From Lyme Regis to Lulworth Cove, parts of this walk are as beautiful as it gets in the British Isles. Yet you are in no wilderness area being fairly near attractive villages and towns throughout the journey. This is a walk of great variety, naturally concentrating on the popular Dorset Coast Path. The Dorset coast line is an area of outstanding geological importance as over 200 million years of rocks have been laid down, bent and twisted before being eroded  by the sea to expose rock profiles on beaches, accessible to fossil hunters and scientists. So important is this area that it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However our walk also dips inland to visit a mysterious region of ancient hill forts, Roman and Saxon remains – the ancient kingdom of Wessex. You have a couple of nights in Dorchester, Thomas Hardy’s Casterbridge, with its beautiful museum and essentially Roman form. Here there are walking options within the town, or without, to the beautiful village of Cerne Abbas and out to find Hardy’s cottage in the woods. 

The tour starts from another town with literary associations: Lyme Regis with its medieval Cobb (harbour wall), which is a favorite place for almost everyone who visits it. John Fowle’s novel “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” is set there and the author lived in the town until his death in 2005. On the walk you also visit Abbotsbury a gem among English villages, while Maiden Castle and the Cerne Giant are spectacular archaeological sites of great importance. The last part of the walk roller coasters along the cliffs above the natural arch formation of Durdle Door and then down to Lulworth Cove – a perfect oval cove protected from the sea by rocky fingerlike peninsulas. The coastal villages can be rather crowded in high summer and on bank holidays and are understandably popular, but you will also find many quiet areas whilst walking. The weather is generally warmer and more settled on England’s south coast than in other parts of Britain and some steep paths aside, the grade is on the easier side of our walking holidays in the UK.

General Information

Duration of tour: 8 days (7 nights)

Grade: Easy to moderate. There are some steep sections of coastal path that can sometimes be avoided, however the steep hills are a maximum of 200 metres of ascent/ descent in one go and are often much less.

Waymarks: The Dorset Coast Path has been waymarked well with the white acorn waymark of the English National Trails appearing on gates and ‘fingerposts’. You are not on this trail all the time however and will be also following wooden signs and coloured arrows on gates etc. 

Season:  April to October

Joining point:  Lyme Regis

End of tour:  Lulworth Cove

Breakfast: in UK will generally consist of sausage, bacon, eggs etc, or in Dorset smoked haddock or kipper may also be offered by some establishments. Cereals, fruit and toast will also be available.

Special Dietary Requirements: It is important for you to tell us if you have any dietary requirements when you book your holiday so that we can inform everyone that you are staying with.

Baths/showers: Many rooms with ensuite/private facilities have a shower rather than a bath, usually because of limited space. Some hotels/guesthouses may however have a separate room in the house where a bath is available to guests.

Single Supplements: are payable on most of our tours.  The single supplement guarantees the privacy of your own room, however, rooms can at times be small and in some places may not enjoy the same facilities as double/twin rooms. 

Luggage: When staying in hotels, sometimes your luggage will have been taken to you room awaiting your arrival. However don’t be surprised if your luggage is waiting for you to take it up to your room. Please politely ask someone if you need assistance.

Meals:  This tour is on a bed & breakfast basis only. All the towns and villages passed through have stores for  packed lunch materials, or there are sometimes places to eat such as beech cafes on the way. Places for your evening meal are recommended in the text of the route notes.

Route Notes: Please note that 1 set of route notes per room booked is included in the cost of the holiday. If you require more sets of notes then there is a charge of £25 per set ordered.

Getting to the Start

Outward journey from London to starting point: By train from London Waterloo to Axminster; service about every 2 hours, journey time approx 2.5 hours; Then taxi or bus to Lyme Regis from Axminster train station.

Inward journey to London at end of tour: Taxi or bus from Lulworth Cove to Wool train station (5 miles). From Wool direct hourly train service to London Waterloo via Bournemouth, Southampton (for trains to Gatwick Airport). National Rail website is www.nationalrail.co.uk if you want to look at the journey involved.

Your Accommodation

Below is described the normal accommodation that we use on this tour. At the time of booking please be aware that other places might be used instead if these choices are full or closed for whatever reason.

q       Nights 1 & 2: Our first two nights are spent in the little fishing port of Lyme Regis. The 2* hotel was formally a Coaching Inn. The hotel still retains its superb 17th century character, oak beams and irregular shaped rooms. All bedrooms are tastefully decorated and comfortable with ensuite or private facilities. There is also a small pool and spa facilities available to you (at our usual hotel).

q       Night 3: Our third night will be spent at West Bay, the harbour of the old market town of Bridport. Our 3* hotel is situated on the quieter side of this small fishing village and just 1 minute from the harbour and beach. There is a comfortable residents' lounge and attractive garden.

q       Night 4: We use a number of accommodations tonight in Abbotsbury. Abbotsbury itself boasts breathtaking views of rolling meadows and glorious country gardens.

q       Night 5 & 6: In Dorchester we use a large, early 19th  century townhouse that has been converted into a 4* guesthouse, offering spacious rooms and great comfort right in the heart of this busy town, just a few minutes away from the museum and bus stops. Great breakfasts and a friendly service prevails. .

q       Night 7: Your accommodation tonight is a comfortable Victorian 2* hotel about 300m from Lulworth Cove. Despite being near the heritage centre, it is in a quiet elevated position overlooking the Cove and Stair Hole, it still holds an unrivalled position with views of the sea and surrounding hills. En-suite facilities. The hotel has a good in house restaurant and offers nice cream teas on the lawn. There is also a small outdoor swimming pool that guests can enjoy.

