Loscombe Farm

An easy stroll from the camping fields is to the National Trust-owned Hardy Monument (40 minutes’ walk), a vantage point with views over the Jurassic Coast (20 minutes’ drive). Down by the sea, you can follow in the footsteps of Mary Anning and forage for fossils at Lyme Regis or Charmouth (both half an hour), or head for the SEA LIFE Centre, the extensive beach and the buzzy marina at Weymouth (20 minutes). Take a dip in the sea off Chesil Beach (15 minutes), or up the action by sailing, paddleboarding, kayaking and kitesurfing off Portland (40 minutes). Back on dry land, have a go on climbing walls on the Isle of Portland (35 minutes), wander palm-lined walks at Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens (10 minutes) and marvel at the mute swan colony at Abbotsbury Swannery (15 minutes, open in summer). Up the cultural aspect of your days exploring Dorset with a trip to the Iron Age hill fort at Maiden Castle (15 minutes), or hike up to the prehistoric monoliths at The Nine Stones (half an hour’s walk) and carry on until you reach the undulating burial mounds at Winterbourne Poor Lot Barrows (an hour’s walk from the campsite).