Dinosaur Days Out in Dorset: Our Family Guide for Dinosaur-Mad Kids
If your children went through a dinosaur phase, you’ll likely remember it.
Suddenly they could pronounce Triceratops and Pachycephalosaurus perfectly, despite still struggling with much simpler words. Every vaguely unusual stone became a dinosaur bone. And a T-Rex was apparently capable of settling almost any argument.
Ours were no different.
Fortunately, growing up in Dorset meant we had one enormous advantage: we were surrounded by places where prehistoric Dorset wasn’t confined to a picture in a book.
We’ve taken our children to dinosaur museums, searched for fossils along the Jurassic Coast, and, perhaps most memorably, walked with them among the real dinosaur footprints at Spyway, near Worth Matravers.
They absolutely loved it.
There’s something very different about telling a child that dinosaurs once walked through Dorset and then showing them the real footprints.
So if you’re staying in one of our family-friendly cottages in Dorset with a dinosaur-mad child in tow, here are some of the places we’d put on your list.
And no, you don’t have to spend the whole holiday looking for fossils.
Is Dorset good for children who love dinosaurs?
Very.
Dorset doesn’t have a giant dinosaur-themed theme park. What it has is arguably much more interesting.
You can walk among genuine dinosaur footprints, see enormous Jurassic predators, visit museums filled with locally discovered fossils, and explore a coastline whose rocks record around 185 million years of Earth’s history.
It’s one of the reasons why Dorset works so well for curious children.
Some attractions are indoors and ideal for rainy days. Others can be combined with visits to beaches, walks and picnics.
Our favourites are:
Best for real dinosaur footprints: Spyway, Worth Matravers
Best dedicated dinosaur museum: The Dinosaur Museum, Dorchester
Best Jurassic wow factor: The Etches Collection, Kimmeridge
Best for combining dinosaurs with Lyme Regis: Dinosaurland Fossil Museum
Best broader Dorset history museum: Dorset Museum & Art Gallery
Best for younger children: Farmer Palmer’s Farm Park
But there’s one place we’d particularly recommend.
Spyway Dinosaur Footprints. Walk where dinosaurs actually walked
This is the one our children loved.
Near Worth Matravers in Purbeck, just off the Priest’s Way, more than 100 dinosaur tracks are preserved on a flat limestone surface at the former Keates Quarry site.
And they’re real.
These aren’t casts or reconstructions placed there for visitors. Around 145 million years ago, enormous sauropod dinosaurs walked across soft ground in a subtropical landscape.
Their footprints remained.
The tracks were eventually covered by successive layers of rock and remained preserved until quarrying exposed them again in 1997.
Today you can stand beside them.
The National Trust says the tracks were probably made by brachiosaurs – enormous, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs from the sauropod group. Some animals in this group could reach around 25 metres in length.
Try explaining that to a child while they’re standing in one of its footprints.
That’s when the numbers suddenly mean something.
Our experience at Spyway
We took our children here when they were younger and they loved it.
What we remember most is that it didn’t feel like taking them around another attraction.
You walk through the Purbeck countryside to reach the site, and then, suddenly, there they are: footprints made by animals that crossed this exact landscape millions of years before people existed.
For children, there’s something wonderfully immediate about it.
You don’t have to imagine where the dinosaur walked.
You’re standing where it walked.
That’s why we’d choose Spyway over many more elaborate dinosaur attractions. To let you know what to expect, we’ve written a guide on how to combine Spyway with a day at the Etches Collection Museum.
How long should you allow?
We wouldn’t rush it.
The dinosaur footprints themselves don’t take hours, but that misses half the point. Part of the enjoyment is the walk through the Purbeck landscape to reach them.
Wear sensible shoes, take some water, and make it a little family expedition.
There are livestock in this landscape, and some parts of Spyway are close to high cliffs, so keep children supervised and dogs under appropriate control.
Curated tip: Tell younger children you’re going on a dinosaur-tracking adventure rather than simply going for a walk. You’ll be amazed how much faster those little legs suddenly move.
The National Trust confirms there are more than 100 tracks at Spyway, dating back to around 145 million years ago.
The Dinosaur Museum, Dorchester
If the weather isn’t cooperating, head for Dorchester.
The Dinosaur Museum, dedicated to dinosaurs, is in a converted Victorian schoolhouse on Icen Way.
It’s particularly good for primary-school-age children because it doesn’t feel like one of those museums where you’re constantly telling them not to touch anything.
Quite the opposite.
There are life-sized reconstructions, including T-Rex and Stegosaurus, dinosaur skeletons, interactive displays and real fossils. Children can see and touch dinosaur teeth and eggs – and, inevitably, fossilised dinosaur poo tends to attract plenty of attention.
There’s even an excavation pit where children can make their own dinosaur discoveries.
The museum itself describes the experience as hands-on, with life-sized dinosaur reconstructions alongside fossils, skeletons, puzzles and interactive exhibits.
It’s compact enough not to exhaust younger children and makes an easy addition to a day spent exploring Dorchester.
