Bushes Farm Caravan Park

The Blackmore Vale spreads out below you here, that soft patchwork of dairy pasture and hedgerows that Thomas Hardy called the Vale of Little Dairies — mornings arrive quiet except for cattle and the odd tractor working the slopes.

This is a year-round working farm site that takes tents, caravans and campervans, suited to anyone after straightforward Dorset countryside without the coastal crowds. You're in proper rural heartland — Sturminster Newton and Shaftesbury both within reach, the Dorset Downs rising to the north, but the appeal here is the farm itself and the gentle, unshowy landscape around it. Dog walkers will find footpaths leading straight off into the fields.

Facilities are kept simple — toilets and showers onsite — and the vibe is low-key, unpretentious, more about space and birdsong than entertainment. Ask about campfires when you arrive; policies can vary by season and pitch. It's the kind of place where you wake to mist in the valley and remember why you bought a tent in the first place.