scdreamer

My husband and I spent almost two weeks in the Cotswolds this past July - rented a cottage in Chipping Campden and using it as a base, walked many segments of the Costwold Way, as well as the Heart of England footpaths.

We had a rental car, so were also able to explore much of the area in between our walking days - for the actual walks, we found that dropping the car in parking area of a village, taking a bus or taxi to a place along the Cotswold Way as many miles away as we wanted to walk (usually about 8 or 10), and walking back to our car was a good plan. Always best to be back at your car at the END of the long walking day!

We were so taken with this adventure, we are considering returning to the UK next summer for a similar arrangement in Dorset, as recommended to us by a British couple we met along the way.

I'm just beginning to look at possibilities, and thought this might be a good forum to get some ideas of which villages might be good location-wise to stay in - we are looking for walkable restaurants, grocery, shops, etc. We enjoy the charm of smaller and quieter villages, but with the convenience of a few easily accessed places to have dinner or stroll through town in the evening after dinner.

Any additional information or suggestions about the Dorset area is appreciated. Thank you.

janisj

Just a quick comment right now -- there are lots of scenic small towns in Dorset including Sherborne, Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury -- and countless villages. But I'd maybe consider staying on/near the coast.

MmePerdu

If you have thoughts of walking the SW Coast Path I strongly urge you to pay close attention to the contour lines on the maps so you have a clear idea of the topography. The path for the most part follows the coast (obviously) but where steams meet the coastline the are steep descents & then ascents on the other side, some with long flights of uneven stairs. I'm not saying don't do it as there are some beautiful places but just be fully aware of what you may be letting yourself in for.

I walked the section between Exmouth & Weymouth and if I'd been paying attention would have chosen a different path. I'm not exactly sorry but it was a shock, I paid for my lack of attention.

I stayed a couple of nights in Dorchester at the end and visited Thomas Hardy's childhood home not far outside the town: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hardys-cottage
I missed seeing Max Gate, his home later and hope to see it next visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/max-gate I liked staying in Dorchester very much, small enough and big enough and close to the coast.

janisj

I like Dorchester a lot. It may be a little larger than you had in mind -- maybe 20,000-25,000 population.

MmePerdu

But the center is cozy.

scdreamer

Thank you janisj and MmePerdu - this is exactly the kind of information that is helpful.

I'm kind of looking at the possibility of a variation of this route (or similar) - only one day seems to be on the coastal path.


http://www.macsadventure.com/holiday...-hardys-dorset



Does this seem more do-able? The grade indication doesn't look at all daunting. We enjoy hiking, but I don't really want to be doing steep inclines and descents on this trip. We live near the California coast, so seeing the coastline on foot isn't crucial to us. Actually, the rolling pastoral areas are what I appreciate, as we don't have that kind of topography here.

Not considering using a guide or service to move our stuff - that's why we will have a car and a "base," so we can move from starting place to starting place - and we don't plan to be hiking every day. I prefer to sleep in the same bed at night, so a cottage rental will be best.

MmePerdu

The maps that most walkers use are the 1/25,000 scale Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, available online from UK suppliers and likely some US also. The same maps are online at streetmap.co.uk and will give you a much better idea of the topography.

Here, for instance, is Dorchester in that scale:
http://streetmap.co.uk/idld.srf?x=36...&ay=90500&lm=0

The zoom in & out is at the bottom with the scale noted. You can drag it the same way as google maps. Paths are the green dot/dash lines and national paths will be indicated with the names. You've got some pretty hilly terrain in the area you linked but with a car and these maps you can find the best for your efforts.

MmePerdu

Sorry, the link defaults to 1/50,000 scale but you can choose the scale you want at the bottom.

MmePerdu

Funny, at the 1/50,000 scale the paths are red, 1/25,000 green. I always use the latter so had never noticed but it's pretty obvious which are the paths.

janisj

Another thing about Dorchester -- good rail connections so you could go lots of places w/o driving.