Knoll Beach in Purbeck

This is the only café situated on the beachfront. They provide excellent coffee and a wide array of drinks. Next to the café, in the same building, there's a shop where you can buy various souvenirs like books, hats, and more. The café boasts a fantastic beach view and also includes restroom facilities.

We were so impressed with the National Trust Easter egg trail. Clearly lots of thought has gone into making this a really fun and enriching experience. Our children loved making the bird feeders too. They built up an appetite for the children’s sausage and chips meal in the cafe - great value for £5. Staff here clearly live their jobs and make an effort to really make the most of this stunning location. We’ll be back again soon.

A miserably wet day so had a light lunch in the NT cafe on the beach. 3 cod goujons and chips and coffee - just over £11 which was a little high but typical for NT prices. It was delicious and served with a small pot of tartar sauce, freshly cooked and crunchy. Slightly abrupt young man took the order but all very polite. I'm happy to go again but perhaps wouldn't treat the family!

Yes the views and location are great BUT £15 for two coffees and two sausage roll served in a paper cup and a paper bag for the sausage rolls leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I will visit again but grab a coffee and sausage roll from the corner shop in the village shop in StudlaOver priced cafend who are very happy to serve and assist

We use this cafe quite regularly after walking on the beach. Today we had coffee, sandwiches and a vegan sausage roll. The food was pretty good and the coffees fine. At £15 I thought it was on the expensive side. The weather was absolutely freezing today so I was surprised , and disappointed, to see that the wood burner in the rather nice, scandi style cafe was not lit. Whilst waiting for the coffee I mentioned this to the server who responded, rather bluntly, that they could light it if I wanted and that they were a bit short handed ( two members of staff making two cups of coffee?). No one did light the fire and the majority of customers were sat indoors with coats on! A nice enough place which could be improved quite easily!

We arrived a midday for lunch, after asking for fish and chips we were told the kitchen was closed. It appeared they were more interested in standing on their phones then customer service. After visiting frequently we will not be coming back again!

Order a cup of tea and a bacon bap. I was the only person being served and my bacon bap arrived before I’d even put milk in my tea. I thought it was a bit quick! The bacon was cold and anemic, it looked like it had been shown the pan, and thrown into the roll. I returned to the counter and politely asked if I could have my bacon cooked as I can’t stomach all the fat visible. A young chap came over to question my on ‘my issue’ with the breakfast, again I repeated it was cold and not cooked, he walked off saying I should’ve asked for it crispy. Just cooked would’ve been nice! It came out nice and hot and cooked, but honestly the quality of the bun was appalling. I’m not fussy, but paying over a fiver for a National Trust breakfast you expect, A) it cooked, and B) not a really fluffy cheap white bap. All in all I paid over £5 for three bits of streaky bacon as I couldn’t eat the roll. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t busy, there were four members of staff I saw, I was the only person inside the cafe, yet in addition to poor food and service, three tables were filthy and waiting to be cleared. This didn’t happen in the 25 minutes I was there. Won’t bother again, would rather go elsewhere. Such a shame as location is prime.

This is a lovely beach for a nice walk. It is National Trust so if you are a member not a problem with the charge for the car park. We had a snack from the cafe and it was good even though a bit pricey but it is National Trust so it is not a shock if you are used to their prices

Beautiful spot and lovely terrace completely spoilt for me by thoughtless dog owners who were happy to allow their dogs to roam around the terrace off their leads and sniffing at my food. Perhaps there should be a rule that dogs should be on a lead on the cafe terrace all year. Good fish and chips though but a bit expensive

Spent a great part of my youth and early adulthood at this beach. Most remembered for how clean and unspoilt it seemed (NT owned). I remember the dunes, white sandy beach and clear, shallow warm waters. Unfortunately on recently visiting the beach, roughly 1/4 of the width of the beach was covered in a thick layer of pungent smelling decaying seaweed. This made the remainder of the beach extreemly busy as so much of the beach was unusable for sitting on. Apparently the NT now leave the seaweed for (rather than farming it as they used to) for ecological reasons- which is admirable- but knowing this would have better informed my decision to visit or not. The toilets are reasonably clean, there is a nice (expensive) gift shop and cafe and water toys are avaliable to hire. Dogs are allowed all year round and parking is free for NT members. The beach and waters are still beautiful but the seaweed, and subsequent crowding would put me off coming for a day on the beach again. I'm unsure if the seaweed is a usual or regular occurrence but perhaps the beach in its current state is better for dog walking and kids in wellies to explore.

