The arch and the beach cost nothing. The clifftop car park is £15 for six hours, £25 for nine, every day of the year, and Lulworth Castle is £4 all day.

Dorset’s best-known attractions are free and its cheapest-sounding ones are not. You can stand under Durdle Door without paying a penny, but you cannot park within reasonable walking distance for less than £15. A day at the Tank Museum costs a family of four £48.80 and includes a free annual pass, which makes it one of the better-value tickets in the county if you go twice.

Every price and opening time below was checked against the venue’s own website on 9 August 2026. Where a place has separate peak and off-peak pricing, or a cheaper online rate, both are given.

One thing that applies everywhere this summer. Under the government’s Great British Summer Savings scheme, VAT on admission to eligible attractions is cut from 20% to 5% for visits dated 25 June to 1 September 2026. Several Dorset venues have not repriced their websites, so the amount you pay at the till may be less than the figure advertised. It ends on 1 September.

What a family of four actually pays

Cost of a Dorset day out for two adults and two children, 2026 Bar chart of the cost of a day out in Dorset for two adults and two children. Maiden Castle at Dorchester is free. Durlston Country Park at Swanage is £7.90, which is all-day parking only. Durdle Door or Lulworth Cove is £25, again parking only. Nothe Fort at Weymouth is £26.50. Corfe Castle is £40. Sherborne Castle and Gardens is £43. Abbotsbury Swannery is £45. The Tank Museum at Bovington is £48.80 online. Monkey World at Wool is £50.75 online. Swanage Railway is £77.50, the most expensive on the list. A Dorset day out for two adults and two children, from nothing to £77.50 Cheapest family option at each attraction, checked against the venue's own website on 9 August 2026. Light bars are free to enter and the figure shown is all-day parking. Dark bars are admission tickets. Maiden Castle, Dorchester Free, and free to park Durlston Country Park £7.90 parking Durdle Door or Lulworth Cove £25 parking Nothe Fort, Weymouth £26.50 Corfe Castle £40.00 Sherborne Castle and Gardens £43.00 Abbotsbury Swannery £45.00 The Tank Museum, Bovington £48.80 online Monkey World, Wool £50.75 online Swanage Railway £77.50 Corfe Castle is the peak-season family rate without Gift Aid and covers up to three children. Swanage Railway's family ticket also covers three. Abbotsbury has no family ticket, so the figure is two adults at £15 plus two children at £7.50. Chart by The Dorset Post. Prices checked 9 August 2026 against each venue's own website.
Chart by The Dorset Post from prices published by each attraction.

Free, or as good as

Maiden Castle, Dorchester. The largest Iron Age hillfort in Britain, a mile south west of the county town, with ramparts you can walk the whole way round. English Heritage runs it, entry is free and it is open “any reasonable time during daylight hours”. There is no ticket office, no café and no fuss. On a clear day it is the best view in central Dorset and it costs nothing.

Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. The arch and the cove are free to visit and always have been. The cost is the car park, which the Lulworth Estate runs and charges for every day of the year including bank holidays. Durdle Door is £15 for up to six hours, £25 for up to nine and £35 beyond that, with motorbikes at £7, £12 and £15. Lulworth Cove is £9 for up to three hours, £17 for six, £25 for nine and £32 beyond, and it takes coaches at £30 to £65. Lulworth Castle’s own car park is £4 all day, which is the cheapest way onto the estate if you are prepared to walk. The estate says parking income funds the footpaths, steps and beach access, which given the state of the coast path is not an unreasonable claim.

Durlston Country Park, Swanage. A clifftop country park run by Dorset Council with a free visitor centre inside the Victorian Durlston Castle, a café, a gallery and rooftop views over the Channel. Entry is free and parking is the only charge: £2.50 for one hour, £4 for two, £5.30 for three, £6.60 for four and £7.90 for five hours or more. It works on number plate recognition and you pay when you leave, and the machines take cash or contactless because the phone signal there is poor. The park and car parks are open sunrise to sunset all year; the visitor centre is 10am to 5pm from 1 April to 31 October and 10am to 4pm the rest of the year.

