Lowbrook Cottage Field

Ditch the car: nearby lies the fab Wessex Ridgeway long-distance walking trail, which runs between Marlborough in Wiltshire to Lyme Regis in Dorset along the northern edge of Salisbury Plain and across Cranborne Chase, providing walkers some pretty spectacular views of the Dorset countryside. Right next door is also Bell Hill, a top local paragliding spot set across 45 acres of chalk downland, and the area is popular with horse riders riders due to the splendidly scenic hacks that can be had – and lack of traffic. There are lots of excellent spots within an hour’s drive of Lowbrook Cottage Field: the metropolitan cafés, restaurants, bars and bistros, and museums, glorious gardens and historic houses of Dorchester – Dorset’s county town – are a 40-minute drive away, and the medieval cathedral city of Salisbury is about the same distance in the opposite direction. For something seasidey, the jaw-dropping Jurassic Coast and the Purbeck Heritage Coast’s smashing and plentiful sandy beaches are about an hour’s drive away; top tip: be sure to check out Middle Beach, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door along the Lulworth coastline. Longleat Safari Park, and Stonehenge are all around an hour’s drive away too.