Lovely spot but drinks were cold and when we went back to get them sorted staff were rude and did not seem happy to be there.

Absolutely stunning stretch of beach, carpark was £13 all day, even though website said £5, plenty of parking though. I would advise getting there early as it does get packed like sardines esp when weather is nice.(photo was taken before it got packed) We stayed for a few hours and decided to go when it felt like people was sitting on our laps 😂 There are toilets, gift shop and food. Sand dunes to explore too, sand does get very hot to walk on bare footed, be careful when weather is nice

Absolutely beautiful beach! Very well maintained by the National Trust! Toilets are clean, little shop and cafe, and lots of parking, at a pretty reasonable price! Lots of activities to do at one end of the beach, paddle boats with slides to hire etc, but a short walk to the left amd it's just unspoilt beach backed by sand dunes that were wonderful to explore! Dogs are allowed on the beach on the lead only, which was a good compromise, as a family with young children its nice to know that dogs aren't bounding about freely. The sea was warm and clear, the sand was soft and golden, best beach in Dorset!

A lovely sandy beach with eating and toilet facilities. The charges for parking your car are, in my view, too expensive at £5 for two hours. Run by the National Trust.

OMG I cannot believe this place. It his going from bad to worse. Thry don't give you cutlery or plates anymore everything is polystyrene and the cutlery us npw wooden. The prices are still very high to ( They have eliminatedthe competion in the lovely cafe down from it). The staff csn also give a bit better customer service rather than look gloomy as if they wish to not be here.

Great beach and cafe, plenty of parking all national trust, nice coffee, shallow and safe beach for swimming or just paddling

We had a stroll down to Knoll Beach Cafe after parking at Middle Beach. Very quiet and relaxing on a fairly bright Monday morning. The cafe offers the usual range of hot drinks and cakes, and has a really nice outdoor area to enjoy the...

This cafe has prime location on the beach yet the food they serve is so average, we always avoid this place to eat every time we visit, but this year we had no choice and ended up ordering a jacket potato. It came in a...

small, overcrowded, very stinky and the sea is full of minging seaweed. Water sports took up spaceee

Very expensive. Corporatist experience mass manufactured tea and cake. £12 to park! Gouge level pricing by the charity that has taken control ruins what would be a beautiful spot

Everything said leaves a mark on someone. We went in the lovely national trust shop full of very interesting bits and bobs. It’s very ecologically mindful and I hadn’t realised it was NT…I was rather severely chastised for enquiring whether they sold a rubber ring...

Beach more narrow than we thought and sand smelly. Price for a car park was £8 for our three hours stay. We found cafe expensive so I would recommend bringing your own picnic.For two cans of Pepsi, 2 small packet of crisps and one bottle...

Sadly when came it was just way too busy to enjoy. You could barely pass between people. The shop was very busy too and the toilets heaving and dirty. We stayed for half an hour and then escaped to sandbanks! Not for us.

Absolutely stunning beach. We stayed on Sandbanks so an easy trip over on the chain ferry. Parking reasonable, we intended to only stay for two hours but extended our time! Fabulous white sandy beach, views over to Old Harry’s Rocks, two cafés, and lovely sheltered...

With all the news about the cost of living, we turned up today,25/07/22, to find that the car park fees are now a minimum £5.00 for two hours. From £3.00 2 weeks ago is a big jump. We won’t be going back again.

Great beach with fantastic views, activities toilets etc, we are already NT members so the price of parking was included in our membership. Nice to be able to take the dog on a sandy beach.

