The Victoria Barn is probably one of the most beautiful but remote places we have ever stayed at. Blandford Forum is just under 3 hours from London, but it is the last hour of the drive that is through single lane, un-named country roads... all we can say is thank goodness for SatNavs and Google Maps! The nearest town is Sturminister Newton which has a minimarket, newsagent, bank and a selection of restaurants. I had remembered to do our shopping for the week on-line before we left so Monday morning everything delivered to our door which is something I would recommend to all.

The Victoria Barn consists of 8 properties all of which have newly been converted. The rooms are bright and spacious and have large kitchens and all rooms are en-suite, with either a shower or bathtub. Outside there’s a playground with a swing, slide, climbing frame and best of all a supersized trampoline which the grown-ups and kids alike loved. The swimming pool was also clean and lovely and warm.

The Barn is set in a beautiful working beef farm with the Hills on one side, a forest on the other and 3 small fishing lakes. It truly is a peaceful place to wind away a week.  The outdoor play area is great with smaller slides, trampolines, and a push along car for toddlers.

Days out
Inevitably, when you stay somewhere so remote it seems that all days out were a minimum of 30 minutes drive away. Still we took a day trip to Swanage and rode on their steam train which went past the hugely impressive Corfe Castle.  Another day saw us spend the afternoon in Bournemouth which the kids loved and despite it being a little chilly, a round of yummy chips later we all were smiling. In hind sight, we should have got to Bournemouth earlier and visited the Aquarium which is located right by the sea. On our penultimate day, we drove to Lulworth Cove, which admittedly was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in a long time. The tiny beach is all pebbles, but the views out to sea were stunning. As we all sat down to enjoy the sandwiches that the dads had gone to buy, the kids ran around and had fun rolling down the hill. We had hoped to stop by Lulworth Castle, which had an outdoor play area, but was closed to the public due to a wedding. Still it looked like a lovely place to spend an afternoon and kids under 4 are free. But, the best trip we took had to be when we went to East Farm in Winterborne Whitechurch, where we indulged in the best scones and homemade cakes.  The kids milkshake had to be the creamiest ever and in the warm sunshine this was a real gem and delight.  Even my 2 year old declared that he ‘really loved this tea-party’. All in all, we had a wonderful week away.

The Victoria Barn was certainly a special place to visit and we had a lovely week away.

From Shailash Sanghrajka and family