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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Rainy day suggestions for Dorset (Isle of Purbeck)

34 replies

crackofdoom · 14/08/2023 17:52

OK, I have been stalking the weather forecast for weeks, and reckon it's just going to be OK to go camping in Dorset in a couple of days for a week. Looks like we're looking at at least 1 or 2 showery days though. So I'm looking for the best rainy day suggestions for the Purbeck area of Dorset please! (Nearest town is Corfe Castle).

DS1 is obsessed with military history at the moment and would love to visit the tank museum at Bovington. But it's a bit pricey, isn't it! Is it good value?

After paying for that, suggestions for some free or cheap wet weather activities would be welcome!

OP posts:
Lurleene · 14/08/2023 18:04

I reckon your DH would like the Signals Museum - you need ID to get in as it is on an army base. It's very interesting even if you aren't keen on military history.
Royal Signals Museum

Royal Signals Museum

The Royal Signals Museum tells the story of military signalling through the ages from visual signalling to modern digital battlefield communications and information technology.

https://www.royalsignalsmuseum.co.uk/

User63847484848 · 14/08/2023 18:10

I thought the tank museum wasn’t too bad price wise actually, think it was £40 for me and 3 kids.
they say people spend on average 4 hours there, we stayed a lot less time but my kids have a short attention span, I definitely could’ve stayed longer. We enjoyed the display in the arena at 1pm with the tanks although take an umbrella as that part isn’t under cover, the rest was

Original poster
crackofdoom · 14/08/2023 18:11

Thanks for that info lurleene- it's actually my 13 year old son who is military- obsessed, I don't have a DH! Maybe I could find one on an army base? I'm a bit worried about the ID for entry though- I'm sure I'm on a list or two! 😆

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Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 14/08/2023 18:14

Splash down at Poole is a good indoor water park.

Dorchester has an old fashioned independent cinema called d the plaza which is £3.50 a ticket and better than most modern cinemas. Dorchester also has several
museums including a dinosaur one.

Dorset water park would also be fine. You can hire wetsuits and you’re wet anyway so doesn’t matter if it’s raining. They also have a mid assault course which would be fun in the rain.

Original poster
crackofdoom · 14/08/2023 18:20

I was put off Dorchester last time we visited by the traffic jams and lack of parking. Maybe we could take the train there 🤔

OP posts:
FiveGoMadInDorset · 14/08/2023 18:22

Never had a problem parking in Dorchester, don’t go on Wednesdays as it’s market day. Tank museum is great, it’s outside the wire. Tower park has cinema and bowling, arcades in Weymouth and Swanage are great for a wet afternoon, you don’t say where you are based?

soupmaker · 14/08/2023 18:28

We've stayed in Wareham. It has the Rex Cinema which is an old school cinema run by volunteers. We loved it. If you get a break in the rain the town walls are well worth walking. Nice pubs down by the river to eat in while watching river life. My kids liked jumping in to swim!

Tank Museum is worth it, your tickets last for 12 months. I'm not in the slightest bit interested in tanks but I enjoyed it. Think we were there for 4 hours!

Hope you get some sunshine. We loved Corfe Castle. And if the steam train running, worth a run to Swanage.

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 14/08/2023 18:28

I’ve also never had an issue parking in Dorchester. I’ve always found a space in the car park on the high street near the plaza. Though there can be traffic, but it’s usually the other side to the way I come in.

Bournemouth aquarium is good for a raining afternoon. It’s fairly small but all indoors.

Lurleene · 14/08/2023 18:30

Sorry Crackofdoom - that'll teach me to speed read!

If you are going to Dorchester your DS would probably like The Keep as well, it's in town so easy to get to.

The Keep

Opening Times and Prices - The Keep Military Museum

Check the latest information about opening times and prices for the Keep Military Museum in Dorchester.

https://www.keepmilitarymuseum.org/visit-keep-military-museum-in-dorchester/opening-times-and-prices/

Kittyhasababy · 14/08/2023 18:33

My ds18 still says The Tank Museum is the best museum he's ever been to and he went years ago! I think they only do big displays on some days though so best check.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 14/08/2023 18:34

Yeovilton Fleet Air museum, again depending on which part of Dorset you are in

Velvian · 14/08/2023 18:36

There is a really good inflatable water park at Corfe Castle, you'll be wet anyway, so may as well fall in a lake.😂

Annotated1 · 14/08/2023 18:41

Yep the annual pass at the Tank Museum is included in the normal entry price - you could visit twice if the weather is bad.
There’s also the Dorset Adventure Park right near Corfe Castle. It has an inflatable water park and a mud trail. Quite basic and expensive (for what it is) but my kids loved it.
Failing that we always end up at Kimmeridge or Tyneham on drizzly, but not torrential, days!

