Yes, I appreciate its very vague but being a northerner I don’t really know my hampshires from my Dorsets etc.
But, thinking October half term might be mild and some cheapish accommodation already flagging up, albeit on the Isle of Wight, which seems ok but sort of stuck on there without paying £100 every return trip.
A cursory glance, thinking Stonehenge, Portsmouth naval museum but any pointers for ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks all.

Sandy Balls!

New forest, Jurassic coast or South Downs

How old are your kiddiwinks?

Arundel ?

16,14 and 10.
I was thinking about the Jurassic coast as we are in the national trust and its flagged in the handbook.

No need to go onto the Isle of Wight for a week. Your kids will be bored to death.

Go there for a day & drive round it instead (should be about £35 for a day return)

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is best done over two days I’d guess (the tickets are valid for a year anyway), Jurassic coast is awesome (and ‘free’ if NT)

Maybe stop somewhere just west of Southampton as a base in the New Forest, that way you get the best of the road network and can get about

Corfe Castle, Brownsea Island, Dorchester.

Swanage then.

I’d go along to Dorset or Devon at least.The coast in Sussex and Hampshire is a bit boring and Portsmouth is a bit grim in my opinion. Depends whether you want rural beauty or or more town/city based though. Corfe castle and durdle door are lovely. Some great camping near Weymouth and good mix of nature and town there.

Purbeck, Jurassic Coast and make sure you go to the Square and Compass in Worth Matravers for a pint and a pasty. Bridport’s well worth a visit, as is Lyme Regis. There’s a good Youth hostel at Beer, and I think there’s still one at Swanage if you’re that way inclined.

Hire a smaller log cabin at http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk home of the http://www.bigbikebash.co.uk in the New Forest, good base to explore Hants/Dorset south coasts and plenty of activities to do on site for kids of that age inc. bike trails. Often do deals on the cabins at certain times of year.

Have a friend who lives in Caphone just up the road from Dartmouth. Ridden along the South Hams(?) A few times, looks like lots of great beaches etc. Easy enough to get to Dartmoor too for some half decent mtb. Plymouth isn’t far away, easy enough to get in to Cornwall too. Never driven Easy but I don’t think it’s far away from the Jurassic coast.

As above, I don’t think the IoW offers enough variety for a week, and the ferry costs with a car will cripple you!
I’d go further west, into Dorset/Devon, where you’ve got the whole Jurassic Coast, the SW Coast Path round through South Hams from Dartmouth along Blackpool Sands, Slapton Sands, Beesands and the Cricket Inn for top-notch nosh, along past Hallsands and Start Point around to East Prawl and the Pig’s Nose, Salcombe, Kingsbridge…
It’s a beautiful part of the world, and it gives you access into Dartmoor as well.

Dorset is lovely but don’t forget Cornwall too if you’re not down this way often. North coast is rugged and raw, south coast is more beachy. There are a ton of places to walk too from ruined castles to faerie waterfall walks to exposed moors.

I would be inclined to suggest Swanage for a family holiday- near the Jurassic Coast, some interesting historic stuff etc. But that assumes you’ve not been to the South West of England much. I consider the fact that I’ve never been to Cornwall to be something I would like to fix – living in Scotland, though, it’s an awful long way to go. So, if I were starting further south, I would say Cornwall.

On our last visit, we had excellent food in Corfe (local seafood) and at Worth Matravers, as mentioned above.

Swanage is good, good walking/ biking and villages and pubs. Tank museum, monkey world, moors valley if you’ve got young kids. Lots of great coastal stuff, national trust stuff and forestry commission woods to explore.

New forest is also good, lots of off road (gravel track) cycling, cylcle on the ferry and cycle trip to iow is prob worth it.

Lyme Regis is also nice and has a great coast.

South hams good as well but takes ages to get there and you can feel a bit cut off. There’s not so much “laid on” if you’ve got kids and the weathers rubbish.

eype, dorset – jurassic coast there is camping, caravans, lodges etc, right on the beach, coastal path, Bridport is a nice town just in land, West Bay just over the headland, Hotel and pub in Eype as well.

Weymouth/Portland/Lyme Regis and lulworth all not that far.