Footscape Holidays

Inland Heritage Scheduled Walking Holiday

If you want to discover rural England at its best - in one of the most beautiful, historic and unchanged parts of the country - then our Inland Heritage walking holiday is ideal. It took us three months of trial and error to identify, walk and research this trail, and we are very pleased with the result.

It is a 54 mile (87 km) linear walk of moderate difficulty from Shaftesbury to Dorchester, with an average daily walking distance of 9 miles (14.5 kms). If you do the full trail, it is an 8 night holiday (6 walking days) with one rest day in the middle. If you prefer, you can choose to do the first or second half only (4 nights).

About the walk

Please first have a look at the calendar of all our scheduled walking holidays and heritage & garden tours, so that you can choose the check-in date that suits you the best.

The route, which involves very little road walking, winds its way through the best of rural Dorset, through mature woodland, along open ridges, over Celtic and Roman hill forts and into quiet, unspoilt English villages, all with their church and most with their pub. Although there are a few steep climbs, the terrain is mostly undulating. There is an abundance of wildlife to see: rabbits, deer, foxes, squirrels, pheasants, buzzards, butterflies and many other fauna. For lovers of trees, hedgerows and wild flowers, this trail is ideal. Even in the summer, the paths and tracks are usually deserted, and you are left to enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of the landscape on your own. 

Accommodation and services

On this walking holiday, there is no need to pack and unpack each day, as you will be staying in one place throughout. If you book the full trail, you may, if you wish, be accommodated in one place near the first half of the trail for the first 4 nights and then be transferred to different accommodation further along the trail for the last 4 nights, depending on room availability.  

You will be picked up each morning and taken to the trail, then met and driven back to your hotel, inn or B&B in the late afternoon.

We will give you our detailed and informative Inland Heritage Trail Guide that you will need to keep you on the right track, and lend you the relevant ordnance survey maps, with the trail highlighted.

Trail Highlights

• The hill-top town of Shaftesbury with its much photographed “Gold Hill”
• The royal hunting grounds of Cranborne Chase
• The restored, weird and wonderful Larmer Tree Gardens
• A succession of beautiful stone and thatch villages
• The iron age hill forts of Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill
• Milton Abbey and the extraordinary village of Milton Abbas
• The quintessentially English village of Cerne Abbas and its mysterious “Giant”
• The historic town and museums of Dorchester.