Shepherd's huts near Wareham

This UNESCO-designated shoreline frames Dorset all the way from Studland Bay, just southeast of Wareham. With continuation into East Devon, too, it’s 96-odd miles of seaboard featuring broad sand, pebble beaches, epic cliffs, internationally important fossils, and crazy coastal formations. Studded by big seaside resorts like Swanage and pretty smaller villages like Charmouth, the coast sports campsites small and large. The area from West Lulworth to Weymouth has a lot of pitching places.

Wareham’s location in East Dorset means the New Forest, lowland Britain’s biggest tract of unimproved land and a magical mix of ancient woodland, kicks off only 23 miles to the northeast. Come to take forest walks among some of the UK’s mightiest trees and to wildlife-watch for creatures like red deer and goshawks in what was once a royal hunting ground in the days of William the Conqueror. Interesting campsites surround heart-of-the-forest destinations like Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst.