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Places to Visit
Some of the many other places to visit in the area include:
(Approximate distance from Birchwood Tourist Park in brackets)
Please check with each individual place to ensure details are correct for your time of visit as details are subject to change.
Wareham Cinema The Rex - (2.5 miles)
Wareham Town Museum - (3 miles)
Farmer Palmers Farm Park - (3 miles)
Purbeck Sports Centre - Swimming pool, gym, play zone &
Sports Bar & Cafe - (3 miles)
Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre - (3.5 miles)
Careys Secret Garden
Blue Pool and Tea House - (6 miles)
Holme for Gardens (Garden centre, cafe, farm shop, garden, PYO, garden events) - (6 miles)
Corfe Castle & Village - (6 miles)
Arne RSPB Nature reserve- trails, cycling, bird watching, family activities - (7 miles)
Corfe Castle Model Village and Garden - (7.5 miles)
Clouds Hill (National Trust) - The rural retreat of T.E. Lawrence - (7.5 miles)
Margaret Green Animal Rescue - Visitor Centre & nightly cat & dog boarding - (8 miles)
Swanage Steam Railway - (8 miles to Norden Park & Ride) (14 miles to Swanage Station)
Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum - (8 miles)
Lulworth Castle and Park - (8.5 miles)
Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour (NT) access by ferry / boat (not NT) - (8.5 miles)
Dorset WaterPark- Inflatable Woodland Waterpark overlooking Corfe Castle - (8.5 miles)
Tolpuddle Martyr’s Museum - (9 miles)
Tank Museum, Bovington "the World's best collection of Tanks"- (9 miles)
Athelhampton House & Gardens - 15th Century manor house, grounds, restaurant-(10 miles)
Moreton, the Tea Rooms, Moreton Church, with engraved glass windows created by Laurence Whistler & grave of Lawrence of Arabia and The Walled Garden Farm shop & Cafe - (10 miles)
Poole Museum and Scaplens Court Museum (medieval building & garden) - (11 miles)
The Lighthouse -Poole Art Centre for live events, film and visual art - (11 miles)
Poole Park - mini railway, play areas, lake, cafe, watersports, crazy golf, putting, tennis- (12 miles)
The Ark at Poole Park - soft play, ice rink, children holiday activities and café - (12 miles)
Lulworth RIB Rides Boat rides from Lulworth Cove to Dudle Door - (12 miles)
Putlake Adventure Farm Animals & indoor soft play - (12 miles)
City Cruises from Poole Harbour- Boat harbour tours & day trips along Jurassic coast- (12 miles)
Smedmore House, Kimmeridge, limited open days only each year for charity- (13.5 miles)
Swanage Museum and Heritage Centre - (14 miles)
Upton House and Country Park, Poole - (14 miles)
Hardy's Cottage and garden (National Trust), Thomas Hardy birthplace &
Thorncombe Woods ancient woodland & nature reserve - (14 miles)
Durlston Country Park and National Nature Reserve & Castle - (14.5 miles)
Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park and Tower - (14.5 miles)
Sandbanks Crazy Golf - (14.5 miles)
Royal Signals Museum, Blandford Camp - (15 miles)
Kingston Maurward Gardens and Animal Park- Pony Club - (15 miles)
Dorchester Museums (16 miles):-
Dorset County Museum, Terracotta Warriors, Tutankhamun Exhibition,
Dinosaur Museum, Keep Military Museum, Roman Town House
Max Gate, the home of author & poet Thomas Hardy (National Trust) - (16 miles)
Dorchester Plaza Cinema - (16 miles)
Dorchester Brewery Square - Shops, Cinema and Restaurants. Winter Skating - (16.5 miles)
Bournemouth International Centre (BIC), Conference, exhibition & entertainment - (16 miles)
Moors Valley Country Park, Go Ape Adventure, mini steam railway, Segways, bike hire-(16 miles)
Wimborne Model Town & Gardens - (16 miles)
Priest's House Museum, Garden & tea room- period rooms, Victorian kitchen, galleries-(16 miles)
Bournemouth Oceanarium - (17 miles)
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Museum & Garden overlooking the sea, Bournemouth - (17 miles)
Kingston Lacy House and Gardens (National Trust) - (18 miles)
Adventure Wonderland Bournemouth. Theme Park, indoor play, maze, pony rides & farm-(18 miles)
Tower Park Cinema, Bowlplex & Splashdown and places to eat- (19 miles)
Knoll Gardens, near Wimborne - 4 acre garden & nursery - (19 miles)
Abbotsbury Swannery, Subtropical Gardens and Children’s Farm - (19 miles)
Henley Hillbillies Centre for off road quad bikes, clay pigeon shooting (age limits) - (19 miles)
Cerne Abbas Giant (National Trust), ancient naked figure sculpted in the chalk hillside - (20 miles)
Treasure Trail maps - explore the area following the clues in the pack (on sale in our shop or online)
Minterne House & Garden - (21 miles)
Bennetts Water Garden 8 acres of national and international collections of Water Lilies - (24 miles)
Gold Hill, Shaftesbury market town & museum, famous for the ‘Hovis’ Advert - (25 miles)
Highcliffe Castle - Grade 1 listed cliff top mansion with events and concerts - (26 miles)
Heavy Horse Farm Park & Rescue Centre - (28 miles)
Portland Castle (English Heritage) - (28 miles) and Portland Bill Lighthouse - (32.5 miles)
Sherborne town and Castle built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594 - (29 miles)
Sherborne Old Castle (English Heritage) 12th Century ruin - (30 miles)
Vurlands Animal Farm & tearoom, Swyre - (30 miles)
Paultons Family Theme Park Home of Peppa Pig World - (31 miles)
Bridport Market Town -(31.5 miles) & West Bay- film locations for ITV series 'Broadchurch'-(32 miles)
Palmers Brewery Tour small independent brewers of Ale in Bridport since 1794 - (32 miles)
Mangerton Mill, nr Bridport - 17th Century working mill, crafts, dog friendly, tea room - (32 miles)
Mapperton House & Gardens Jacobean manor and 15 acre garden, cafe - (32 miles)
Longleat Safari and Adventure Park - (33.5 miles)
Stourhead (National Trust) House and famous landscaped garden - (35 miles)
Furleigh Estate, Salway Ash, Bridport - Vineyard & Winery tours & tasting - (35 miles)
Haynes Motor Museum - (38 miles)
Lyme Regis town, World Heritage Site with harbour wall ‘The Cobb’ - (42 miles)
Beaulieu National Motor Museum - (45 miles)
Stonehenge World Heritage Site - (45 miles)
Forde Abbey House and Gardens - (45 miles)
All the coastal areas on the Jurassic Coast, which is a World Heritage Site, are worth a visit. We are within a reasonable proximity to all from Poole to Weymouth.
Poole and Brownsea Island
Sandbanks
Arne
Shell Bay
Studland
Old Harry Rocks
Swanage
Durlston Head
Dancing Ledge
Worth Matravers & St Aldhelm's Chapel
Chapman's Pool & fossil collecting
Kimmeridge Bay
Tyneham
Worbarrow Bay on Lulworth Ranges (MOD)
Fossil Forest
Lulworth Cove
St Oswalds Bay
Durdle Door
Ringstead
Osmington
Weymouth
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