Dog-friendly The Isle of Purbeck

Roadside pub and dining room at Sandford on the northern edge of Wareham, handy for Wareham Forest and the heath. Dogs are welcome, but the pub keeps a separate area for them and the restaurant itself is dog-free, so say when booking that a dog is coming. Family friendly and well set up for walkers.

Stone-built village pub above Studland with its own brewery, a vast front lawn overlooking the bay and the Old Harry path starting opposite. Well-behaved dogs are welcome in the pub and the garden throughout the year, and two open fires run all winter. Rooms above the bar from £65.

Old stone pub on Swanage High Street with a big walled garden at the back, a short walk up from the beach and the pier. Dogs are welcome throughout, which in Swanage in August is worth a good deal. Straightforward pub food and local ales.

Hilltop pub in Kingston with the most famous pub view in Dorset, Corfe Castle framed in the gap of the Purbeck ridge. Dogs are welcome in all the bars, where there are bowls and treats behind the counter, and there is room to find a quiet corner if yours would rather. The garden is the summer draw, and walks run from the door into the woods and down to the coast.

Pub and dining room on Ulwell Road at the northern edge of Swanage, under Ballard Down and the start of the walk to Old Harry. It describes itself as a dog-friendly pub restaurant, with a garden for the summer. Convenient for the Studland side of town.

Thatched estate pub in East Lulworth, on the edge of the Lulworth ranges and a couple of miles from the cove. Dogs, boots and children are all welcome, which is a fair summary of the house style, and there is an open fire and local cider. Parking on site and no dress code.

Seafood restaurant and bistro on the harbour side of the Studland peninsula by the chain ferry, looking across to Brownsea Island and Sandbanks. Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome throughout, in both the bistro and the restaurant. The bistro does not take bookings; the restaurant does.

A 3.8-mile circuit of Purbeck heath in two hours, out to the great leaning ironstone block of the Agglestone and round by the Puckstone on sandy tracks and boardwalk, with 110 metres of climb and standing water in the hollows most of the winter. Start from the National Trust Knoll Beach car park, free to members, huge, and with the visitor centre, toilets and outdoor showers on site. This is lowland heath of European importance: dogs must be on a lead from March to July because nightjars, Dartford warblers and skylarks nest on the ground, and adders bask on the sandy path edges in spring, which is a real hazard for a dog nosing through heather.

The big Purbeck day: 7.2 miles and 320 metres of climb in about four hours, up the chalk spine of Ballard Down, out to Old Harry, down to Studland village and back over the top, with the Isle of Wight visible on a clear morning. Turf and chalk paths throughout, greasy and slick when wet, with a long stepped descent into Studland. Start from the Broad Road or North Beach pay and display in Swanage, or take the number 50 open-top bus and walk it one way to Studland; the town car parks are metered and full by mid-morning in season. Sheep and cattle graze Ballard Down, so leads across the grazing, and the entire seaward edge from Ballard Point to Handfast is unfenced crumbling chalk with a 100-metre drop.

A short 1.6-mile hour on the heath above Poole Harbour, following the grey-marked Coombe Heath trail out to the viewpoint over Corfe Castle and the harbour islands, on sandy paths and boardwalk with 40 metres of climb. Start from the RSPB Arne car park at the end of a three-mile dead-end lane off the A351: free to RSPB members, charged otherwise, and small enough that it closes to arrivals on busy days, so come early. Dogs on a short lead are welcome on the designated dog-friendly trails, including Coombe Heath and the Raptor trail, but are not allowed on the Hyde’s Heath trail at all; the reserve is grazed by cattle and Sika deer, and adders are widespread on the heath.

The longest walk in Purbeck worth doing: 8.6 miles and 380 metres of climb in five hours, over Corfe Common to Kingston, out to the cliff edge at Houns-tout for the view down into Encombe, and back along the ridge. Mixed grass paths, estate tracks and two miles of quiet lane, with a steep pull out of Encombe valley and gates rather than stiles almost throughout. Start from the National Trust West Street car park in Corfe; arrive early or use the Norden park and ride, because Corfe’s parking is finished by mid-morning. Cattle and sheep graze most of the route so leads for long stretches, the Houns-tout edge is a sheer 150-metre drop, and there is a water bowl at the Scott Arms in Kingston, which takes dogs in the bar and garden.

A three-mile hour-and-a-half loop over the unimproved common south of the village, up onto the ridge for the postcard view back to the castle, and home down the old drove lanes. Level to gently rolling, 100 metres of climb, on grass and stony lane, wet in the flushes on the common all winter. Start from the National Trust car park on West Street, free to members and pay and display otherwise, about eighty spaces, with the Norden park and ride and the steam railway as the better bet in high season. Ponies and cattle graze the common under commoners’ rights, so a lead across it, and there is no swimming water although the stream at Boar Mill will do for a drink.

Two and three quarter miles down and back up to the quarried limestone shelf at Dancing Ledge, an hour and a half with 140 metres of climb, on close-cropped sheep pasture and a rough stepped descent through the cliff face. Start at the National Trust Spyway car park off Durnford Drove, free to members, small at around forty spaces and reached down a narrow lane with almost nowhere to turn. Sheep and cattle graze the fields the whole way, and the National Trust asks for dogs on leads through them; the ledge itself is a flat rock platform with a tidal pool, spectacular but wave-swept, and the drop to it from the cliff path is a place to have a dog on a short lead.

Lulworth Estate's holiday park on the clifftop above Durdle Door, with the path down to the arch starting from the site. A number of holiday homes, camping pods, skylight cabins and touring pitches take up to two dogs at £25 per dog per stay, and the Man O' War bar and restaurant on site welcomes dogs. Choose a pet-friendly unit when booking, as most are not.

Reworked family hotel set back in the pines above Studland Bay, a couple of minutes' walk from Knoll Beach through the heath. Every one of its rooms is dog-friendly, which is rare enough to be the reason to book. Book direct and the pools and facilities are included.

Cliff-top hotel at the quiet southern end of Swanage Bay, with a path down to the beach and views the length of the bay. Well-behaved dogs are taken at £20 per dog per night, maximum two per room, but the hotel's own tariff marks some room types as no dogs, so enquire before booking. Half board is the usual arrangement.

A thousand-year-old royal fortress blown apart by Parliament in 1646 and left as one of the great ruins of England, standing over the village and the Purbeck ridge. The National Trust allows dogs throughout, on short leads at all times. The climb through the outer bailey is steep and stony underfoot.

Two hundred and eighty acres of clifftop downland and National Nature Reserve above Swanage, with the Victorian Great Globe and a castle turned visitor centre and cafe. Well-behaved dogs are welcome in the Castle, the visitor centre and the cafe as long as they are on a short lead, and there are water bowls outside the Castle and Learning Centre. The park asks that dogs stay on the paths, and sells dog treats and ice cream in the shop.

Preserved steam line running six miles from Swanage through Corfe Castle to Norden, one of the best ways to see Purbeck without a car. Dogs travel free, but must be kept on a lead and remain on the floor. They are not allowed in the buffets, on the dining trains or on the Santa Specials.