The Homestead Camping Site

Those of a certain age might like a trot along to Shaftesbury and Gold Hill, the setting for Ridley Scott's Hovis ad where the knackered bakery boy pushes his bike all the way up the slope to then whizz delightedly down. Also in Shaftesbury are splendid views of the Blackmore Vale (yes, from the top of the hill) and the  Gold Hill Museum – yes, also at the top of that hill... Literary types and Thomas Hardy fans must surely visit Dorchester to see his former home Max Gate; it's well worth a day in town after that to potter around its museums including the Roman Town House, Dorset County Museum, the Tutankhamun Exhibition and – if your offspring are now revolting – the dinosaur museum and the Dorset Teddy Bear Museum, For family days, Longleat and Monkey World are within 40 and 45 minutes, Lulworth Cove and Swanage within 40, and the New Forest within an hour. And travellers of an especially immature disposition (hurrah) should also enjoy a chuckle at the giant naked chalk man of Cerne Abbas, 25 minutes' drive from The Homestead.