Southwest England in May

We have not been to the UK yet but it's a family bucket list trip! Friends lived in the Dorset, Dover, Cornwall region and it looks spectacular. I really want to see the Jurassic cliffs/beach area, the moors and headlands as an artist! ;-D

Seems like a fun trip! Where in Dorset are you planning to visit? It is a county, and there are lots of places to visit and see in the area. In your shoes, I would probably add any extra nights to this area. My husband and I stayed in Dorset for three days in September 2024 and we barely got to see enough of the Purbeck area. With a car, you will get around much faster than we did using public transportation, but even then there is so much to see/do! And we didn't even get to Dorchester, or the western part of the county.

No matter what you do, I definitely highly recommend visiting Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove and Corfe Castle. Lots of lovely walks around the area. We loved staying in Wareham, but again you will have a lot more choices with a car. There is a Tank Museum in Bovington that might also appeal to you, but I have no personal knowledge of it.

Enjoy your trip!

If you want to do so village-to-village hiking in the Cotswolds, a car will be handy (for loop routes). Bus service in that area is pretty infrequent, I believe. If you just want to see some scenery and some pretty villages, there are good, one-day, small-group (van) tours offered from Bath (by MadMax) and from Moreton-in-Marsh (by GoCotswolds). Moreton-in-Marsh is a short train ride from Oxford, so a GoCotswolds tour can be taken while you're staying in Oxford.

We have family origins in Bere Regis and Sturminster, Dorset county, so we'll visit those and other towns. The Tank Museum also sounds interesting. I'll do more research this weekend, review trip reports, and update the itinerary for feedback.

In Oxford and Bath you don’t need a car - they’re a liability in Oxford!

But, I think you’d get around a lot more quickly and easily in Dorset with one. Could you rent one in Bath and return it to Gatwick at the end of your holiday?

Bill, thanks for the tip. Picking up a car in Bath sounds like a good plan, I’ll have a look at the possibilities. Acraven mentioned a few ways to see the Cotswolds from Bath and Oxford, we are debating whether to overnight in one of the villages or add the time to Dorset.

Do you know if there is an advantage to pre-purchasing train tickets for the trips from LGW to Oxford and from Oxford to Bath? I’ll look into this but just putting it out there for input.

We have family origins in Bere Regis and Sturminster, Dorset county

Sturminster Newton or Sturminster Marshall? With Bere Regis as the other one I would guess Sturminster Marshall, but S Newton is not that far away.

Sturminster Newton or Sturminster Marshall?

Hi isn31c, thanks for this information as we haven’t considered it. We have Cornwall and (Bere Regis) Dorset for the maternal side and Sturminster, Dorset for the paternal side. I’ll try to get clarification.

I will only comment on your Dorset stay. Please do rent a car as you will get to see more and some of the places I am going to mention are not served by public transport.

If you are visiting the tank museum then nearby you have Clouds Hill - final home of Lawrence of Arabia. He served at Bovington. The house is owned by the National Trust and open to the public but must be pre-booked. The nearby village of Moreton is worth looking around.

For Roman history Dorchester is well worth visiting. The museum there has many roman remains, including mosaics you can walk on. Nearby there is the remains of a roman town house. There are no roman walls as such as the Victorians destroyed them to build houses. However they did plant avenues of trees where the walls stood.

The drive between Abbotsbury and Bridport is very scenic. There are stopping places so that the driver can see the views. A walk up to St Catherine's chapel will give you beautiful views. The nearby Abbotsbury swannery may have the cygnets hatching in May.

In the Purbeck area you have Corfe Castle. A few miles away you can walk to Old Harry Rocks - chalk stacks in the sea. There is also a lovely 3 mile circular walk around Swyre head - just beyond Corfe Castle. Tyneham is a village which was evacuated during WW2 and the villages never returned. The area was used to practice the D-Day landings. The church and school room remain intact. There is a lovely walk from the village to Warbarrow Bay. Do check opening times.

Very few people mention the Devonshire beach town of Torquay, which we were fortunate enough to spend a week in. Fantastic! It was a good headquarters from which to tour Devon, Cornwall and the rugged landscape of Dartmoor. Plus the town itself is very scenic. It's also not expensive, which is a bonus.

If you are planning on spending more than £105 on train travel, you would benefit from buying a railcard. They are presently £30, going up the £35 very soon, and they give you a 33% discount on rail travel, after the morning rush hour. If there are two of you, there is the Two together railcard which covers both of you for £30/ £35.

We are considering spending more time in Dorset, as mentioned in other posts, and will pick up a car after leaving Bath. We plan to visit Bere Regis and Sturminster, but they seem too small for overnight stays. Can you recommend some nice towns to use as a base? Salisbury is within an hour's drive and has easy access to Stonehenge. Swanage, Weymouth, and Dorchester were also mentioned. I have tentatively updated our night allocations and would appreciate your feedback.

Oxford: 2N

Bath: 2N

Dorchester: 3N

Salisbury: 3N

Winchester: 2N

London: 2N

Finalizing this will help us book accommodations and figure out transportation.

Thanks

Hi Terry. Not sure if I have read this right but I wouldn't stay in Salisbury to visit Dorchester Weymouth and Swanage. Assuming you mean Sturminster Marshall (and not Sturminster Newton) I would focus your accommodation search on the towns of Wimborne, Wareham, Dorchester or Swanage. If you can let us know which places you intend to visit I am sure we can point you in a good direction.

Hi Daisy,

Thanks for the note. This is our first time in the area, so we're unsure where to base ourselves for exploring. We're considering spending 5-6 nights in Dorset County, splitting our stay between two locations. We plan to visit Bere Regis, Sturminster Newton, Bovington, and other towns. I'll start looking into the towns you mentioned.

Thanks again!

Hi Terry

Are you planning to just visit the places your ancestors are from or are you planning to do family tree research? If the latter than a great source of information is the Dorset History Centre, based in Dorchester. www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk. dorsethistorycentre.
If so it may be best to book an appointment

I am snot sure you would need 2 bases in Dorset. Dorchester is the most central and you could travel in a reasonable time to most other places. If however most of your visits are in the east of the county that Wimborne or Wareham would fit well.

Hi Daisy,

Thanks for the Dorset History Centre link! We initially planned to just visit the area, but after browsing the archives, we might change our plans. We're also considering staying in Dorchester, so thanks for that suggestion too.

By the way, we love gardening and visiting gardens. Early May seems like a great time to see some gardens.

I will update our nightly itineray in the next day or so and post it for feedback. We're looking forward to our trip!

Thanks again