Wimborne is six miles inland from Poole and a useful antidote to the beach.
The minster
The twin-towered minster church dominates the town, with an astronomical clock and, in a room above the choir, a chained library where the books are still physically chained to the shelves, as they were when books were worth stealing.
The town
A working market town with independent shops, a market, Georgian streets and places to eat that are not trading on a sea view.
Getting there
Twenty to thirty minutes by car or bus from Poole. The Castleman Trailway, a traffic-free route on a former railway, runs much of the way from Broadstone if you would rather cycle. See cycling in Poole.
See also Dorset and countryside.