Durdle Door: what it costs, and what to expect when you get there

Durdle Door is the most searched-for thing in Dorset and the one people most often get wrong, because the landmark is free and the visit is not.
Entry to the arch and beach Free, all year
Satnav postcode BH20 5PU
Car park, up to 6 hours £15
Car park, up to 9 hours £25
Car park, beyond 9 hours £35
Motorbikes £7, £12, £15 on the same bands
Cheapest way on Lulworth Castle car park, £4 all day, then walk
Beach access No access after 9pm or dusk

The Lulworth Estate, which owns the land, charges for the car park every day of the year, including bank holidays, and says the income pays for the footpaths, steps and beach access. On that coast path, that is not an unreasonable claim.

Getting down to the water is the part to plan for. From the car park you walk over the ridge and then down: a natural cliff path to Durdle Door beach itself, or steps to Man O’War beach on the other side of the headland. The estate’s own advice is to “bring sensible footwear if you are planning to walk anywhere as some of the paths can be steep and occasionally unstable”. It is not a drive-up viewpoint and it is not a trip for a pushchair.

Do not go into the caves at the foot of the cliffs. The estate’s wording is blunt: “please do not enter” them, because “cliff falls are common”. This is soft Purbeck coastline that loses material regularly.

If you want the arch without paying £15 for the privilege, two options work. Park at Lulworth Castle for £4 all day and walk in, which turns the visit into a proper few hours out. Or park at Lulworth Cove and walk the coast path west over the hill, which is about a mile and the best approach to the arch anyway, because you come over the top and see it whole.

Worth paying for

The Tank Museum, Bovington. The biggest single draw in east Dorset and, on price, the shrewdest ticket in the county: every admission includes a free annual pass, so a second visit within the year costs nothing. Adult admission is £19.60 booked online against £24.50 on the door, children are £4.80 online against £6, concessions £12.25, and a family of two adults and two children is £48.80 online against £61 at the gate. Parking is free. Serving armed forces personnel with a valid MOD90 go free.

Monkey World, Wool. The primate rescue centre near Wareham, open every day from 10am to 5pm and closed only on Christmas Day. Adults £18 online or £19 at the gate, children aged 3 to 15 £12 online or £12.75, under-3s free, seniors £12, and a family of two adults and two children £50.75 online or £53.50 at the gate. Adopting a primate gets you unlimited entry for a year, which is worth doing the sum on if you live locally.

Corfe Castle. The ruined castle above the Purbeck village, run by the National Trust. 25 July to 31 August is peak season, when an adult is £17.60 with Gift Aid or £16 without, a child aged 5 to 17 is £8.80 or £8, and a family of two adults and up to three children is £44 or £40. Off peak it drops to £16.50 and £15 for an adult. National Trust members and under-5s go free. Worth knowing this month: there is a 20% discount on entry after 2.30pm from 25 July to 31 August, and open-air theatre and cinema evenings run through August. The Purbeck Breezer no. 40 from Poole to Swanage and no. 30 from Swanage to Weymouth both stop at the castle, at £3 per person until the end of December.

Swanage Railway. Six miles of preserved steam and diesel railway between Swanage, Corfe Castle and Norden. A day ticket is £27.50 for an adult and £14 for a child aged 5 to 15, with under-5s, dogs and bicycles free, and a family ticket at £77.50 covering two adults and three children or one adult and four. A full-line single is £14, and a short hop from Harmans Cross is £7. Fares have been at this level since 1 February 2026. It is the most expensive day out on our list and also the only one where the travelling is the point: park at Norden, take the train in, and you avoid Corfe village and Swanage seafront parking altogether.

Abbotsbury Swannery. The only managed colony of nesting mute swans in the world, on the Fleet lagoon behind Chesil Beach. Adults £15, children aged 5 to 15 £7.50, open every day from 10am to 5pm with last entry at 4pm. It is seasonal: open from mid-March to the end of October and shut from November until mid-March, so it is not a winter option. A £20 adult passport covers the swannery and the estate’s other attractions.

