Things to Do in Dorset for Families During the School Holidays

 Looking for fun things to do in Dorset during the school holidays? You’re in luck! From beautiful beaches and wild country parks to charming villages and historic sites, there’s something for every family in Dorset — whether you want to keep the kids busy, make memories together, or simply appreciate the magic of your home county. 

🍦 Spend Time at Our Amazing Beaches 🍦

Did you know Bournemouth Beach and Weymouth Beach made it into Tripadvisor’s Best Beaches in Europe for 2025? (Yes — we’re up there with the world’s finest!)

✅ Bournemouth Beach — Miles of sand, traditional amusements, ice cream stands — perfect for children and families!
✅ Weymouth Beach — Shallow waters, sheltered sand, and plenty of space for games. More of a traditional seaside town
✅ Studland Bay— Much quieter than it's Bournemouth and Poole neighbours - great for a more restful family day by the sea. We particularly love Knoll Beach. Look out for the ice cream boat! 

Knoll Beach, Studland

🍉 Outdoor Adventures  🍉

Looking for something more energetic?
✅ Dorset Adventure Park (Corfe Castle) — Water slides, an assault course, and lakes to splash in — a wild day for children and adults alike!
✅  The Alpine Adventure Park at Snowtrax offers swings, trampolines, super slippy slides, and much more including a pirate ship situated on it's own island— perfect for children who love a bit of a challenge.

🦉 Get Closer to Nature 🦉

✅ Brownsea Island — Take a short ferry ride from Poole Quay and discover peacocks, red squirrels, secluded beaches, and rich wildlife — a magical adventure for children!
✅ Blue Pool — Wander through this tranquil spot near Wareham, where a dramatic pool glows blue and green, surrounded by heathland and forests — a wonderful opportunity for children to connect with nature. Look out for their special events throughout the year, we love visiting at Halloween! 
✅ RSPB Arne Nature Reserve — Amazing trails, rich birdlife, deer, and beautiful views — a perfect spot for a family wildlife adventure in Dorset. 

Blue Pool

🍃 Enjoy Our Country Parks 🍃

✅ Moors Valley Country Park and Forest — Amazing trails, a miniature railway, high-ropes course, playgrounds, a lake, and it's very own Gruffalo  — perfect for children of all ages!
✅ Avon Heath Country Park — Miles of walking trails, wildlife spotting, a children’s play area, and plenty of space for a picnic with the whole family.
✅ Upton Country Park — Stroll through beautiful gardens, explore the woodlands, let the children burn off energy at the large playground, or enjoy a cream tea in the well stocked cafe afterwards

The Gruffalo at Moors Valley Country Park

 🐷Fun for the Whole Family 🐷

✅ Farmer Palmers Farm Park — Petting sessions, bouncing castles, a dinosaur trail, ride-on toys, and much more — a classic Dorset family day out during the school holidays! (Plus the cakes in the Hen House cafe are 10/10!)
✅ Monkey World — Home to over 250 rescued primates — a wonderful blend of education and entertainment for children of all ages.

Meeting a new friend at Farmer Palmers

🦕 5. Dig Into History — And Some Fossil Fun! 🦕

✅ Lyme Regis  — The Jurassic Coast is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — grab a fossil hammer, go fossil hunting with your children, and uncover ancient creatures!
✅ Charmouth Beach and  Heritage Coast Centre — Learn alongside your children about dinosaurs, ancient creatures, and their stories — and then go and explore the rock pools where you might find your very own ammonite to take home

Fossil Hunting on the Jurassic Coast

🎪 Local Festivals 🎪

Dorset really knows how to throw a family-friendly festival — and summer is bursting with music, magic, and muddy knees (the fun kind). Here's what not to miss during the school holidays in Dorset:

✅ Poole Harbour Festival (25–27 July) — Amazing food trucks, live bands, children’s entertainment, and a chilled holiday-like atmosphere — a perfect Dorset festival for families!
✅ Camp Bestival (31 July - 3 Aug) - The ultimate family festival! Think glittery wellies, circus tents, Mr Tumble, fireworks, fancy dress parades, big-name bands, and a dedicated kids’ field full of crafts, theatre shows, and activities. This one’s family festival royalty — a proper bucket-list experience!
✅ DorsetFest (27–28 June) – A charming folk festival in the countryside with live music, craft stalls, children’s games, storytelling, and plenty of space to run wild.

Camp Bestival - Dorset's biggest festival

Whether you're a local looking to rediscover your favourite spots or planning brand new adventures with the kids, Dorset is packed with unforgettable experiences this summer. From beach days and castle explorations to nature trails, festivals, and fossil hunts, there’s something to excite every kind of family. So pack the buckets and spades and get ready for a Summer full of fresh air, fun and memories that’ll last long after the school holidays end.

Coastal Cruising with City Experiences - Poole/Swanage Sightseeing Cruise

 I might be a bit biased but I think Dorset is one of the prettiest places in the UK - I've lived here all my life and can't imagine living anywhere else. I adore living by the sea and one of our favourite things to do in the Summer is hop on a boat and see Dorset from a different perspective.

One company who offer these trips is City Experiences who have a wide range of cruises departing from Poole Quay. Last weekend I was invited to take the family on the Poole/Swanage Sightseeing Cruise. 

Throughout the Summer months there are three different departure times from Poole Quay - 10:30, 13:00 and 15:45. It takes around an hour to cruise over to Swanage and you can just stay on the boat for the return trip or you can get off and catch a later boat back. Departure times from Swanage Pier are 11:45, 14:30 and 16:45. 

