Few hours to kill near Lulworth any ideas?!

[FusionChefGeoff]

We're heading to Camp Bestival (nr Lulworth) with friends and will be getting to the general area much earlier than them so looking for some ideas for the morning so Country Parks / small attractions. Kids are 6 and 9 and we need to fill from about 10ish until 2ish so need food too

We're coming in on the A31 through the New Forest I think so anything on that side would be good and don't want to get too close...

Any recommendations?!

Paultons park

Moors valley country park

It’s pretty close to lulworth so doesn’t exactly fit the criteria but we love Kimmeridge Bay - there’s a couple of pubs on the way in and an ice cream van there - lots of fossil hunting and rock pooling! It’s a marine trust type place so there’s always volunteers around the slipway happy to show kids their latest finds and where the best fossils are.

I'm googling..... thanks all!!

Is it your first time at Camp bestival? It’s ace - you will love it. If you are camping though and need to grab a good pitch - I would just go in and meet your friends in there. It’s a few years since I went but I seem to remember it was essential to get set up early cus it got quite busy quite fast. So much fun though - make sure you stay for the fireworks at the end - they are great

park up at durdle door, hike over to lulworth cove along the cliff path. it's not far.
have an icecream & a cuppa and walk back.

I’m inclined to say that you should just head down to Lulworth itself and have a bit of a wander to Durdle Door etc. Or the abandoned village of Tyneham is eerie and interesting. Or if you’re NT members then Corfe Castle perhaps.

If you’re desperate to stop on the way then I would say no to Paultons (not cheap and you would want the whole day) but yes to Moors Valley which is lovely. There is GoApe etc if you’re looking for an activity but the play trail is excellent too.

Farmer Palmers! Its a petting farm with soft play. Its my 'go to' place to kill time with my little one. Or lulworth cove/durdle door for some beach time.

@Azilliondegrees how easy is it to find Tyneham village? We’ve wanted to visit for ages but the last few attempts have ended up in failure (although Kimmeridge Bay was discovered on one of these and spent a glorious afternoon in Lulworth itself so not all bad!)

Moors Valley, you won’t be able to get near the cove or Durdle door due to the queues to get in which start very early, if you do want to go to the Cove or Durdle door go via Winfrith and avoid Wareham. This is if you are coming on Thursday

Tyneham and from the village walk down to Warbarrow Bay. Or if raining, Bovington Tank Museum

Go straight to the site is my advice unless you are camping plus/boutique because you can bag a great spot. Take bubbles and games (eg boules, a football) to play. No need for extra activities

Heavy horse farm park in Verwood
Upton Country Park
Poole Park
Bournemouth Aviation Museum

Alpine park at snowtrax

@gogohm

Go straight to the site is my advice unless you are camping plus/boutique because you can bag a great spot. Take bubbles and games (eg boules, a football) to play. No need for extra activities

Please don't take bubbles (unless champagne) the mixture damages the waterproof coating on tents. The queues can be horrendous, I'd also go straight there.

I was about to write what crockof said, literally word for word

The traffic round here is horrendous already, I suspect it will take you much longer to actually get to Lulworth than you have anticipated.

@livingwithbees - we found it pretty easy to find (I think, was ages ago). It’s in the middle of the firing range though so not always accessible and that might have been your issue.

Ahh thanks @Azilliondegrees this may explain it! It was a bit of a halfhearted effort though, there are so many ‘shiny’ places to visit that we got distracted and had a lovely time walking instead 😂

We can't go straight there as we are in the campervans field so they park you up when you arrive a d you're not allowed to reserve space for friends - hence we're going in together.

I don't fancy actual Lulworth Cove / Durdle Door etc as don't fancy queuing any more than we need to so looks like Moors Valley is a great idea.

You could kill time in Swanage , nice beach , shops park etc , if you want a nice walk park up at Durlston country park for a beautiful walk , nice cafe

Moors Valley is excellent we took our two there while in Dorset, there’s a good mix of things to do and lots of shade if it’s sunny. The play trail is very good.

We've just come back from Lulworth. Last Saturday afternoon they (council) closed all the lanes around there as the Cove car park was full and they didn't want 'chaos'. They didn't diffenentiate between locals or traffic not going to the Cove or people trying to get back to their home/holiday home in the village Nope - everyone was just stuck in boiling heat in their cars in all the tiny lanes around with no info at all

The traffic was backed up for miles and miles including past the entrance to camp bestival OP, so keep an ear on local radio.

As you can tell we were quite pissed off

Moors Valley is great. You only pay for parking and the play trail is fantastic for the age your kids are so it's a cheapish day out. Also has two nice play areas separate from the play trail. There's a café which is ok but often busy or you could call into Waitrose or Sainsbury's in Ringwood and pick up a picnic. Lots of picnic tables at Moors Valley. Highly recommend it.

Oooh great - and that way we can also get our last minute shop even more last minute than usual then including a fancy Waitrose picnic.

Huzzah!!