Sherborne Castle and Gardens. Sir Walter Raleigh’s house and its Capability Brown landscape, on the edge of Sherborne. Gardens only are £13 for an adult and £4 for a child aged 3 to 15; castle and gardens are £17.50 and £4, with under-3s free. It is closed on Mondays except bank holidays. The gardens open at 10.30am from April to September with last admission at 4pm; the castle itself opens at noon from May to September with last admission at 3pm, and tours run for about an hour. RHS members get free entry to the gardens every Wednesday from 1 April to 30 September 2026. The ruined Sherborne Old Castle across the lake is a separate English Heritage site.

Nothe Fort, Weymouth. The Victorian fort on the headland above Weymouth harbour, with tunnels, ramparts and Jurassic Coast views. Adults £11, children aged 5 to 16 £4.50, under-5s free, a family of two adults and two children £26.50 and a single adult with two children £15.50. Like the Tank Museum, admission includes a free annual pass. Open daily 10am to 4pm.

Picking a day out by where you are

  • Around Dorchester: Maiden Castle for free, the Tank Museum and Monkey World half an hour east, Abbotsbury Swannery half an hour south west.
  • Around Weymouth and Portland: Nothe Fort in the town, Abbotsbury along the coast, Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove twenty miles east. Use the Mount Pleasant park and ride in summer rather than the seafront.
  • Around Purbeck and Swanage: Corfe Castle, Durlston Country Park and the Swanage Railway are all within a few miles of each other, and the railway links two of them.
  • Around Sherborne and the Blackmore Vale: Sherborne Castle and the Old Castle, then the Heart of Wessex railway line for a cheap afternoon out to Yeovil or Castle Cary.
  • Around Bridport and the west: the Jurassic Coast itself, from West Bay to Charmouth and Lyme Regis, which costs nothing but the parking.

Frequently asked questions

Is Durdle Door free?

Yes, the beach and the arch are free to visit. The car park is not: the Lulworth Estate charges £15 for up to six hours, £25 for up to nine and £35 for longer stays, every day of the year.

How much does it cost to park at Durdle Door?

£15 for up to six hours, £25 for up to nine and £35 beyond that, every day of the year including bank holidays. Motorbikes are £7, £12 and £15. Lulworth Castle’s car park is £4 all day if you are willing to walk in.

Can you get to Durdle Door without paying?

Yes, on foot. The arch and the beach are free; only parking is charged. Walk in from Lulworth Castle’s £4 car park, or along the coast path from Lulworth Cove, which is about a mile over the hill.

What is the cheapest family day out in Dorset?

Maiden Castle at Dorchester, which is free to enter and free to park at, then Durlston Country Park at Swanage, where entry and the visitor centre are free and all-day parking is £7.90.

How much is Corfe Castle in 2026?

In peak season, which runs 25 July to 31 August, an adult is £16 without Gift Aid or £17.60 with it, and a family of two adults and up to three children is £40 or £44. Off peak it is £15 and £16.50 for an adult. National Trust members go free.

How much is the Tank Museum?

£19.60 for an adult booked online, £24.50 on the door, and £48.80 online for a family of two adults and two children. Every ticket includes a free annual pass and parking is free.

Which Dorset attractions are open all year?

The Tank Museum, Monkey World, Nothe Fort and Durlston Country Park are open year-round. Abbotsbury Swannery closes from November to mid-March and Sherborne Castle’s gardens close after early November, so check before you set off outside the season.

Are attraction tickets cheaper this summer?

For visits dated between 25 June and 1 September 2026, VAT on eligible admission tickets is cut from 20% to 5% under the government’s Great British Summer Savings scheme. Some venues have applied it at the till rather than on their websites, so the price you pay may be lower than the one advertised.

Sources

Next: Dorset roadworks and travel for what is shut on the way, and Dorset train times to London if visitors are coming to you.

All prices and opening times were checked against each venue’s own website on 9 August 2026 and change without notice. Confirm with the attraction before you travel.