Activities
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Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, Weymouth, Dorset
Elizabeth Strangways-Horner established the first gardens at Abbotsbury in the 18th century, making the most of the area’s microclimate to plant flowers and exotic trees and shrubs.
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Athelhampton House, Dorset, England
Athelhampton started off life in the 15th century as a family home for the Martyn family. It was regularly visited by the writer Thomas Hardy, and is now owned by Giles Keating.
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Bournemouth Aviation Museum, Christchurch
It exhibits a number of aircraft, aero engines, cockpits and a double-decker bus. Unusually for this kind of museum, the Aviation Museum has open cockpits and visitors are encouraged to climb into the cockpits and press knobs, turn dials, pull levers, flick switches and more.
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Deans Court Gardens, Dorset, England
Deans Court is a former Saxon Monastery now owned by William and Ali Hanham. The 13-acre gardens include a Saxon fishpond and lots of vegetable plots whose vegetables are used at the Deans Court café.
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Edmondsham House and Gardens, Dorset, England
The Smith family owns this Tudor family house, which has an organic walled garden and six acres of grounds with trees and spring bulbs.
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Holme for Gardens, Wareham
Set in the beautiful Isle of Purbeck, two miles west of Wareham and just south of the River Frome, this seven-acre garden is laid out on the site of an old fruit and dairy farm. The garden design is a mixture of formal and informal sections that cleverly link from one area to another.
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Lulworth Castle and Park, Dorset, England
Forming part of the Lulworth Estate, this 17th century castle, built by the 3rd Viscount of Bindon, offers views over the Jurassic Coast.
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Mapperton House and Gardens, Dorset, England
The 11th Earl of Sandwich lives in this Tudor-Georgian manor, which had only been owned by four families until it was sold in 1919.
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Minterne House and Gardens, Dorset, England
With thousands of plant species from across the world and a special collection of rhododendrons, Minterne Gardens are a real treat if you want to get an idea of what it was like to create a garden during the Victorian period.
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Poole Museum, Poole
Inside a Victorian quayside warehouse, the museum tells the story of the historic maritime town of Poole.
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Priest's House Museum & Garden, Wimborne
This historic Grade II listed building dates back to the 16th-century.
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Red House Museum and Gardens, Christchurch
In a former workhouse built in 1764, Red House Museum and Gardens is filled with a variety of objects and displays linked to the local area.
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Sherborne Castle and Gardens, Dorset, England
Walter Raleigh’s former home was built in 1594 and replaced an older 12th-century castle that’s still on the site today. The Wingfield-Digby family have lived there since 1856.
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Stock Gaylard House, Dorset, England
The Langmead family now live in this 18th-century Georgian home, which was built for the Lewys family and has been passed on to family members over the years.
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Wolfeton House, Dorset, England
This medieval-Jacobean house was built by the Trenchard family in 1560 and is owned by one of their distant relatives, Nigel Thimbleby.
