Exploring Jurassic Coast in Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door
Nestled against the NORTH SEA? lies one of the ancient wonders of the world, the Jurassic Coast! With the geology dating back to the beginning of time, the Jurassic Coast offers a history lesson combined with some of the best UK beaches. Because it is an entire coastline, there are many places to stay, visit, and explore! For our trip, we focused on a few areas - Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door!
Logistics:
Unlike the other popular destinations, these two nuggets can be incredibly difficult to get to without a car, especially on a sunny (i.e. crowded) day!
By Car
Depending on the origination, driving will be much easier! Each destination has their own parking lot. Parking can be expensive, but you usually get it for 24 hours so very handy! You just need to pick a spot!
We preferred Lulworth Cove Car Park because there were readily available amenities such as bathrooms and food, but you could also get to Durdle Door with a lovely 45 minutes walk (more details on that below)!
For Durdle Door, recent COVID restrictions have meant they limit the cars and people. They recommend that you reserve ahead of time to guarantee your visit!
Travel Tip: Download the “Just Park” app on your phone before you go and you can skip the queue to pay at the machine!
By Public Transportation
From London, it will be incredibly difficult and possibly over 4 hours to reach Lulworth Cove. Not to mention that the bus might stop running if there isn’t room for them to drive! However, there are one easier option from two major cities. Bus X54 runs between Weymouth and Poole, allowing passengers to reach Lulworth Cove in under 45 minutes. Just plan accordingly so you don’t get up staying overnight!
Lodging
Although we would have loved staying in Lulworth Cove or possibly camping outside Durdle Door, our itinerary and budget did not allow for those options! Thus, we settled for Weymouth, an old seaside port located about 30 minutes away. Perfect for those wanting city amenities in a very small town, we are glad we stayed there for two nights! There are countless B&Bs, hotels, and long stay holiday homes.
We chose an AirBnB located about 10 minutes from the beach because we wanted a kitchen with free parking. Our room was very cozy and comfortable and even included a free breakfast, but we had enough leftovers to not eat breakfast.
However our friend stayed at Gloucester House and definitely enjoyed it!
Food & Drinks
For Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove, I highly recommend bringing a picnic basket! First of all, a picnic is perfect for these pebble beaches! Second, you don’t have to resort to the expensive fish and chip shops near Lulworth Cove.
In Weymouth, we found a few gems in Bennet’s Fish and Chips and Halls Diner. However, there are terrific places throughout the city. Check out our English Roadtrip Google map pins for all of our hard research of the top food and drink spots!
Two Days in Lulworth Cove
By far one of the UK’s unique natural wonders, Lulworth Cove is a must-see whilst on the Jurassic Coast!
First Impressions
On our first day in Lulworth Cove, we had a late start since we were coming from New Forest. Thus, we were in for a ton of traffic. While it was slightly annoying, we knew the beaches and views would be worth it! After parking in overflow at 12pm, we immediately went straight to the beach while dodging loads of families and kids! We found a lovely spot against the cliff in the pebbles and sat down for a relaxing afternoon.
Because the cove is 3/4 of a circle, we had terrific views of the cliffs, water, and sunshine! Although we did not enjoy the freezing cold water, we did put our feet in for about 3 minutes and our feet went completely numb! Regardless, I really enjoyed seeing this unique wonder even though it was completely crowded and full of screaming kids. All it meant was we had to come back early tomorrow!
Lulworth Cove
Morning Glows
Our Return to Lulworth Cove
Arriving by 8:20am, we had the entire cove to ourselves. We were so proud of our second row parking spot! Inside the cove was a completely different story compared to yesterday afternoon. For starters, we had another perfect weather day with blue skies and complete sunshine. Next, there were hardly any people inside or outside of the cove! This meant all of our pictures were nearly empty outside the odd one or two people.
To see these excellent views, we went to the viewpoint that is well signed throughout the village. By walking up the path, we had a great vantage point that allowed us to see the complete cove!
