New Rough Guide To Dorset, Hampshire & IOW
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29 Jan 10 (TravMedia.com): If you thought Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were all about cream teas, thatched cottages and blue rinses, think again. These three southern counties have definitely “upped their game in the cool stakes” according to a new Rough Guide to the region.
Europe’s first-ever artificial surf reef, some of the country’s most cutting-edge chefs, striking architecture, and vibrant clubs and festivals are just some of the region’s cool credentials celebrated in the Rough Guide to Dorset, Hampshire & the Isle of Wight.
And though the authors warn that you might still find the odd B&B that “think by adding a flat-screen TV to a dingy run-down room, they can claim to be boutique-style”, the area has some “extremely stylish hotels” including the Portland Spa Hotel and Terravina in the New Forest, as well as some rather quirkier accommodation options including Britain’s only overnight-stay beach huts, a WWII gunboat, and a former fruit store with a tree in it.
All this is set in some of the “UK’s most dramatic coastline and attractive countryside” making the three counties “an extended playground for city dwellers” and “prime territory for day-trippers and weekend-breakers”. But, according to the Rough Guide “Those in the know return again and again, aware that these stunning regions merit further exploration”.
The Rough Guide to Dorset, Hampshire & the Isle of Wight lists its top 18 attractions:
1) Walk the South West Coast Path
2) Durdle Door
3) Winchester Cathedral
4) HMS Victory
5) Abbotsbury cygnet hatching
6) Fossil hunting
7) New Forest ponies
8) Old Harry Rocks
9) Corfe Castle
10) Brownsea Island
11) The Hive Beach Caf
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