Just when you think you’ve seen all there is to see in Dorset, you discover somewhere new to explore.

Here are some wonderful places that you may not have visited before, or if you have, perhaps it’s time to go back again.

If your children love animals, and you’re looking for a budget day out that’s local to us, then you need to visit the Animal Park and Gardens at nearby Kingston Maurward. 

Car parking and entry are free, so you can take a picnic for a really inexpensive outing. Alternatively, you can enjoy what’s on offer in their cafe. 

Kingston Maurward is a historic house that’s now part of a college complex. The animal park is right alongside, and while you’re there, you can also wander in the 35-acre formal gardens.

Animals you’ll get to see include pigs, rabbits, goats, ponies, donkeys and alpacas. At certain times of the year, such as the summer, the park lays on a trail that encourages children (and their parents) to go looking for items hidden around the enclosures.

The animal park has an outdoor and indoor play area and a shop that sells lots of local produce and gifts.

Kingston Maurward Animal Park is a 20-minute drive from us. Check their website for exact opening times, but it’s usually open seven days a week from 10am.

Dorset has a rich history that goes back millions of years. Lots of that history is displayed in the Dorset Museum in Dorchester.

A few years ago, the museum underwent a huge makeover, so if you’ve not been for a while, you’ll probably find it quite different. There’s lots of space, and plenty of hands-on activities for children. The body-sized 3D pin art board is lots of fun!

In the museum you’ll learn about dinosaurs, Romans, smugglers and lots more. They’ve all made their mark on Dorset, and left relics that you can see and sometimes touch. 

Art lovers will be delighted by the collection of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and textiles. There’s an entire room dedicated to author Thomas Hardy, including a recreation of his study with his original furniture. 

The Dorset Museum and Art Gallery is in Dorchester. It’s less than 20 minutes away by car. You can’t park on the site, but there are plenty of car parks nearby.

Dorset has plenty of historic churches, many of which go back hundreds of years.

One that’s easily missed is St Mary’s Church in Weymouth. It’s a Regency church, opened in 1817 on the site of an older church that was starting to fall down. 

Inside that old church there was a painting of The Last Supper, presented by Sir James Thornhill, court painter to King George I. Sir James was born in Weymouth. The painting is now displayed inside the ‘new’ church building.

St Mary’s is open seven days a week – six days for visitors and those wanting a quiet place to soak in the atmosphere of an old church, and on Sunday for services. It’s home to the Mustard Seeds craft shop, usually open Monday to Saturday, where you can admire and buy a variety of items created by local people. Some wonderful creativity is on display there.

The church itself has many interesting monuments on the walls, some from the older building it replaced. It also hosts concerts and other activities, along with regular Sunday services.

The church is about a 20-minute drive from us. You can’t park on the site, but there are plenty of car parks nearby.

If you want to visit a beach where you’re guaranteed to find fossils and sea glass, head for Charmouth.

There’s a wonderful sandy area for building castles and going swimming, but what lots of visitors want is the chance to discover pieces of dinosaur that have washed out of the cliffs.

The Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre is right beside the beach, and there’s always an interesting display of fossils and other finds. The Centre offers regular fossil hunting trips along the beach, which will introduce you to some of the commonly discovered relics of ancient creatures and plants.

For the best fossils, follow the cliffs around to the right. Remember not to dig in the cliffs or it under them, because rock falls are common in this area.

It pays to check the tides before travelling to Charmouth, because most of the beach is submerged at high tide. The best times to visit are in the hours around low tide, when lots of the beach, including rock pools, is exposed.

Charmouth beach is about an hour away from us, but it’s well worth the trip. There are large car parks right by the beach.