Easy-to-moderate walking with some ascents / descents, and occasional longer days.
The season for this holiday is:
02 August 2020 - 31 October 2020
04 April 2021 - 31 October 2021
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| °C | 7 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| mm | 77 | 53 | 62 | 45 | 56 | 52 | 41 | 57 | 62 | 68 | 73 | 83 |
We can only accept payment in GBP, but you can use this converter to find out how much the holiday equates to in your own currency.
4 nights: 02 August 2020 - 31 October 2020 & 04 April 2021 - 31 October 2021
Start any day except Thursday, Friday or Saturday | End by latest date(s) shown above
| Starting | Price | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Aug - 30 Sep 2020 | £510 | £215 |
| 1 - 27 Oct 2020 | £490 | £205 |
| 4 - 30 Apr 2021 | £490 | £205 |
| 1 May - 30 Sep 2021 | £510 | £215 |
| 1 - 27 Oct 2021 | £490 | £205 |
| 3rd & 4th person discount | -£30 | |
| Single traveller supplement | £30 |
Please note: dogs are not permitted on Inntravel holidays
Included travel: transfer Shaftesbury-Cranborne to collect car OR Shaftesbury-Gillingham railway station
Room upgrades (£ per person per night)
| The Fleur de Lys Inn, Cranborne | ||
|---|---|---|
| Luxury: 02 Aug - 31 Oct 2020 | £22 | |
| Luxury: 04 Apr - 31 Oct 2021 | £22 |
| Museum Inn, Farnham | ||
|---|---|---|
| 'Feature': 02 Aug - 31 Oct 2020 | £8 | |
| 'Feature': 04 Apr - 31 Oct 2021 | £8 | |
| 'With View': 02 Aug - 31 Oct 2020 | £18 | |
| 'With View': 04 Apr - 31 Oct 2021 | £18 |
4 nights, staying in La Fosse (2 dinners), 1 August - 31 October 2020 & 1 April - 31 October 2021, start Mon - Wed
| Starting | Price | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 1 May - 30 Sep 2020 | £535 | £230 |
| 1 - 27 Oct 2020 | £515 | £220 |
| 1 - 30 Apr 2021 | £515 | £220 |
| 1 May - 30 Sep 2021 | £535 | £230 |
| 1 - 27 Oct 2021 | £515 | £220 |
| 3rd & 4th person discount | -£30 | |
| Single traveller supplement | £30 |
Upgrade to 6-course taster menu: add £22pp
Connecting travel options - out via Salisbury, home via Gillingham
| Outward route | Price per person |
Latest train arrival time |
|---|---|---|
| taxi Salisbury station to hotel (0h40) | £14 | flexible |
| Homeward route | Price per person |
Earliest train departure time |
|---|---|---|
| taxi hotel to Gillingham station (0h20) | included | flexible |
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I have done many - perhaps 8 - holidays now with Inntravel and they are wonderful. Such attention to detail, well-chosen routes with splendid scenery and local interest, and great little pubs and hotels chosen. This was the first one I've done in Britain. We left London on Monday morning, had a full day's walking that day, and then three more, before a final morning on Friday; so, with only four nights away, we felt we had had a full holiday, walking in the beautiful gentle countryside of inland Dorset, which is not especially frequently visited and we didn't know. Various locals commented that 'nobody comes here', which is just what we wanted and what Inntravel is so good at making possible. Though we're not huge Thomas Hardy fans, the Hardy-related details added texture and interest. The villages on the route are straight out of a Merchant and Ivory vision of thatched England, but not twee and not overrun with tourists; that could be because of COVID but I doubt it. We loved it and are grateful to Inntravel for organising another great holiday like this.
The walk routes were beautiful. Because of the remoteness of some of the areas - and possibly due to the relative newness of the Hardy Way - the addition of a gps hiking app, like Gaia, would be helpful to have along.
The walk from Farnham to Shaftesbury was beautiful and varied and overall the walking was interesting with plenty of pretty thatched cottages and Hardy background info. However, the first walk from Cranborne to Farnham (12 miles) did not have much to recommend it, consisting mainly of one field after another at times with no discernible path over ploughed areas and nowhere to stop for refreshment, we perched on a bank in Cranborne Chase to eat the lovely picnic provided by the Inn at Cranborne. Everything else was up to the usual excellent Inntravel standard - good accommodation, very detailed and accurate notes and accurate difficulty rating.