If you’re staying in one of our Dorchester holiday cottages or on the nearby Silverlake Estate, this is an obvious rainy-day option, but we’d happily visit whatever the weather.
And afterwards you’re already in the centre of town, so it’s easy to combine it with lunch and another of Dorchester’s museums. For inspiration we’ve produced a guide on some of the best museums to visit in Dorchester.
Dorset Museum & Art Gallery. 250 million years of Dorset
Just a short walk away is a very different museum.
Rather than concentrating solely on dinosaurs, Dorset Museum & Art Gallery places prehistoric Dorset within a much bigger story.
That’s why we’d consider visiting both museums if your children are old enough.
At the Dinosaur Museum, the dinosaurs are the stars.
At Dorset Museum, children begin to understand where those prehistoric animals fit into the extraordinary geological history beneath their feet.
And that’s particularly interesting, given that you’re spending the rest of your holiday exploring the Jurassic Coast.
The museum isn’t solely about dinosaurs either, so this can be the better option if one child is dinosaur-obsessed while everybody else would quite like to look at something different.
You’ll find archaeology, natural history, Dorset’s landscapes and wildlife, and the world’s largest Thomas Hardy collection under one roof.
It makes for a very good family day out in Dorchester, particularly when Dorset decides to provide one of its occasional rainy afternoons.
The Etches Collection, Kimmeridge. Meet the monsters of the Jurassic seas
This is where we’d take slightly older children who have progressed beyond simply wanting to see a T-Rex.
The Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life at Kimmeridge is truly special.
Local fossil collector Dr Steve Etches MBE spent decades collecting fossils from the Kimmeridge Clay, assembling an internationally important collection of creatures that lived in the seas here during the Late Jurassic.
Some of those creatures were formidable.
Pliosaurs, plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs once lived in these waters.
The museum does an excellent job of displaying fossils in cases and helping children imagine the creatures they belonged to swimming through a Jurassic sea.
But there’s another reason for dinosaur-loving families to visit.
Meet Big Sara
Big Sara is a genuine Allosaurus skeleton on display at The Etches Collection.
She’s about 10 metres long, with approximately 70% of her original bones surviving, and she’s one of the most complete Allosaurus skeletons in the world.
She lived about 150 million years ago.
While the museum’s famous Sea Rex dominated the Jurassic oceans, Big Sara represents one of the predators that occupied the land at roughly the same period.
That’s a pretty impressive double act.
Big Sara went on display at Kimmeridge in February 2026 and is on a two-year loan to the museum.
Make Kimmeridge a full family day
This is how we’d approach it.
After visiting The Etches Collection, head down to Kimmeridge Bay.
Suddenly, everything you’ve just seen inside the museum has geographical context.
You’re looking out over the place where many of the museum’s extraordinary Jurassic marine fossils were discovered.
Depending on the tide and weather, you can explore rock pools, walk along the bay, or simply find somewhere to sit and imagine what might once have swum offshore.
For guests staying at Silverlake Estate, this is one of the Purbeck days out we’d particularly recommend. It offers children something genuinely memorable, while adults get one of Dorset’s most dramatic stretches of coastline as part of the deal. Another lovely base for a dinosaur-inspired family break is our Lulworth holiday cottages collection, which includes a beautifully furnished cottage in nearby Winfrith Newburgh. It’s well placed for exploring the fossil-rich coastline around Kimmeridge, the dinosaur footprints at Spyway and the many other family adventures waiting to be discovered across Purbeck.
The Etches Collection is open daily, and tickets include free return visits for a year; Big Sara has specific viewing information, so check the museum website before setting off.
Curated tip: Visit the museum before the bay. Children tend to see the landscape completely differently once they know what once lived here.
Dinosaurland Fossil Museum, Lyme Regis
Dinosaurland Fossil Museum in Lyme Regis houses a fascinating private collection and is exactly the sort of place where children can become completely absorbed.
It’s housed in a former church on Coombe Street, just a short walk from Lyme’s seafront.
Inside you’ll find local Jurassic fossils alongside dinosaur material and fossils from much further afield.
There are ammonites, ichthyosaurs, fish, belemnites, and other creatures from ancient seas, as well as exhibits that explain geological time and the world in which dinosaurs lived.
And there’s something else that tends to appeal greatly to children.
A 73 kg piece of fossilised dinosaur dung.
We’ll leave you to guess which exhibit they’re likely to tell their friends about afterwards.
Dinosaurland is open daily from the February half-term until the end of the October half-term and suggests that most visitors spend about an hour exploring.
Turn it into a Lyme Regis day
We wouldn’t drive to Lyme Regis just for an hour in a museum.
Make a day of it.
Explore Dinosaurland, wander through the old town, have lunch, walk along the seafront, and perhaps introduce the children to the story of Mary Anning.
And if the museum inspires them to start looking for fossils themselves, that’s where our separate family guide to fossil hunting in Dorset comes in handy.
