Friar Waddon House

Country days and coast days are equally easy from here – and equally fab. Walking and cycle trails are pretty much right outside the site, and there are plenty more routes around the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. If you like to see big stuff, take a wander to see the Cerne Abbas Giant, 25 minutes’ drive away (a lengthy lad indeed at 55 metres from top to toe) or make for Maiden Castle, 20 minutes away (one of Europe’s largest Iron Age hillforts, the size of 50 football pitches). For something more genteel, head east for 25 minutes or so to get to Sculpture By The Lakes and 15th-century Athelhampton House or follow the Thomas Hardy trail around Dorchester (15 minutes) and out to Higher Bockhampton. A trip down to the coast is a cinch too – take your pick from the sandy beach, aquarium and traditional seaside fun in Weymouth (15 minutes), the sweeping 18-mile Chesil Beach (20 minutes) and the fossil-hunter’s fave Osmington (20 minutes). The sea-view subtropical gardens, swannery and kids’ farm at Abbotsbury (10 minutes) are certainly worth a stop too.