Lots of water sports on offer here. National trust cafe and shop - reasonably priced food which was tasty. Lots of seats. Disabled access to beach in adapted wheel (ball) chairs - looked fun. Good parking area. Toilets. Great place for a family day out.

A bit stupid to be honest as the carpark opens at 9:00 woth a lot of people taking dogs out and wanting to get an early start with the nice weather and their opening is 9:30. A lot of people also said the opening times...

Having visited with a friend a couple of times over the winter, and enjoyed it, I took my husband for a walk and a bacon roll at the National Trust Cafe at Knoll Beach Studland. This time the experience was not so great. The cafe...

For a second time, a long wait for 2 coffees. There is a lack of coordination between payment and collection so barista staff making the wrong drinks (experienced by people in front of us) causes a further wait. To top it all off, a decision...

Took dog onto this sandy beach which went on for miles, great expanse of beach. Worth a visit. There is a dog restriction from May to September. Great place to collect shells, lots of Razor Clams. Beaches lead to middle beach, a little way down.

A typical NT establishment selling all the home cooked goodies you expect. Not a huge selection but you’ll find something you like.The great thing about this place is its location...right on the beach front, with views looking out to the Poole estuary and the Isle of Wight beyond. It was beautifully sunny and the nagging strong wind meant you kept your coat on...no problem though, for such a great location.

If you go to your left and walk to the end (past naturist beach) you’ll come to the ferry over to sandbanks. To the right will take you on to the coast path. We walked to Old Harry’s Rocks then onto a crossroads which L to Swanage and R down across the field and back to studland. Go to joe’s cafe at south beach. Tide was in and it was gently lapping onto the sound. Had a lovely cuppa and nice things on the menu.

Visited in February,loads of parking spaces,lovely NT shop,cafe,plenty of seating. Beautiful beach to walk along in both directions.

A super sandy and level beach suitable for everyone. Dogs are allowed all year but need to be on a lead from April to August. Beach is National Trust owned and there is a car park and cafe on site.

We had delicious mushroom soup with a chunky piece of bread which we enjoyed. There seemed be a good section of items on the menu and eating area was very busy. The car park is very close and it is only a short distance to the beach and if on chooses to eat outside done can watch the sea.

could it be Oz, could it be southern California? The long unspoiled beach is the best walk and swim in the south of England

Terrible vegetable tagine. Very sweet and no spice at all. Not even good as pudding! The squash and pepper soup was good, though.

Visited on a Christmas morning- empty and glorious cafe is good and the parking ample- don’t forget to bring your national trust card

National Trust property and well maintained providing a clean beach with toilets, shop and cafe. Water sports available during summer season. Beach huts for hire, also mobility pushchairs suitable for sand, there’s even table tennis near the disabled parking area. Several beach, sand dune and nature walks from the visitors centre. Plenty of parking and dedicated motorhome spaces. Something for everyone here!

Touring around Dorset has to include a trip down to this beach. The car park is NT, so free if you’re a member.

Well worth a visit, it’s lovely and sheltered as well. Car park close by. We had a great time with our dogs and family.

This beach is beautifully maintained by the National Trust...... its’ unique setting makes it one of the best beaches in the UK...... people flock to this area throughout the year, yet never ever feels packed.

While visiting Studland we stopped off at knoll beach for a look at the sea & a drink, this is a national trust site so if you are a member you can park for free. We didn't go in the sea as it was a bit too cold but sunny as normal. The cafe was busy considering it was a Friday morning but after a short wait we were served our drinks which we then drank outside in the sunshine. We then had a look around the shop which sells the usual NT goods along with some local specialties.

A lovely walk along the beach with a stop for lunch. Good prices, fresh cooked lunch to order. Very good if you have a dog, a member of staff who clears the table made a great fuss of our dalmatian which he loved....Recommended for lunch and hot drinks. Good prices. NT high standards as always.

