Large Holiday Cottages in Dorset for Groups of 8 to 23

Large holiday cottages Dorset: which area suits your group?

Dorset splits neatly in two. The south is the Jurassic Coast, 95 miles of cliffs, bays and beaches running east from the Devon border. Inland it's rolling hills of chalk, thatched villages and old market towns. Nowhere is much more than an hour from the sea.

Pick the scenery first. The house comes second.

Lyme Regis, Charmouth and Bridport

The far west is the liveliest stretch of coast and the best for ammonites. Lyme Regis has the Cobb harbour wall, a sandy town beach and narrow streets full of pubs and restaurants, all within walking distance of each other. Parking is the catch: the town is steep and the car parks fill, so off-road parking is worth a lot here. Houses up the hill tend to get the sea view. Charmouth, two miles east, is where most families go fossil hunting. Bridport holds a big street market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

• Park Farmhouse: 18 guests in nine bedrooms at Chideock, dogs welcome
• Purcombe Farmhouse: 12 in six bedrooms near Chideock, with a private hot tub
• Yawl House: 12 in six bedrooms in Lyme Regis, with an enclosed garden
• Coombehayes Barn: 12 in five bedrooms just outside Lyme, dog friendly

Compare our big holiday homes in Lyme Regis with the houses around Bridport and West Bay.

Beaminster and the west Dorset hills

A few miles inland the lanes narrow and the houses grow. This is manor house and Historic Farmhouse for 8 in Walberswick country, with space for a multi-generational family get-together, and the coast at Seatown is around 20 minutes away.

Hooke Court near Beaminster is the biggest of our Dorset cottages: 23 guests, 11 bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The Old Tithe Barn sleeps 19 in nine bedrooms and takes dogs. For a smaller party, look at Brockhill House for 14 or Lower Barrowfield Farm, a thatched house for 10 with its own tub. See every one of our large cottages around Beaminster.

Dorchester, Weymouth and Hardy's countryside

The county town suits a family where half want beaches and half want walks. Dorchester has the Dorset Museum, Thomas Hardy's old haunts and the Iron Age ramparts of Maiden Castle. Weymouth, a seaside town 20 minutes south, has a long sandy beach, a working harbour and boats round to Portland.

• Armswell House: 18 in seven bedrooms at Plush, with a hot tub and games room
• Churchview House: 17 in nine bedrooms west of Dorchester
• The Warwick: 13 in seven bedrooms in Weymouth
• Wylye Croft: 10 in five bedrooms at Martinstown, pet friendly

Browse all our group accommodation around Dorchester.

Purbeck and Lulworth

This corner has the postcard sights: Lulworth Cove, Corfe Castle and the long sands at Studland. It's also where the houses are smallest. Our West Lulworth homes sleep eight to 10, so a family of 16 might book two close together, or stay inland and drive down for the day. Advantage Point takes 10 in five bedrooms, while Hambury House and Seabreeze both sleep eight and are pet friendly. See our coastal cottages in West Lulworth.

North Dorset: Blandford, Shaftesbury and Sherborne

Want a swimming pool without the coastal traffic? Look north. This is quiet farming country around the Blackmore Vale, with Shaftesbury's cobbled Gold Hill and Sherborne's abbey and two castles for wet days.

• Victoria Albert: 16 in five bedrooms near Sturminster Newton, with a hot tub, pool, sauna and games room
• Sleeps 16: a farm stay near Blandford Forum with eight bedrooms, an indoor pool and a sauna
• Farmhouse at The Farmhouse: 12 near Shaftesbury, with a hot tub

Our large holiday homes near Blandford Forum are the place to start.

Wimborne and east Dorset

East Dorset is the handiest base for Bournemouth's beaches, Poole Harbour and the boats to Brownsea Island. Wimborne is an easy-going market town with its Minster and the National Trust's Kingston Lacy close by. The Riding House at Wimborne St Giles is a luxury country house for 18 on an estate, The Haybarn takes 12 with its own tub, and The Town House sleeps 10 in the middle of town. See our large group houses in Wimborne.

The biggest houses in Dorset

Eight of our houses sleep 16 or more. The table shows all eight plus the next two down, with the features people ask about most.

Across all 61 holiday cottages, 19 have a games room, seven a pool, 27 a wood burner and 14 an enclosed garden. Prices start from around £72 a night for the smaller eight-sleepers, and the middle of the range is around £195 a night, easy to split between four families. Our group cottages with hot tubs sit together on one page.

Days out for a big party

On the coast

Golden Cap

At 191 metres it's the highest point on the south coast, about 40 minutes' climb from Seatown. The National Trust looks after Golden Cap and the cliff paths around it.

Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door

Just under a mile each way on the coast path, steep but short. Park in the village and get there early in summer, as the car park fills fast on hot days. Take water.

Chesil Beach and Portland

An 18-mile shingle bank, then the lighthouse at Portland Bill.

Inland and rainy days

Corfe Castle and the Swanage Railway

The ruin above the village comes first. Then take a steam train down to the sea at Swanage.

Monkey World near Wool

An ape rescue centre and the best rainy day attraction for mixed ages.

The Cerne Abbas Giant

It's a short walk up from the village. Finish with a pub lunch in Cerne Abbas.

The Jurassic Coast Trust has maps, tide times and safe collecting advice for the whole World Heritage Site.

Planning your Dorset trip

Getting there

Dorset has no motorway. The A31 brings you in from the M27 and the A35 crosses the county, so allow longer than the sat nav says in August. South Western Railway runs direct from London Waterloo to Poole, Wareham, Dorchester South and Weymouth, about three hours end to end. For Lyme Regis, the nearest station is Axminster in Devon.

When to go

July and August are busy, and many houses only take 7 nights in the school holidays. Short breaks of three or four nights are easier to find the rest of the year. May, June and September are quieter, with the sea at its warmest in September. For a winter celebration or a special occasion, pick a house with a woodburning stove, a spacious living area and a big kitchen table.

Bringing the dogs

Two in three of our houses are pet friendly, but some main Dorset beaches ban dogs in summer. Lyme Regis Front Beach and the central stretch of Weymouth beach are off limits from 1 May to 30 September. Check Dorset Council's beach rules before you go, then browse our dog-friendly group cottages.

Practical notes for 10 to 20 people

• Count the cars. Lyme Regis and Lulworth are tight, so check the off-road parking.
• Anyone who struggles with stairs? Ask for a ground floor bedroom, ideally en suite. Plenty of the farmhouses have one.
• Book a supermarket delivery for arrival day. Village shops won't stretch to 18 breakfasts.
• Pre-book taxis back from the pub after a reunion or hen night. Rural Dorset has very few.

Still weighing up the South West? Set our large holiday cottages Dorset list beside the big houses in Devon, Somerset and Cornwall, or see every county in our UK destinations guide.