Hotels in Dorset

Where you sleep in Dorset should be decided by the roads rather than the brochure photographs. The county is long, the A35 is single carriageway for much of its length, and a drive from Lyme Regis to Swanage can take the best part of two hours in August. Pick one end and explore it properly rather than trying to cover everything from a single base.

Families generally do best in Bournemouth, Poole or Swanage. All three have sandy beaches within walking distance of accommodation, plenty of rooms at mid-range prices, and enough rainy-day options to survive a bad week. Bournemouth in particular has the deepest supply of hotels in the county, which keeps prices lower than anywhere else in Dorset outside the shoulder seasons.

Couples tend to be better served inland or on the quieter stretches of coast. Sherborne, Beaminster, Evershot and the Blackmore Vale villages have small country hotels and restaurants with rooms where the point is a long dinner and a walk the next morning. Studland and the Purbeck coast offer the same at a premium, because the views carry a price.

Walkers should think in terms of the South West Coast Path and public transport. Basing yourself in Swanage, Weymouth, Bridport or Lyme Regis puts you on the Jurassic Coaster bus route, which means you can walk a linear section and ride back rather than doubling back on yourself. Guest houses and B and Bs in these towns are used to early breakfasts and muddy boots.

On price, expect to pay from around ninety pounds a night for a decent double in a guest house outside peak season, rising past two hundred for the better country hotels and coastal properties in July and August. School holidays, half-term weeks and any weekend with an event at Lulworth Castle push rates sharply higher, and the best-known places sell out six months ahead. Book by January for a summer stay. Outside the season, from November to March, many coastal properties either close or offer substantial midweek discounts, and that is when Dorset is at its cheapest.