Dorset

This new, thoroughly updated fourth edition of Dorset (Slow Travel), Bradt’s popular and distinctive guide, offers in-depth exploration of one of England’s most popular counties. Author Alexandra Richards, Dorset born and bred, shares local insights to offer a wider, more personal selection of places to explore than any other guide, including attractions known only to locals, who normally keep the county’s treasures to themselves. The result encourages you to slow down and appreciate why this county deserves repeat visits.
Dorset is quintessential rural England: rolling hills, thatched houses, winding lanes and stunning stately homes. Enchanting Dorset landscapes described in Thomas Hardy’s 19th-century novels are largely unchanged and are likely to remain so given that Dorset enjoys highest proportion of conservation areas in England. The county is trimmed by the spectacular Jurassic Coast (starring locations such as Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove), England’s first natural World Heritage Site, whose cliffs continuously reveal their prehistoric, fossilised secrets.
History buffs will love innumerable sites of archaeological interest, including Britain’s largest Iron Age hillfort, Maiden Castle. More recent history includes Weymouth’s D-Day memorial: the town was one of the biggest departure points for US troops, comprising 500,000 military personnel and 144,000 vehicles.
Practical information covers where and what to eat, where and what to see, and how to get around. This fourth edition: integrates recent changes county-wide; covers additional villages; celebrates child-friendly activities; introduces local food and drink producers; and suggests new walks.
Discover Dorset’s award-winning vodka made from milk; discover what really happens at the Filly Loo Festival; hunt fossils on beaches featured in the biopic film Ammonite, where Kate Winslet portrays world-famous palaeontologist Mary Anning; learn where never to say the word ’rabbits’; discover the Lyme Regis rubber duck race; and get to grips with the fabulous Dorset dialect.
Whatever your interest, be it local food, tours of award-winning wineries, horseriding, relaxing on lauded beaches or spectacular coastal hikes, Dorset (Slow Travel) remains the essential companion guide for both enjoying the obvious sites and getting off the beaten track to understand what really makes this gorgeous, varied county tick.

Alexandra Richards (alexandrarichards.net) lived in the tiny north Dorset village of Stour Provost until her mid-20s. Career and travel writing then took her elsewhere (notably Australia, for several years), but she has always kept a base in Dorset, never wanting to sever ties with the county. Spending time away has given her a new appreciation for - and (visitor’s) perspective on - the area. Dorset’s hold on Alex has only grown stronger with time and in 2019 she returned to live there full time, close to where she grew up. Alex has explored the Dorset countryside on horseback, on foot, by bicycle and by 4x4. She has a particular interest in natural history and conservation, and enjoys following the work of the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Having grown up in a farming community, she has a real appreciation for Dorset’s local produce, which is some of the finest in the country.