Afterwards, we sat ourselves on the beach at a great location with no kids around us! We are slowly getting a tan and from a country that we did not expect it from! We definitely enjoyed our views of the cove and water.
Lulworth Cove sights
Durdle Door
On our second morning at Lulworth Cove, we hiked the Durdle Door path. Described as a scenic pathway, the walk is anything but easy! I describe it as a uphill cliff walk while MF describes it as a mountain. I kept telling MF that it would only take 45-55 minutes, but I wasn’t sure based on the initial uphill walk!
With fantastic views along the way, we were well rewarded for our hard efforts! Especially as we approached Durdle Door where we knew it would be the halfway point. Instead, we saw that the path went straight back down… In hindsight, it makes a lot of sense because we knew Durdle Door was on a cliff and that there was a popular beach there… We trudged downhill and planned to take a break taking long pictures! What really surprised me was the many, many people carrying lots of beach equipment down this hill, knowing that it would have to be brought back up.
Finally, we reached the stunning Durdle Door! The pictures were absolutely amazing as we had crystal blue waters, barely any people on the beach, and the incredible “door” structure in the cliff! Pictures do not do it justice!
Durdle Door
Weymouth
Our visit to Jurassic Coast would not be complete without our awesome stay in Weymouth.
Harbour Views
Because we arrived in the early evening, we went for a lovely stroll through the town. On the Weymouth Sandy beach, there were still HUGE crowds at 6pm even though the sun was beginning to set! However, it was a sandy beach rather than pebbles… Walking from the beach, we strolled through what we thought was the high street. Initially, we were hoping to find dinner here but everything was mostly closed so we were began to worry about our stay!
Then, we found the Weymouth Harbour. With two long rows of pubs and restaurants, the harbour offers all sort of food and drink. Even though it was a Thursday night, most of the restaurants were busy and said we needed to make a reservation. Thus, we settled for Bennet’s Fish and Chip shop, which was a hard choice considering every place had fish and chips on the menu!
After a long 45 minute wait, we hastily ate our delicious fish and chips! Instead of very greasy food, the batter on the fish was really tasty and the cod was caught fresh that day! The fries were also really tasty and we finished all of it!
It’s the Walk
On our second night, our friend Kelly joined us from the big city and also brought the cloudy, cold weather with her! Somehow, we thought walking 3+ miles one way to dinner would be a great idea… At least it was alongside the water! Weymouth has a really long, beautiful coastline that stretches for 4-5 miles. Not all of it is a beach though! On our walk, we had views of empty COVID cruise ships and even found a seal!
By the time we reached our destination, we were very puzzled why Google Maps led us to a fun arcade on the water… While we love roller coasters and kid rides, we were not expecting this location! After walking around very confused, we finally found Halls Beach Bar. Then, we were really worried that we walked into UK’s version of Chuckie Cheese!
In the end, the food was fantastic! We ordered a great plate of calamari starter, covered in a nice sweet chili sauce. For our mains, we ordered the fried chicken sandwich that was really tasty and fresh and MF went really healthy with a peri-peri chicken salad. For the 6 mile roundtrip walk, this food was definitely worthwhile!
For our final evening, we went back to Weymouth Harbour for a tasty pint at an outdoor patio. it was a lovely end to the Jurassic Coast!
The UnChartered Summary
Heading into the trip, I knew I would like Dorset and the famous Jurassic Coast. From Durdle Door views to Lulworth Cove pebble beaches, we definitely enjoyed our stay there and wish we had longer to explore the area!
- If going to Durdle Door by car, ensure you book your parking space early as the car park will quickly fill up in the morning.
- For Lulworth Cove, we arrived by 12pm and still managed a spot in the overflow parking lot. However, the prime beach spots may be taken!
- Regardless, both Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door are must-sees for any UK roadtrip!
- For lodging, if the expensive B&Bs near the coast are too expensive or crowded, then Weymouth is a great base as the city is 30 minutes away.