Dorchester: Dorset's County Town (Dorchester in general)

Member Name: joannabelle88

Product:	Dorchester in general
Date:	03/07/09 (10 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: very traditional, great walking and countryside

Disadvantages: not a lot to do

Having grown up in Weymouth, and attended school in Dorchester, I have visited it on many occasions. Situated 8 miles inland on the Dorset coast, Dorchester is the county town, and is surrounded by miles of British countryside.

The town itself is not huge, and often does not get as much publicity as its neighbouring towns of Weymouth and even Wareham, yet it does have several good points. Home to the Dorchester museum, which contains artefacts from local history through the ages, and the Dinosaur museum, Dorchester has attractions not readily found elsewhere. A couple of miles out of the centre is Maiden castle, an ancient Roman dwelling, which is great for walks with the family, and a short drive away is Hardys Monument, which also provides great walking opportunities.

Back to Dorchester centre, the town has a cinema, which although old is perfectly adequate, and a good way to pass a couple of hours. It also has the Thomas Hardye leisure centre, which is located near to Poundbury (Prince Charles' design) which consists of a gym and 2 swimming pools, as well as various sports courts, and pitches.

There are picturesque gardens, which are great for picnics, and for children to run around, and the bus service to other towns is very good. The seaside town of Weymouth is a 20minute bus journey, or a 10 minute drive, and Poole is about half an hour away.

Dorchester is accessible by car, rail and bus, and has two train stations, one near to the hospital and one near the old brewery.

Market sellers are common most days of the week, selling flowers, doughnuts and ice creams, although the main market is on Wednesday, and is mainly undercover. This is quite central to the highstreet. There is also a carboot every Sunday throughout the year, which is normally quite good.

Every September, normally the first weekend, there is the Dorchester show, which is mainly agricultural, but also offers Dorset produce, as well as motoring events.

There is quite a choice of where to eat in Dorchester, although there are not many fast food places in the town centre, but there is the usual range of coffee shops such as Costa and Starbucks, as well as a Prezzo, and Wetherspoons. There are also some very good independent Italian restaurants, and an excellent chinese near the hospital.

Shopping is quite limited, but the essentials are all easily obtainable. There are several supermarkets in and around the town centre, including a Somerfield, Waitrose and Tesco, and high street names such as Superdrug, Next, Boots and New Look are all present. It is worth wandering down the little arcades that branch off of the high street as these contain more specialist shops, such as The Fridge, which specialises is homemade Dorset products.

Overall, Dorchester is a pleasant place to visit, particularly if you are into heritage and walking, however, you would be struggling to fill a day there.

Summary: a nice place to visit, but definitely not a long stay