We stopped at Knoll Beach cafe for a coffee and cake after walking down from shell bay. It was busy. Staff very helpful with my queries. Service was as quick as could be as the machines could not go any quicker. Reasonable price for a national trust. Sat outside to have it with a lovely view of the sea and old harry rocks.

Nice big clean beach, from the National Trust, with plenty of parking and a restaurant. View of Bournemouth and Isle of Wight (far away).

This is a wonderful beach - through can get crowded in high tempertaure high summer - but it is a wonderful place to go for a walk anytime - Autumn, Winter Spring !!! Wonderful views, blows away a few cobwebs!!

We come here a lot, kayak out to Old Harry rocks when the sea is calm enough, it's a lovely beach with lots in walking distance - middle beach cafe, South beach, walk the coast path to Old Harry and continue round to Swanage; in the other direction there's Shell Bay via the nudist beach, or drive down ferry road, park up and walk North West over the dunes to Poole harbour. If you're an NT member parking at Knoll Beach is free. There's an NT visitor centre, shop, cafe, good toilets and showers. All in all it's a great area, still retains a feeling of history, there's also Knoll House hotel where Enid Blyton used to hang out, there's renovation plans afoot there

An oasis after a long walk and the food is always reasonable, It has busy times so be patient but the coffee is always good. It has a restricted menu but what do you expect on the beach. We return with pleasure

Very long beach you can always find space even in the wonderful dunes if you are there when it is windy, lovely fine sand ideal for children to learn to swim, you can walk I would say 100 metres/yards and still be in to your depth as an adult, for me 4 generations have learnt there my son being the latest

Disappointed considering the reviews. The amount of flies flying on the hot drink mugs put me off having a tea. There was also limited choice of food, and not much left to choose from. The food was overpriced, and my panini tasted a little stale/chewy due to having been left out. On a plus side there were plenty of seating and the queue was short.

Gorgeous sandy beach, shallow waters with very little current so great for kids and swimmers. Highly recommended

We've been coming to Knoll Beach for over 40 years and still love it. It's worth walking 15 minutes from the beach entrance, going left, where the sea weed peters out and the beach becomes a lot deeper. The beach is spotless and the sand not at all gritty. The NT shop and cafe has gone from strength to strength over the years that we have been coming, the staff are efficient and friendly. Plenty of facilities around the car park, showers, toilets etc. Definitely recommend

Ideal for all your water sports action but the beach got really really busy! Facilities are good but if you want a game of beach cricket it might be best to drive up to the next beach at Shell Bay

This is a National Trust run beach with excellent facilities including toilets, shop restaurant and first aid. You can hire boats and bikes to explore.

We had a lovely time at this cafe, stopped for dinner just as lots of people were heading off the beach. They close fairly early given the number of people around, but we ordered just in time.

Lovely beach, well worth a visit. Great walks and good that dogs are allowed on all year round. Would recommend a visit.

We visited Studland beach for the day last Friday, and on arrival went into the cafe to buy sandwiches for lunch. Some of our group chose the Chicken and Mayo option and two of us chose Ham and Pickle. However, when we came to eat them we discovered that the pickle was actually marmalade! We expected a Branston type pickle which, I am sure, from the labelling, many others would also expect. We ate them and they were ok, but definitely not what we expected. I know that some pretentious eating places use the term 'marmalade' for their chutneys but in an average cafe I would have expected pickle to be of the more basic and well-known variety, and if otherwise it should be labelled as such. Who knows, maybe people with a dislike or allergy had their lunch ruined by what was, in my opinion, mis-labelling. In an age when food labelling has to be taken to what some might term as extremes, please, National Trust, make sure your labels indicate EXACTLY what is in the filling to avoid us being misled.

Lovely beach, beautiful sea, great pubs nearby, and this place to have fab ice cream and nice coffee at a reasonable price. Got to love Studland!