PLEASE NOTE: It is generally normal practice when staying in hotels that you check-in on or after 2pm and checkout by 10am the following morning. Guesthouses/bed & breakfast establishments are normally check-in on or after 4pm and checkout by 10am.

Outline Itinerary

The Jurassic coast is inherently unstable due to its composite geomorphology and changes to details of routes can occur at short notice beyond our control. Please take care on the sea cliffs and look out for and observe footpath changes that are designed to protect you.

q      Day 1  Lyme Regis: Travel to starting point (Lyme Regis). Explore town and the partially medieval stone (Cobb) harbour. The Lyme Regis museum is a great introduction and insight into the natural history of the area.      

q      Day 2  Lyme Regis: Walk through the famous under-cliff (nature reserve on coast west of town) to Axemouth and Seaton in Devon and return to Lyme by bus (8 miles 3.5-4 hours / 405 metres  total ascent) or explore coastal cliffs for fossils.                        

q      Day 3  Bridport: “Roller-coaster” footpath along coast over Golden Cap hill 191 m (highest sea cliff in the south of England) to West Bay (10 miles 5-6 hours / 835 m total ascent / descent). Interesting sequence of cliff paths and smugglers’ villages such as  Charmouth and Seaton.         

q      Day 4  Abbotsbury: Coastal path via a Saxon Hill Fort with magnificent views of Chesil Bank (longest shingle beach in Europe) to Abbotsbury with its medieval tithe barn and swannery, the only one of its kind where swans are bred. There are plenty of sites here, especially we would recommend a stroll up to St. Catherine’s chapel at sunset or dawn. This chapel served as a lighthouse from monastic times and through the destruction of the monasteries as a reference landmark for shipping.  (10 miles / 5 hours / 425m total ascent).

q      Day 5  Dorchester: Inland via Dorset Ridgeway path to Maiden Castle, a massive ancient earthwork fortress sacked by the Romans in the 1st century A.D. and Dorchester (10.5 miles 5 hours / 485 metres total ascent). Maiden castle is the greatest Iron Age fort complex in the UK and takes almost an hour to walk round. Find the remains of the Roman temple, and look at the formidable ramparts. The Romans established Dorchester on the plain below the fort, and the existing town still exhibits a plan set within the lines of the Roman design that was not broken until the coming of the railways in the 1840s. There is also a Roman house you can visit.

q      Day 6  Dorchester: Optional walks within Dorchester around the line of the city walls (mostly demolished) where you can visit sites such as the Hangman’s Cottage, the site of the gaol, Dorchester museum and interesting parks and town houses.  If you want a solid walk you can take a morning bus to Cerne Abbas and then walk back along part of the Cerne Valley trail back into the city (8 miles / 3-4 hours / 170 metres total ascent). Cerne Abbas is home to a giant of indeterminate age carved into the chalk downs above the village. It possibly is not as old as it looks!
 You could also walk past the isolated cottage at Higher Bockhampton where the Victorian author Thomas Hardy (1840 – 1928) was born (National Trust property) and then  to the village of Puddletown (the setting of Weatherbury in’ Far from the Madding Crowd'). Bus or taxi from Puddletown (6 miles, 3 hours from Dorchester) bus back to Dorchester; fares not included in tour price. 
 You could also take a bus to visit the famous village of Milton Abbas with its two long curved rows of thatched cottages facing each other across the village green. 

q      Day 7: While your baggage goes direct from Dorchester to Lulworth Cove, you return by bus or by train to the coast at the lively resort of Weymouth, take a local bus to Bowleaze and then follow the Dorset Coast Path eastwards along the brilliant white chalk cliffs from Weymouth to Lulworth Cove (8.5 miles / total ascent 750 metres.). On the way you pass the natural arches of Bats Head and Durdle Door and the long abandoned medieval village of Ringstead. This is another roller coaster day, but you can bypass the hilliest sections with a more inland route. Lulworth Cove is a beautiful spot, albeit a busy tourist honeypot. However most visitors do not stay the night and you could get up before breakfast to have the cove all to yourself or return to Durdle Door in the evening for beautiful sunsets!

q      Day 8: End of tour. When/if you can tear yourself away from the scenic wonders of Lulworth Cove and Stair Hole you will need either to take the bus or order a taxi from Lulworth Cove to Wool train station for your journey back to London (taxi approx £13).

Included

Bed and breakfast, with ensuite facilities. Luggage transfers from Inn to Inn during the tour.  Full route notes and map package.

Not Included

Transfers from and to train stations at start and end of tour are not included, nor are bus/train/taxi fares during the tour.

Extend your stay

Extra nights: Extra nights are possible at any point in the tour.  Two nights at each of Lyme Regis and Dorchester are already included. Another very pleasant place for an extra night is Abbotsbury, with its famous swannery (England's first nature reserve - open to the public), medieval tithe barn (still in use for storing reeds, not open), the 15th century hilltop chapel of St Catherine and a sub-tropical botanic garden. Abbotsbury is also only just over a mile from the famous 10-mile long ridge of shingle known as Chesil Beach.

If you want to stay another night in Lulworth Cove there is a superb walk across the military ranges to Tyneham, a village evacuated at the start of World War II. The walk is only accessible at weekends, and in the August School Holidays. Even then the military can close the ranges to public access and opening dates should be verified at the Lulworth Cove Heritage Centre. Suggested route is briefly described in the route notes.