Wood Farm Caravan and Camping Park

The beaches at Charmouth and ‘the pearl of Dorset’ Lyme Regis are both within walking distance; both are known for rich fossil-hunting pickings and have historic towns to browse around – Lyme Regis is famous for its Cobb Harbour and Jane Austen associations, while Charmouth has a Heritage Coast Centre to help you out with your fossil finds.

Charmouth is one of the gateway towns to the World Heritage Jurassic Coast, with coastal walks, climbing, watersports and fishing all abounding along its 93-mile stretch, and the ‘anchor towns’ of Exeter, Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch are all accessible from this section of coast: the kids can splash about at the Splashdown Water Park in Poole, walk under water in the tunnel at Bournemouth Oceanarium or get crafty at the ‘yummy mummy centre’ Zooma in Christchurch.

For wildlife watching, take a trip on the Seaton open air tramway along the Axe estuary to see flocks of wading birds at the area’s nature reserves, or go to one of the many wildlife centres and attractions about; you could peer at the meerkats in the Axe Valley Wildlife Park, or see the seals among the thousand animals at Weymouth Sealife Park. Wildlife of an ancient bent can be scoped at Dorchester’s award-winning Dinosaur Museum.

There’s a Jurassic-sized amount of historical attractions in Dorset and neighbouring Devon too, such as medieval Forde Abbey, the grottoes and gardens at Mapperton Abbey, the National Trust’s Shute Barton and the exotic Japanese gardens and Egyptian artefacts at Kingston Lacy House and Gardens.