2
introductory to moderate

Traveller Rating

 

Activities
  • self guided walk
Accommodation
  • 7 nights in small hotels and guesthouses
Meals
  • 7 Breakfasts

8 Days£1060GBP

View Inclusions

Overview

Trip Code: WDC

Trip highlights

  • Far from the Madding Crowd
  • Walking the Coast and Hills of Dorset
  • Historic Town of Dorchester
  • Natural Wonders of Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove

From Lyme Regis to West Lulworth, 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 coastline 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 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.

Countries:

England

Starting Point:

Lyme Regis

Finishing Point:

West Lulworth

Itinerary

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Make your way to Lyme Regis. Explore the town and in particular the medieval stone (Cobb) harbour. The Lyme Regis museum is a great introduction and insight into the natural history of the area. Accommodation: We spend 2 nights at St Andrews house dates back to the 1850's and even boasts its own outdoor swimming pool.

Meals:  Nil

Walk through the famous under-cliff, a nature reserve on the coast west of town to Axemouth and Seaton in Devon and return to Lyme Regis by bus or explore coastal cliffs for fossils. Note that on Sundays there is no bus so you will need a local taxi. (Bus or taxi at own expense).

Meals:  B

Today is a beautiful roller coaster walk with fascinating features such as Golden Cap 191m, the highest point on the South Coast, an interesting pub at Seatown which was heavily involved in smuggling and some nice clifftop trails. Accommodation: The West Bay hotel sits right on the edge of the beach.

Meals:  B

This is a charming walk which takes you off the cliffs and along the first part of the pebbly long shore drift which eventually becomes Chesil Beach, the longest shingle beach in Europe. At West Bexington you climb steeply inland and then head off to the prehistoric fort of Abbotsbury Castle. You drop down to Abbotsbury, one of the most traditional villages in the UK. We 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. Accommodation: Wheelwrights BB is our first choice. For centuries it was a wheelwright's workshop, until it became a glass engraver's studio. It became a BB in 2011. Alternatively Ilchester Arms which is a family run pub.

Meals:  B

Inland via Dorset Ridgeway path to Maiden Castle, a large ancient earthwork fortress sacked by the Romans in the 1st century A.D. and Dorchester. 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. Accommodation: Westwood House Hotel is an early 19th century town house that has been converted into a 4 star guest house, offering spacious rooms and great comfort right in the heart of this busy town.

Meals:  B

a) Walk Cerne Abbas to Dorchester 14km/8.7 miles, approx walking time is 3-4 hours. Take bus the bus to Cerne Abbas and walk back to Dorchester visiting The Cerne Abbas Giant. This is one of the largest hill figures in Britain. Visit Sherborne which is without a doubt one of the most beautiful towns in England. With its abundance of medieval buildings and superb Abbey. Sherborne has much to offer the visitor. b) Walk Dorchester to Hardy's Cottage and back. 14km/8.5 miles, approx walking time is 4 hours. Hardy's Cottage is tucked away in the wilds, set in beautiful Thornecombe Woods. This is an easy walk, only getting a little hilly in the last mile. Perhaps even more attractive is the church (13th Century) at Stinsford that you can also visit on the walk today.

Meals:  B

While your baggage goes direct from Dorchester to West Lulworth, 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. On the way you pass the natural arches of Bats Head, 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! Please note West Lulworth has a 2 night stay minimum over weekends. If you have a Saturday or Sunday trip departure date, you would be in West Lulworth over the weekend. You can I) Have 3 nights in Dorchester (Nights 5-7) II) Add a post night in West Lulworth, to stay on night 7 and an extra night 8. Accommodation: The Old Barn was constructed in 1800 and has been through many changes through the years. Its been a winter store for the monks harvest. A garage and a winter store for fisherman boats. It has also been a childrens home and some of the residents have returned to say what a happy home it was. It has so much history, if only the walls called talk the stories they could tell.

Meals:  B

Trip concludes after breakfast

Meals:  B

Map

Elevation

The map and elevation chart are for illustrative purposes only and meant to provide general guidelines.
On self guided trips, actual route information provided before departure will be more detailed.

Inclusions

What's included

  • 7 breakfasts
  • 7 nights accommodation in small hotels and guesthouses on a twin share basis with ensuite facilities where available.
  • One piece of luggage per person transferred from Inn to Inn, not exceeding 20kg. Please note all luggage moves over October dates will incur a Winter Transfer Supplement
  • Digital information pack including route notes & maps
  • Emergency hotline

  • Lunch, Dinner and drinks
  • Entrance fees
  • Travel insurance
  • Travel to the start and from the end point of the trip
  • Personal expenses such as laundry and phone calls
  • Unscheduled transfers required during the trip
  • A supplement will apply if you are travelling solo or book a single room
  • Excess Luggage
  • Guide - this is a self guided holiday

Accommodation

Hotels, guesthouses & country inns

The hotels described are our usual accommodation, however if these are not available then alternatives are used. Rooms generally do not have baths, the main reason being that they take up a lot of space. Some hotels/guesthouses may have a separate room in the house where a bath is available to guests, but in the main it is showers. Note that for the dates of your tour we may not be able to get you into the accommodation described. We will endeavour to get you into a similar standard of accommodation nearby, but please appreciate that there is limited accommodation in rural England. Also, although we aim to get you into accommodations with ensuite rooms, this is not always possible. At a couple of places on your tour you may be sharing bathrooms, particularly if you are in a single room.

Suitability

introductory to moderate

2

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.

Departure dates

Daily from 01 Mar to 25 Oct

Notes

H
High Season
DN1
Please note that minor changes to your 2024 itinerary may apply.

Priceper person from

£1060GBP

Options & Supplements*
  • Single Supplement 2025GBP£500
  • Solo Traveller Supplement 2025GBP£550
*Prices listed are per person

Frequently Asked Questions

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Yes, you will be following it for about 4 days, the rest of the time you will be walking inland too Abbotsbury and Dorchester

The towns and villages of this trip are generally quite well connected with bus and / or rail services

Quite a few, including the Cobb, harbour and fossil museum at Lyme Regis, the Swannery at Abbotsbury, Maiden Castle and Thomas Hardy's House near Dorchester, The Giant at Cerne Abbas, Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove

Yes and no! There are honeypot locations such as Lulworth Cove where in good weather the car parks, beaches and visitor centre is packed with people; but on long segments of the walking route you may not see many people at all.

Trip reviews

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