Devon & Dorset: The Jurassic Coast

Overnight stops:

J5E: Night 1 Exmouth ; 2 Sidmouth; 3 Beer; 4 & 5 Lyme Regis

J9E: Nights 1 to 5 as J5, then night 6 West Bay (Bridport harbour); 7 Abbotsbury; 8 & 9 Weymouth

Accommodation. Specially selected guest houses or ‘B&Bs’. En suite or private facilities are normally guaranteed throughout the tour.

Meals included. Breakfast each morning; other meals can be obtained locally without pre-booking.

Extra nights. These can be included at any point on the tour at the time of booking the holiday. An extra night at Exmouth provides a chance to recuperate after a long journey. A second night at Lyme Regis and (on J9) Weymouth is already included. On the intervening day at Weymouth you can walk the magnificent coastline to Lulworth Cove. With a third night at Weymouth you can take a boat trip round the harbour (used for the 2012 Olympic Games), explore the rocky peninsula of Portland, or visit the Roman remains at historic Dorchester.

Extension along Dorset Coast Path from Lulworth Cove to Poole. We also offer a separate 6 night tour called ‘Dorset Coast Path Path and Purbeck Ridgeway‘ which includes coastal and inland routes eastwards from Lulworth to Corfe Castle, Swanage and Poole Harbour.

Rail stations. Start of tour Exmouth, end of tour Axminster (J5); Weymouth (J8) .

From Exmouth rail station it is a short taxi ride to your first night’s stop. To reach Axminster or Dorchester stations from Lyme Regis there is a frequent bus service (less frequent on Sundays) as well as local taxis. Weymouth has its own main line rail station near the town centre.

Train service. Exmouth is reached by train from London Paddington or London Waterloo, changing trains once at Exeter, about 10 trains per day, journey time 3 to 4 hours. Axminster has direct trains to London Waterloo (c. 3 hours), or you can change trains at Exeter for faster trains to London Paddington. Weymouth is linked by direct trains with London Waterloo via Bournemouth and Southampton, hourly service, journey time about 2.5 hours. Weymouth also has a direct train service to Bristol, journey time about 2.5 hours.

Airports. The best-placed airports with international flights are London (Heathrow & Gatwick), Exeter, Bristol, Bournemouth and Southampton. Please ask us about access by train from and back to these airports.  Gatwick, Heathrow and Southampton airports each has its own rail station.  The others have shuttle bus links with the nearest main line rail station.  The best placed airport for J5 is Exeter, for J9 Bristol.

Tour code J5E:
5 night tour, en-suite or private facilities every night: £675. Single room*: £1015. STS**: £60.

Tour code J9E:
9 night tour, en-suite or private facilities every night: £1075. Single room*: £1590. STS**: £115.

Please read these notes below on pricing:

• Single room* = single room price (applicable when 3 or 5 persons book together as well as for solo travellers).
• STS** = solo traveller supplement (applicable when booking is for one person only)
• Extra nights: Up to £90 per person per extra night. Single rooms will cost more.

Prices quoted are per person on basis of two people in double or twin-bedded rooms. Included in the price are bed and breakfast each night, with baggage transfers, maps and route directions. ‘ES’ (en suite) facilities means that there is a private bathroom with shower or tub and toilet within the main door of your room. ‘Private facilities’ means that the private bathroom may be outside the main door of your room. When the booking is made for a party of 3 or 5 customers, a single room supplement is payable. When the booking is made for a single traveller, a solo traveller supplement is payable. Note: normally a maximum of 1 single room per booking.

Much of the coast line of East Devon and Dorset is natural and unspoilt, with hardly any development between the few towns and villages. Its brilliantly coloured cliffs – red shale, white chalk and yellow-buff sandstones – are of international importance on account of the almost complete geologic section through Mesozoic strata, in particular the Jurassic, which they display. It was at Lyme Regis that Mary Anning made an extensive collection of marine dinosaur fossils, and ammonites, belemnites and other Jurassic fossils can still be found. Scenic highlights include the jungle-like Undercliff, west of Lyme, and the long curving shingle bar of Chesil Bank between Abbotsbury and Portland. In recognition of the unique landscape and geology of the East Devon and Dorset coast, the UN’s cultural and scientific branch UNESCO in 2001 declared this coastline the first World Heritage Site for natural features on the British mainland. The crest of the coastal cliffs is closely followed by the South-West Coast Path national long distance trail, making this coast easily accessible to hikers and walkers.

The settlements along the way are full of character: the genteel Victorian seaside resort of Sidmouth, the pretty village of Beer where the fishing boats are winched up the shingle beach, Lyme Regis with its steep streets and mediaeval ‘Cobb’ (harbour wall), Abbotsbury with its tithe barn and swannery (both mediaeval) and 15th C St Catherine’s chapel, the busy harbour of Weymouth. This south-facing coast is known for its mild and sunny climate and is a good place to hike at any time of year. Route-finding is easy with our detailed route descriptions, and the days of 12 to 20km (8 to 12 miles) are not strenuous, although there are frequent steep gradients both up and down. The tour is suitable for reasonably fit hikers with little or no previous experience of walking tours.

The mediaeval harbour or ‘Cobb’ of Lyme Regis has inspired novelists from Jane Austen (Persuasion) to John Fowles (The French Lieutenant’s Woman).

Thomas Hardy’s light novel The Trumpet Major is set in Georgian Weymouth, while his more epic The Well-Beloved is set among the limestone quarries of Portland.

Another novelist who has captured the atmosphere of the secret landscapes of West Dorset is Geoffrey Household in his classic 1930s thriller Rogue Male.