Original poster
crackofdoom · 14/08/2023 19:07

Ooh, our campsite is within walking distance of Kimmeridge annotated- and an energetic day's walk from Tyneham and Worbarrow Bay! We'll have wetsuits and snorkeling gear with us, and will definitely be there for the best of the weather!

Also want to check out Dancing Ledge and the dinosaur footprints, and walk from Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door this time (it was a goal 2 years ago, but then 6 year old DS2 fell off the ramparts of Maiden Castle that morning and decided he didn't feel up to it 🤦‍♀️)

So....Wareham is good for mooching, Dorchester possibly...what's Weymouth like? Are there inside ish things to explore on Portland Bill?! Are there any good, reasonably priced fossil museums? (We've done the Etches Collection).

Sounds like the tank museum is a good bet then. It was going to be that or the steam train for our big spend.

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Longlive · 14/08/2023 19:13

Tank Museum is great. Signals Museum is good but quite a trek across Dorset for not a big Museum, and as said you need either passport or drivers licence to get in.

Tower Park has lots if different things there.

Moors Valley is great, with a zip wire by Go Ape as well as bikes you can hire.

Original poster
crackofdoom · 14/08/2023 19:15

The DSes do love a Go Ape style attraction, but I don't know if it'd be fun in the rain 🤔

DS1 will have his bike (he loves cycling- DS2 and I are not fans)- so it'd be good to have somewhere he could cycle and we could walk. Somewhere wooded on a rainy day?

OP posts:
Longlive · 14/08/2023 19:19

Moors Valley is wooded, we've been there in the rain before and not got too wet. It has loads of wooden structures to climb as well. Brilliant place.

Original poster
crackofdoom · 14/08/2023 19:37

That looks ideal- I'm already Googling where to park for free to avoid the parking charges though! 😆

I didn't realise the New Forest was so close! Hopefully there are ponies?!

OP posts:
inloveandmarried · 14/08/2023 19:37

crackofdoom · 14/08/2023 18:20

I was put off Dorchester last time we visited by the traffic jams and lack of parking. Maybe we could take the train there 🤔

Definitely taking the train is an option. It's good service.

The traffic jams are mainly around the ring road though. Lots of ways into Dorchester avoiding them. I avoid them when I'm there because it's a long stationary queue.

You can come in via the road closer to the coast which is quicker from isle of purbeck. You won't see a queue. Go towards wareham then off to Wool and through Broadmayne and into Dorchester that way. It's a nice drive.

inloveandmarried · 14/08/2023 19:41

Just read you are near kimmeridge.

If the army ranges are permitting traffic you go out on the coastal road through Lulworth and out towards Wool then to Broadmayne it's a much much shorter journey.

Longlive · 14/08/2023 19:51

Unfortunately there is nowhere near to park to avoid the parking charges.

WonderingWanda · 14/08/2023 19:52

Lyme regis and Charmouth aren't too far and have good fossil hunting and museums. You could easily spend a day there.

Original poster
crackofdoom · 14/08/2023 19:54

We'll be there in August, so hopefully the tanks will all be on holiday 😀

I think we went that way into Dorchester before, and still got stuck in traffic in the centre of town. Maybe it was market day? Maybe I went the wrong way through not being familiar with the town? Whatever it was, I seem to remember aborting Mission Visit Dorchester, and heading out to Maiden Castle ASAP.

Dorset Museum looks nice? Fossils and Romans and nature and free children! It's still twice the price of our County museum though (sniff) - maybe it's twice as interesting?!

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WizardinTraining · 14/08/2023 20:00

Jealous! My favourite part of the world ☺️Kimmeridge is fab for crabbing and if they’re interested in museums the one at Lyme Regis is great if small - lots about the fossil hunter Mary Anning including some of her finds. We like taking the bus whenever we can, the Purbeck Breezer goes all along the coast from Sandbanks to…somewhere past Lyme Regis 🤔 and if you sit on the top deck you get excellent views.