3 Best Sights in Corfe Castle, The South

This brick-and-tile cottage served as the retreat of Army officer, writer, and diplomat T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, prior to his death in a motorcycle accident on the road from Bovington in 1935. The house remains very much as he left it, with photos and memorabilia from his time in the Middle East. It's particularly atmospheric on a gloomy day, as there's no electric light. Clouds Hill is 8 miles northwest of Corfe Castle. Admission is by prebooked guided tour only.

One of the most dramatic ruins in Britain, Corfe Castle overlooks the picturesque gray limestone village of the same name. The present ruins are what's left of a castle begun by Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, who erected the great central keep in the early 12th century to guard the principal route through the surrounding Purbeck Hills. The outer walls and towers were added in the 1270s. Cromwell's Parliament ordered the castle to be blown up in 1646 during the Civil War, after a long siege during which its Royalist chatelaine, Lady Bankes, led its defense.

Train enthusiasts love this largely volunteer-run railroad that makes 25-minute, 6-mile scenic trips, with steam (and some diesel) locomotives pulling vintage train carriages across the Isle of Purbeck—actually a peninsula. Trips begin from Norden in the center and go to the seaside town of Swanage via Corfe Castle. Small, pretty stations with flower baskets, painted signs, and water bowls for dogs add to the excursion's charm. Trains leave approximately every 80 minutes in low season (steam only), and every 45 minutes in high season (alternating steam and diesel).