HelpHound

I LOVE WAREHAM!!! We come to Dorset every year on holiday, and last year we found Wareham by chance, trying to get to Farmer Palmers (a children''s farm). We were amazed to find quite a busy little market town, full of bakeries, butchers, and little quaint shops. We parked near the river (parking is free here) and let our daughter feed the ducks and swans where there were hundreds! We then walked into the town where we found some great shops to look in. They are not well known shops, but great never the less and they are worth looking in. There is a free of charge museum to look in too right in the centre of the town. We didn''t look in but if you want to pop in it certainly will not cost you anything! There are lots of lovely places to eat here, i would suggest the fish and chip shop just up the road from the quay. There is a market in Wareham every thursday and a farmers market the first saturday of every month. If you like churches, there are superb ones here called St Mary church of England, and St Martins. If you want to carry on and visit some nearby places in Wareham, i would suggest Lulworth castle, Bluepool, and Bere regis which are all, like wareham, superb places to visit.

Wareham is a pleasant and charming town in which to spend a few hours. Situated between the rivers Frome and Piddle (I laughed), there is a gorgeous quay area where there is sometimes a farmers market. There is also a market most Tuesdays and Saturdays. At the quay is a nice pub which serves food, and it is lovely to sit out with a beer and look at the river and flood meadows. The town is of historic interest, despite a fire in the 1700s destroying half of it. The rebuilding was mainly in the Georgian style, so the town is attractive. The town has ''walls'' surrounding it, which are in fact simple earthworks built in the 9th century to protect against Viking invasion. There is a nice walk around the town, following the route of the walls, for which you can pick up a guide/leaflet at the Purbeck Heritage and Information Centre.

Wareham is not the town for you if you are after good shopping though! While it has enough shops and businesses for the essentials, there are not many big chain stores (this may well be a good thing, depending on your perspective!). There are a few nice gift shops and antique shops, as well as several banks, charity shops, a few pubs and cafes, a Co-op food store and bakers and butchers.

Wareham is a great place to visit for the day. The town is really old and quaint. You can take a boat trip down the river and the guy gives you all the histoy as you coast along. On some days they also hve a table top sale down by the river, they sell old books, Cds and trinkets. It is also home to the 85 year old rex cinema that is brill and has the smallest bar ever. The museum on east street has a lot of local history and a collection of laurence of arabias photographs. There are so many other beautiful places to visit in easy reach of wareham inluding swanage, corfe castle, and brownsea island. There are also a couple of nice pubs next to the river that sell home cooked food.