shop is still open during January, 10am until 5pm, Tuesday to Friday. Online shopping also available. World class sparkling wines from the heart of Dorset! At Langham Estate, we love to share our passion for what we do and…

    Price Free to £15.00 Per person per day
  7. Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium

    Add Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium to your Itinerary

    Tripadvisor

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating - 1339 reviews1339 reviews

    Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium

    Type

    Type:

    Aquarium

    LYME REGIS

    The Aquarium has now re-opened. Discover the creatures of the seashore and deeper waters of the Jurassic coast at Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium, a traditional family run seaside attraction which prides itself on its mission to drive knowledge of local…

  8. Lyme Regis beach

    Add Lyme Regis Beaches to your Itinerary

    Lyme Regis Beaches

    Type

    Type:

    Beach

    Lyme Regis

    The beaches in Lyme Regis are a mixture of sand and pebbles. Monmouth beach is very pebbly and shelves. The Front beach is a flat, sandy beach, as is Cobb Gate.

  9. Sherborne Old Castle - Aerial view

    Add Sherborne Old Castle to your Itinerary

    Sherborne Old Castle

    Type

    Type:

    Castle/Fort

    SHERBORNE

    Awards

    • Visit Britain We're Good to Go 2020We're Good to Go

    Sherborne Old Castle has now re-opened. Visitors today can delight in the great gatehouse, stroll in the castle grounds and enjoy a picnic where Sir Walter Raleigh once entertained when the castle acted as his country home.

    Price £2.80 to £12.20 Per Ticket
  10. Cerne Abbas Giants

    Add Cerne Abbas Giant to your Itinerary

    Cerne Abbas Giant

    Type

    Type:

    National Trust Property

    DORCHESTER

    The 180ft tall club-wielding man has long been regarded as a sign of fertility. He was probably created as a pagan idol during the Iron Age period of Britain.

    Free
  11. Max Gate - Home of Thomas Hardy

    Add Max Gate - Home of Thomas Hardy to your Itinerary

    Max Gate - Home of Thomas Hardy

    Type

    Type:

    National Trust Property

    DORCHESTER

    *LATEST UPDATE* Max Gate is currently closed.
    Victorian house designed by Thomas Hardy and his home from 1885 until his death in 1928.

    Price Free to £19.30 Per Ticket
  12. Chesil Beach fishing

    Add Abbotsbury Beach - Chesil Bank and Fleet Lagoon to your Itinerary

    Abbotsbury Beach - Chesil Bank and Fleet Lagoon

    Type

    Type:

    Beach

    Nr Weymouth

    A shelving beach made up of pebbles and shingle, popular with both local anglers and families for mackerel fishing.

  13. Maumbury Rings

    Add Maumbury Rings to your Itinerary

    Maumbury Rings

    Type

    Type:

    Historic Site

    DORCHESTER

    Maumbury Rings is a Neolithic henge in the south of Dorchester town in Dorset, England. The monument is now a public open space, and used for open-air concerts, festivals and re-enactments.

  14. Maiden Castle, an Iron age hill-fort near Dorchseter, Dorset

    Add Maiden Castle to your Itinerary

    Maiden Castle

    Type

    Type:

    Historic Site

    Dorchester

    The finest and one of the largest Iron Age hill forts in Europe.

    Free
  15. Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre

    Add Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre to your Itinerary

    Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre

    Type

    Type:

    Heritage/Visitor Centre

    BRIDPORT

    The centre offers hands-on displays, interactive computers and information about fossils and fossil hunting. Guided walks and activities throughout the year.

    Free
  16. St Catherine's Chapel

    Add St Catherine's Chapel to your Itinerary

    St Catherine's Chapel

    Type

    Type:

    Church/Chapel

    ABBOTSBURY

    Set high on a hilltop overlooking Abbotsbury Abbey, this sturdily buttressed and barrel-vaulted 14th-century chapel was built by the monks as a place of pilgrimage and retreat.

    Free
  17. A Dorset beach

    Add West Bexington Beach to your Itinerary

    West Bexington Beach

    Type

    Type:

    Beach

    A shingle beach that shelves steeply. Walking is popular around this area and like many of the other beaches in the vicinity, views to the East and West are superb.

  18. Dinosaur

    Add The Dinosaur Museum to your Itinerary

    The Dinosaur Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    DORCHESTER

    *Temporarily closed*. Fossils, skeletons, life-size dinosaur reconstructions plus hands-on and multimedia displays provide great family fun at this award winning museum.

    Price £6.99 to £8.99 Per Ticket
  19. Tutankhamun's mask

    Add The Tutankhamun Exhibition to your Itinerary

    The Tutankhamun Exhibition

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    DORCHESTER

    Awards

    • Visit Britain We're Good to Go 2020We're Good to Go

    *Temporarily closed*. The world's greatest discovery of Ancient Treasure - Tutankhamun's tomb, treasures and mummy are superbly recreated in this internationally renowned exhibition - spanning time itself.

    Price £6.99 to £8.99 Per Ticket
  20. Minterne Gardens

    Add Minterne Gardens to your Itinerary

    Minterne Gardens

    Type

    Type:

    Garden

    DORCHESTER

    *LATEST UPDATE* Minterne Gardens plan to reopen February 2021, date TBA (usual hours from 10am to 6pm). Minterne is famed for its seasonal profusion of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Japanese cherries and Magnolias are set in a peaceful wooded valley and…

    Price £6.00 Per Ticket
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