Dorset splits into three stretches of coast and a quieter inland half, and each one suits a different holiday. We list about 1,690 stays across the county, from Lyme Regis in the west to Christchurch in the east, and roughly half of them take dogs. Decide whether you want sand, shingle or downland outside the door, then compare the towns below.
West Dorset: fossils, the Cobb and Chesil Beach
West Dorset has the most choice, with more than 570 stays. Lyme Regis leads with over 200 on its own, built around the Cobb harbour wall on the coast where Mary Anning found ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Charmouth is the fossil-hunting village next door, and Golden Cap is a walk to the east.
Further along, West Bay has a harbour under golden cliffs at the start of Chesil Beach, and Burton Bradstock is a thatched village half a mile from the shingle. Choose Bridport or Beaminster if you would rather have a market town with shops and pubs, and drive to the sea.
Weymouth, Portland and Lulworth
This stretch has about 450 stays, and Weymouth holds most of them. It has a sandy bay, a working harbour and a railway station at the end of the line from London Waterloo, so it is the easiest base without a car. Weymouth Beach has three miles of gently sloping sand with RNLI lifeguards in summer.
Portland is a tied island of stone quarries, with Portland Bill Lighthouse at its southern tip. East of Weymouth, West Lulworth sits by Lulworth Cove with Durdle Door a mile along the coast. The village has about 40 stays, so there is far less choice than in Weymouth.
Purbeck, Poole and Bournemouth
The eastern end has close to 400 stays. Swanage is the Victorian seaside town at the end of Purbeck, with a sandy beach and the Swanage Railway steaming inland to Corfe Castle. Langton Matravers is a stone village two miles west if you want quiet nights.
Poole has a quay and a ferry across to Purbeck, and Bournemouth has seven miles of sand running east towards Christchurch, where the Avon and Stour reach the sea. Pick this end for town beaches, restaurants and a main-line station. It also has the most houses for groups of 10 or more, with 22 on our list.
Inland Dorset: Hardy country and the Blackmore Vale
Central and North Dorset have about 275 stays between them, and a higher share take dogs than on the coast. Dorchester is the Roman county town and Thomas Hardy’s Casterbridge, with two railway stations and the Dorset Museum. Cerne Abbas sits below the Cerne Giant, and Maiden Newton has its own station on the line to Weymouth.
North of the downs, Sherborne is an abbey town of honey-coloured stone with two castles and direct trains to London. Shaftesbury has Gold Hill and views over the Vale, and Blandford Forum is a Georgian market town on the Stour. Base yourself here for walking and quiet villages, and drive to the coast on beach days.
Choose by the kind of holiday
- With a dog, start with dog-friendly cottages in Dorset, which also lists the beaches that take dogs all year.
- Without a car, stay in Weymouth, Bournemouth, Dorchester or Sherborne, which all have railway stations.
- For fossils, choose Lyme Regis or Charmouth and check the tide times before you go down to the beach.
- For the Jurassic Coast landmarks, West Lulworth puts you near Durdle Door, and Swanage is close to Old Harry Rocks.
- For everything, browse all Dorset holiday cottages and filter by area.
Final checks before you book
Use each property page to narrow the choice, then confirm dates, price, access and any facility that matters on the booking site it links to, which handles the booking and payment. Our links may earn a commission when you book.
Before you pay, ask three questions: how far it is from the car to the door, whether parking is on site or in a town car park, and what the summer dog rules are at the beach you plan to use. In Lyme Regis, the beaches on either side of the Cobb have different dog rules.