Although we got stranded out at sea they efficiently and quickly sent out a rescue boat to save the day, also a lot of seaweed covering the sand! But more pros than cons with this beach, extravagant beach overall with a warm sea and plenty of things to hire to do worth friends and family. Great parking facilities and good ice cream is sold on the beach near the cafe. Defiantly recommend

We dropped in for a quick lunch. £12.50 for basic fish and oven chips, and £9.95 for a burger. I wouldn’t have minded if it tasted good but the batter was somewhat watery in taste... it didn’t taste of anything.

Really hot day got there 8am to beat the traffic (recommended). The beach is quiet narrow compared to Shell Bay down the road. The only thing was the amount of seaweed washed up and jelly fish.

perfect watering hole for a long beach walk, a good selection of foods and drink and nicely presented

Lovely beach with good facilities, you can walk for miles in both directions on this beach (and end up on a nudist beach!) but its a beautiful sandy beach with good watersports equipment to rent also.

We sat outside on a warmish June day. We enjoyed the view from the wooden picnic style seats. The natural beauty of the surroundings was marred by the noise of the extraction fan from the kitchens. The burger was excellent and one that I would definitely recommend. I also enjoyed a bottle of the local cider. I would have given this place five stars if it were not for the disturbing noise of the kitchen fan which seemed so wrong in such a wonderful location managed by the NT.

A really large National Trust car park , so plenty of parking. And a doggo friendly restaurant.

A lovely beach to stroll along with water sports hire if that’s your thing. Great views of the coastline and the Isle of Wight visible on a clear day.

Not my first time down at Knoll beach in Studland and wont be my last. Such a beautiful place to walk the dogs or have a picnic or even just sit to think. Will be returning to try out the paddle boarding in the near future too! Popped into the cafe where we were greeted with a warm welcome by the staff (James and Stephen were particularly helpful), great choice of food and drink. A beautiful little shop too! Overall a lovely afternoon out.

We were visiting Knoll Beach with our dogs so we decided to have our lunch here. I had the falafel burger which included chips and salad, the price was around £7-£8. I recommend the beach and the restaurant to anyone looking for a nice beach, with clear water and plenty of water sports and a decent place to have lunch.

We live nearby, are NT members and have been using this beach cafe for many years. So we were very disappointed when we visited yesterday. It wasn't very busy (the car parks were much less than half full) but it took a full fifteen minutes to get a hot chocolate and a coffee, both of which were luke warm. Other customers were waiting longer than us. If service takes this long at this time of year forget it in the summer! Dog and horse mess on the beach didn't enhance our experience either.

Beach itself is nice, generally pretty well kept and crowds are manageable once you move away from the main thoroughfare. Car park is very expensive but you can go about half a mile down the road and park for half the price and walk along the shore.

Delivers all the basics that one would want on a visit to the beach at a reasonable standard and price.

Thoroughly enjoyed a short stay here. We ate in the bistro in the evening and the restauarnt for breakfast, both were very good with nice friendly helpful staff. The decor is a little tired but overall very good

When in this part of the world, we often head to Knoll Beach. A great beach, with very good facilities and lots of parking. Sea is calm and there is a very long stretch of sandy beach, so plenty of space. Perfect family day out.

Easy and quick walk from parking lot to beach - national trust shop and cafe really good and perfect for buying ice creams and a cup of coffee ☕️ water sport facilities on site flat beach although a bit of seaweed about this time of year still a great beach to explore - dog friendly

A lovely beach to either sit and admire the view, to have a long walk with the dog, or to have lunch or tea at the cafe, and even shop in the National Trust shop.

I love this beach as it’s one of my favourites. So we went today being Mother’s Day had a lovely walk along the beach then decided to go to the cafe for a coffee and bite to eat, yes I understand they were busy there were a lot of staff on tho the tables hadn’t been cleared outside had to do it ourselves and most of the other customers did to. Managed to get two sausage rolls as not a lot in the shelf’s and was only 12:30! 3 hot drinks and a Pepsi £21 really exspensive. the boy serving on the till was uninterested in any of the customers needs and kept rubbing his eyes saying he was tired! really not a good exsperiance and I do advise if going and want to have food best option to take your own and have it on the beach will save you a lot of money

Very peaceful and beautiful views. It was a pity that the weather wasn’t better. However, despite very high winds, it was most enjoyable.