I have done many - perhaps 8 - holidays now with Inntravel and they are wonderful. Such attention to detail, well-chosen routes with splendid scenery and local interest, and great little pubs and hotels chosen. This was the first one I've done in Britain. We left London on Monday morning, had a full day's walking that day, and then three more, before a final morning on Friday; so, with only four nights away, we felt we had had a full holiday, walking in the beautiful gentle countryside of inland Dorset, which is not especially frequently visited and we didn't know. Various locals commented that 'nobody comes here', which is just what we wanted and what Inntravel is so good at making possible. Though we're not huge Thomas Hardy fans, the Hardy-related details added texture and interest. The villages on the route are straight out of a Merchant and Ivory vision of thatched England, but not twee and not overrun with tourists; that could be because of COVID but I doubt it. We loved it and are grateful to Inntravel for organising another great holiday like this.
The walk routes were beautiful. Because of the remoteness of some of the areas - and possibly due to the relative newness of the Hardy Way - the addition of a gps hiking app, like Gaia, would be helpful to have along.
The walk from Farnham to Shaftesbury was beautiful and varied and overall the walking was interesting with plenty of pretty thatched cottages and Hardy background info. However, the first walk from Cranborne to Farnham (12 miles) did not have much to recommend it, consisting mainly of one field after another at times with no discernible path over ploughed areas and nowhere to stop for refreshment, we perched on a bank in Cranborne Chase to eat the lovely picnic provided by the Inn at Cranborne. Everything else was up to the usual excellent Inntravel standard - good accommodation, very detailed and accurate notes and accurate difficulty rating.
Our walk was an adventure. We loved the challenge of moving through the directions and anticipating what was around the bend, which was always beautiful, at times magical. The inns were quaint and comfortable, all serving delicious food and drink.
Prior to this trip Charley and I hiked the South West Coast from St Ives to Penzance, an amazingly beautiful landscape and serendipitously beautiful weather. Doing this hike through a different touring company made me realize how much time and effort Inntravel puts into the description of the hike - not only the very detailed directions but also the terroir: the history, geology, and all sorts of interesting information. We very much appreciated this information and it added to our pleasure in the hike. We had a few moments of confusion with the directions when it came to picking up the thread after not having done the short-cut. We figured it out, even in the pouring rain the first day. Inntravel does a great job. We traveled to Norway last summer using Inntravel and I am sure we will do another trip in the future.
This was a perfect short walking break to experience the beautiful North Dorset Countryside. There was an abundance of views, birds and other wildlife and very few people. The villages were perfectly rural and on the whole people were very friendly. The packed lunches were excellent and enjoyed in some absolutely stunning locations. The Inns used started off well and just got better as we progressed. The three course meal included at The Fleur de Lys in Shaftsbury was exceptional. And it was all helped along by blue skies and sunshine.
Another excellent Inntravel holiday, and our first in the UK. All three hotels were excellent - the Fleur de Lys was a fitting climax to our stay. Lovely room, welcoming hosts and delicious food.Our meal times were enlivened by another Inntravel couple, and we spent some time swapping recommendations for future Inntravel walks.
The walks themselves were varied and interesting, and the panoramic views from Pentridge Knoll and Win Green were worth the climb, although the path to the latter was a bit overgrown and slippery in places. Definitely Grade 2. The final approach to Shaftesbury was the most disappointing part of the walk, along an overgrown footpath and through a new housing estate.
Highlights included the copious crops of blackberries in the hedgerows, the deer, and all the partridges we nearly tripped over on our way from Tolland Royal as they sprang out of the undergrowth. The Trail Hunt and the Partridge Shoot were less to our taste, but certainly different.
On the Day 2 Option 2 circuit it's worth doing the slight detour for a view of Chettle House - a lovely building still under restoration.
We have taken annual holidays with Inntravel for at least 30 years and have exhausted the brochure for Southern Europe. Over the last two years we have started to take the English holidays; Suffolk in the Waveney Valley in 2017 was delightful. This year in June 2018 we experienced one of the very best Inntravel holidays, A Taste of Hardy's Wessex. The overnight stays at the inns were simply wonderful and the food served at each exceptional. The Hardy walk was delightful with rolling hills, an abundance of spring flowers, lambs and lamas in fields - we never wanted the day 3 walk to stop. We hope that Inntravel will find more walks in the UK, so we can do them all.