Dorset Holiday Cottages

Dorset is a delight. It is a county that can still give you the feeling that no one but you has discovered its richness before. This is of course an illusion; Dorset is popular as only a southern county with a magnificent coastline** can be. But while it has seaside resorts to compare with any, there are also long stretches of unfrequented coast to enjoy, because there are no main roads that hug the coastline. And in the inland heart of the county you are constantly enticed into the byroads by the very names of the villages. Who can resist the urge to discover such places as Worth Matravers, Bingham's Melcombe, Sydling St. Nicholas, Piddletrenthide, Mappowder or Plush? To many of course, Dorset will always be the heart of the Hardy Country. To them the names on the signposts carry an invisible alternative; the names by which they can be identified in the novels and poems of Thomas Hardy.

The interior of Dorset is carried on the broad backbone of the chalk hills extending south-westwards from Salisbury Plain. You can appreciate the sweep of the landscape from its high places – Marshwood Vale from Pilsdon Pen, the Blackmore Vale from Bulbarrow Hill or from the ancient Saxon hill-top town of Shaftesbury, the little-known Cranborne Chase (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) from Pentridge Hill, the valley of the River Stour from Hod Hill, or back on the coast, Chesil Beach and the Isle of Portland from Black Down. Among the hills you will come upon amazing remainders of ancient Dorset, such as the Giant cut in the turf above Cerne Abbas, and probably the most impressive Iron Age hill fort in the country, Maiden Castle outside Dorchester

Hideaways has a selection of delightful country and coastal self-catering holiday cottages in Dorset, available to rent for short breaks, (minimum 3 nights) or by the week. Find your ideal Dorset cottage by clicking on 'Our range of holiday cottages in Dorset'. You can read a full description of each cottage by selecting a name on the left hand side. Up-to-date availability and pricing can be checked, and you are able to book online using our secure server. We also have many other holiday cottage rentals across the South of England from picturesque cottages in Kent to Cornish coastal cottages, Cotswold cottages, holiday cottages in Herefordshire, the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean as well as self-catering accommodation in or near Brighton, Bath, Salisbury, Winchester, Stratford-upon-Avon and Ludlow. Visit our Homepage at www. hideaways.co.uk, or Email us.

**The Dorset coast is England's first natural World Heritage site. Known as The Jurassic Coast it covers 95 miles of truly stunning coastline from East Devon to Dorset with rocks recording 185 million years of the earth's history.