Best places to visit on the Jurassic Coast

Dorset, on the south coast on England hosts the “Jurassic Coast” home to the famous Durdle Door beach with its stone arch into the water.

Start at Lulworth Cove, gateway to the Jurassic Coast

Lulworth Cove make a great starting point for a day trip or a place to stay the night such as Limestone Hotel and Restaurant. When choosing a hotel, try and get one with parking included as the car park, while is great in terms of plenty of spaces, is quite expensive at £20 for a car per day or £30 for a camper.

Lulworth Cove has a few bakeries and ice cream shops, including Jake’s, which have great unique flavours as well as pubs and restaurants so makes a very good base. There is also a stoney beach, in a protected bay without a steep walk so is a good option for swimming (with some swim shoes to avoid walking over stones barefoot).

Optional walk: Stair hole

You can walk to stair hole, if you have time, from Lulworth Cove but if you are short on time this is the one I would skip. Once you get back to Lulworth you can then make a start on the best walk of the trip.

Man O’War Beach

This dramatic beach between Lulworth and Durdle Door is the highlight for me. Once you walk down the steps the bay is beautiful and great for a swim. If the tide permits, you can walk over the rocks to the next curve of bay to a sandy beach but do watch the tide so you don’t get trapped.

Durdle Door, the star of the Jurassic Coast

This unique arch that dips into the water is great for photographers. While you can swim at this beach (currently closed due to repairs to the stairs) the water can be choppy and there have been known to be sad accidents where swimmers try to swim through the arch. This beach is also featured at the end of Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling.

Butter Rock

For keener hikers, after Durdle Door carry on up the big steep hill (and it is Very steep) you’ll be rewarded with a view of Butter Rock which reminds me of a solo act of Australia’s 12 Apostles on Great Ocean Road.

Return to Durdle Door

You return the way you came to get back to Lulworth Cove where you can celebrate with a pint or a sweet treat at Jake’s Ice Cream.