That article covers where we’d actually take children fossil hunting, including Charmouth, Lyme Regis, Ringstead and Kimmeridge.
It’s a perfect natural internal link between the two guides.
Farmer Palmer’s. Dinosaurs for younger children
Not every dinosaur fan is ready for Jurassic geology.
If yours is still at the age when an enormous roaring dinosaur is considerably more interesting than a beautifully preserved ammonite, Farmer Palmer’s Farm Park near Poole is worth considering.
The farm park is aimed particularly at younger children and combines animals and play through its World of Dinosaur Roar trail.
It’s much more playful than the other places in this guide.
That’s precisely why we’d include it.
A four-year-old and a ten-year-old can both love dinosaurs while wanting completely different days out.
For younger families staying in one of our family cottages in Dorset, this can be a much easier introduction to dinosaurs, particularly when paired with the other animals and activities at the farm park.
Three dinosaur days we’d actually do as a family
Rather than racing around Dorset ticking attractions off a list, we’d choose one area and plan a day around it.
The Dorchester Dinosaur Day
Start at The Dinosaur Museum, have lunch in Dorchester, then spend the afternoon at the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery.
This is the obvious choice for a wet or changeable day and is particularly convenient for guests staying around Dorchester or Weymouth.
If you’re based in one of our holiday cottages in Weymouth, Dorchester is close enough to make this a very easy family day out from the beach.
The Purbeck Dinosaur Adventure
This would probably be our favourite.
Start with the Spyway dinosaur footprints, giving the children a proper walk and the chance to stand where enormous dinosaurs once walked.
Then head towards Kimmeridge to visit The Etches Collection.
You’ve gone from dinosaur footprints in the landscape to Jurassic sea monsters and a ten-metre Allosaurus, all in the same day.
For families staying at Silverlake Estate, it also works particularly well as part of a wider Purbeck holiday.
The Lyme Regis Dinosaur Day
Visit Dinosaurland Fossil Museum, explore Lyme Regis, and introduce children to the remarkable story of Mary Anning.
If they become inspired to find something themselves, we’d book a proper guided fossil walk rather than simply heading for the cliffs with a hammer.
Our fossil hunting in Dorset guide explains why.
Which Dorset dinosaur attraction is best for your family?
For younger children, we’d choose either the Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester or Farmer Palmer’s.
For primary-school children, we’d put Spyway very high on our list.
For older children fascinated by science, we’d choose The Etches Collection.
On a rainy day, head to Dorchester and visit its museums.
For a full family adventure, we’d combine Spyway with Kimmeridge.
That’s probably the day we’d choose.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester features life-sized dinosaur reconstructions, skeletons, fossils and interactive exhibits. The Etches Collection in Kimmeridge also has Big Sara, a genuine 10-metre Allosaurus skeleton on display.
More than 100 fossilised dinosaur tracks can be seen at Spyway near Worth Matravers in Purbeck. They were discovered during quarrying in 1997 and are believed to have been made by enormous sauropod dinosaurs about 145 million years ago.
We visited with our own children, and they loved it. It’s an outdoor countryside walk rather than a conventional attraction, so we’d recommend sturdy footwear, supervising younger children, and appropriate clothing for the weather.
The Jurassic Coast is renowned for its extraordinary geology, fossils and coastal landforms. Dorset highlights include Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Chesil Beach, Golden Cap, Lyme Regis and Old Harry Rocks, as well as internationally important fossil sites around Lyme Regis, Charmouth and Kimmeridge.
Yes. The dinosaur footprints at Spyway are at the former Keates Quarry, just off the Priest’s Way near Worth Matravers. You’ll still hear both names used when people talk about the site.
Yes. These are genuine fossilised dinosaur tracks preserved in rock rather than modern replicas. More than 100 tracks have been recorded.
We’d choose The Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester for younger dinosaur fans because it’s dedicated to dinosaurs and features life-sized reconstructions and hands-on exhibits. For older children interested in palaeontology, we’d also strongly recommend The Etches Collection.
Yes. Big Sara at The Etches Collection is a real Allosaurus skeleton, measuring around 10 metres long, with approximately 70% of the original bones preserved. It’s currently on loan to the museum.
Yes. We’d particularly recommend it for school-age children interested in dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric sea creatures. There are hands-on learning activities alongside the fossil collection, and BIG SARA is a standout dinosaur highlight.
Dorchester’s Dinosaur Museum is an easy option from Weymouth, while Kimmeridge and Spyway can be combined for a longer Purbeck day out. We’d choose Dorchester on a rainy day and Purbeck when the weather is good.
We’d combine the Spyway dinosaur footprints with The Etches Collection at Kimmeridge. This offers children two very different experiences; standing in genuine dinosaur footprints and then seeing Jurassic marine fossils and Big Sara at the museum.
Absolutely. Lyme Regis and Kimmeridge work particularly well. However, fossil hunting has its own safety and collecting considerations, so we’d read our family guide to fossil hunting in Dorset before heading to the beach.