Swanage Bay, Dorset

We wanted to spend a few hours in Swanage so we decided to catch the 10:30 boat from Poole. Check in was easy - our tickets were scanned and there were plenty of areas to sit, both inside/outside and under cover. You can also move freely around the boat which is handy if you want to try a different view! The boat also has toilets and a bar. 

Luckily for us, the weather was glorious and we couldn't have picked a better day to travel by sea! Leaving Poole Quay we headed out into the Harbour and past Brownsea Island. Owned by the National Trust, Brownsea is a lovely place to visit and one of the very few places you can spot Red Squirrels in the UK. 

Brownsea Island, Poole

Past the golden sands of Studland Beach (did you know part of the beach is strictly for nudists?!), we sailed by the famous white stacks of Old Harry Rocks. This is the start of the Jurassic Coast - a 95 mile stretch of coastline which is the only place on Earth where you can see rocks from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods in one place - pretty impressive if you ask me! 

Old Harry Rocks, Dorset

Soon we were heading for Swanage Pier and time to disembark the boat. Our return boat was 14:30 which gave us 2.5 hours to explore. We love Swanage, it's such a lovely little seaside town and definitely worth a visit if you are coming to Dorset. We had a nice stroll up to Peveril Point which gives you a fantastic view over Swanage Bay followed by fish and chips on the seafront. You can't come to Swanage and not get fish and chips! 

Walking towards Peveril Point, Swanage

We had time for a quick trip to the arcade (again, another essential Swanage must do if you're my kids!) and then as the weather was so lovely we sat on the beach for a bit and enjoyed the Autumn sunshine. It was so warm that the kids decided to have a little swim! 

Soon it was time to head back to the Pier and catch our boat back to Poole Quay. We had a lovely day out and it felt like the perfect way to round off our Summer. 

Thank you City Experiences for inviting us - for more information regarding all their trips from Poole and further afield, check out their website here. 

*Disclaimer - City Experiences kindly gifted us a family ticket in exchange for an honest review

DIPPY THE DINOSAUR IN DORSET!

If you've ever visited the Natural History Museum, you've more than likely seen Dippy the Diplodocus. Residing there from 1905 to 2017 he was almost part of the furniture!

This year Dippy was carefully dismantled and has travelled down to Dorset for the first leg of his countrywide tour. Here in Dorset we are very proud of our Jurassic Coastline and dinosaur history so it seems perfect for him to begin his tour here!

As you might have guessed from previous posts, Elliot is dinosaur crazy so I was really excited that he would get to see Dippy close up. The tickets were released last year and I made sure I had the date saved in my calender so we wouldn't miss out!

Last Saturday we made our way over to the Dorset County Museum in Dorchester and queued up with lots of other excitable children. Lots of the businesses in Dorchester are flying Dippy flags outside their premises so there's been a real buzz about his arrival. You can also follow Dippy sized footprints from Brewery Square. We arrived abit late to do this but will definitely be looking out for the footprints on our next trip to Dorchester!

not sure why he felt the need to have his mint hanging out of his mouth!!

Once inside the museum, you have the option of just seeing Dippy (which your free tickets cover) or paying to see the rest of the museum too. We decided to pay to see the rest of the museum too, we've never been before and it seemed a shame not to as we were there! I think it only cost £16 for 2 adults and one child (under 5s are free) so it's very affordable.

Because the tickets are done in hour slots (ours was 10am), we found there was a massive rush to see Dippy on the hour. One of the members of staff gave us a really good tip and told us to go and explore the rest of the museum for a bit and come back in half an hour when the crowds had dispersed. This was really useful and I'd highly recommend others doing this!

We headed up to the top floor of the museum which is where all the dinosaur displays are - Elliot was in his element! It was really interesting to learn all about the Weymouth Bay Pliosaur - the largest marine reptile that ever lived. A fossilised pliosaur skull was discovered on the nearby Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and it's one of the best preserved fossils of its kind ever found. It's certainly impressive, his mouth is humungous!!

After tearing Elliot away from the fossil displays we headed back downstairs to finally see Dippy where he is currently hanging out in the gorgeous Victorian Hall. Measuring 21.3m he literally takes up the entire length of the hall, any bigger and I think they'd need an extension!!

As we walked the length of the hall, there were lots of plaques to read giving us facts about Dippy. Elliot's favourite one which he told to everyone he has met since is, Dippy's tail is longer than his neck!

When we got to the far end of the hall we reached Dippy's head. There was a large glass panel which made it really easy to take a pic with Dippy - the kids loved it!

We spent a bit more time in the Victorian Hall and it was great to see Dippy from different angles.

We went to investigate the rest of the museum and we found some really interesting displays such as the Ancient Dorset one which focused on the Romans, Saxons and Vikings who lived on the South Dorset Ridgeway. It was fascinating to read about all the items such as pots and jewellery that had been discovered over the years.

Our final stop was the craft area downstairs which had lots for Elliot to do. There was colouring, lego and special Dippy hats to make and decorate.

Elliot was also beside himself with excitement when he spotted a grandfather clock just like the one in Andy's Dinosaur Adventures!!

Finishing off with a visit to the brilliantly stocked little giftshop (and coming home with a £20 triceratops!) it was time for us to head home. We had an excellent morning at the museum and I'm really pleased we got to see Dippy while he is visiting Dorset.

For more information regarding tickets, head over to the Dorset County Museum website