Nice beach with NT cafe and good facilities, fantastic views over Studland Bay. Great beach to walk along with interesting things to look at like Fort Henry and anti tank defences left from WW2.

We had lunch here midway through a long walk. The staff were delightfully friendly and clearly enjoyed their work. The log burner and sofas were very welcoming on a damp day. The food was tasty, but the atmosphere is what makes this a special place.

We are regular visitors to Knoll Beach as we live locally and love to be able to walk to Old Harry Rocks from here. We are NT members but have never eaten in the cafe. Today we had fish and chips and it was probably the best fish (lightly battered and great chunks of meat) meal we have had. The cafe is very clean, the staff very efficient and friendly. Thoroughly recommended.

Lovely sandy beach. Large National Trust car park so free if you are member. Nice cafe and National Trust Shop.

expensive , poor service , disappointing food , staff over worked underpaid and poorly treated , avoid this place and go to middle beach cafe instead

As a NT member it's great to be able to park and wander along this lovely stretch of sand either towards Od Harry Rock or Sandbanks. Lovely cafe and facilities.

Thoroughly enjoyed a walk along this beach. Lots of shells and flint stones scattered around on the sand. We even spotted a seal swimming in the sea.

Excellent light lunch in very pleasant surroundings, good service with very friendly staff. Located right on the sandy beach with large car park.

Living local to Poole and national trust members we thought what better way of blowing out the xmas cobwebs than a walk along Studland from Knoll Beach.

beautiful views and facilities on the shore, beach huts looked lovely, plenty of room to park, nice and quiet, haven for wildlife, lots of local history too

Had a lovely walk along the beach and took tea at the very busy cafe, probably as it was a glorious sunny morning.

Visited Knoll beach three times in a week we loved it so much! Even in the pouring rain, you can have a long walk along the beach and then head back to the cafe for lovely cakes and cream tea. Good facilities, cafe which also caters for gluten free, shop, toilets. Free parking for National Trust members made it even more worth dropping by when we had a spare hour or so.

Came here during the not so cold October half term! Beach was lovely and clean, toilet facilities also clean! National trust staff here are super friendly too.

We were taken here by family who live in Poole as they are quite rightly proud to be living near such a lovely stretch of beach. At 21 degrees in mid October the spotlessly clean, soft sandy beach had attracted walkers and people like ourselves just marvelling at the views. As NT members all we had to do was swipe our cards for free parking and the car park was near to the Trust’s shop and cafe.

Spent an hour on Friday afternoon lazing on the sandy beach at Knoll. Went for a swim in the calm sea waters which were reasonably warm. Lots of people strolling along walking their dogs.

This is a beautiful area of Dorset and the Studland area is particularly beautiful. Knoll Beach is national trust so if your a member you swipe your card and parking is,all sorted. There are good loos, national trust shop and tea rooms, both very good. In season you can hire paddle craft. Wheelchair access is good too. The beach is spotlessly clean and the sea is glorious colour when the sun shines on it. Recommend this place to families and those without children.

This NationalTrust location is wonderful. Great beach, great views, great car parking (FREE for members). The NT cafe serves excellent food, especially the Fish Panini with pea purée, salad and fries. Excellent filter coffee! Well worth a visit

I went on a visit to Studland beach.It was mine & my late husband's favourite place. We spent whole summers there until he passed away.

Really really slow service. Not enough staff. Very warm day! Disappointing! Don't understand why they are not better prepared.

In such a prime location and with obviously a considerable investment to build the facility it's totally let down by the layout, pricing, slow staff, and in particular one of the serving staff who was in need of some personal hygiene training.

Used our National Trust card for free parking Able to park really close to beach, lovely bay with sandy beach Good facilities at the beach / car park, though with the close proximity of car park, well worth bringing a picnic