Hiking the Jurassic Coast

Post written by Laura

With over 11,000 miles of coastline to explore there is no shortage of UK coastal paths upon which to trek. The Jurassic Coast is one of the most stunning and I was fortunate to spend a recent hiking weekend here. The weekend was brilliantly organised by one of my local walking groups and here is a summary:

Friday

In complete contrast to my recent solo trip to Montenegro this weekend consisted of a rather  large group of 60 people! I had travelled with my friend Bridget, by car to Weymouth, our base for the weekend. We arrived in the afternoon and checked into the Best Western Rembrandt and while not on the seafront it was a 10 minute walk to the main action!

We met with a few other walking club members in one of the harbour side pubs before deciding to head off on our own in search of something to eat! After a short TripAdvisor ‘near me now’ search we found ‘Enzo‘ an Italian restaurant where we had a fabulous 3 course Italian meal complete with plenty of wine and liquor afterwards! Highly recommended!

Following a meet up with most of the other walkers back in a harbour-side pub, the majority of us headed into the local karaoke bar where we spent a drunken evening belting out anything from Madness to Girls Aloud to a brilliant rendition of California Dreaming… or maybe not…

Saturday: 9.5 mile Jurassic Coast and Durdle Door walk

With most of us slightly hung over we duly met up in the large Visitor Centre car park of Lulworth Cove. There was plenty of room for everyone’s cars and there were coffee shops and toilets available too.

We launched straight into a steep hill as we made our way from the car park. We arrived at the Durdle Door caravan park and headed inland where we walked through fields in parallel to the coast for about 5 miles before turning left towards the sea!

We picked up a section of the South West Coast Path to make our way back towards Lulworth Cove.

This second half of the walk was far more challenging with steep ascents and descents close to the cliff edge. It also contained stunning views even though the weather was slightly overcast.

After about 8 miles (from the beginning) we arrived at Durdle Door which according to the Jurassic Coast Trust was first created around 25 million years ago. From here it was a short distance to the car park where we enjoyed a coffee and snack before heading back to Weymouth.

For this evening the organisers had arranged for all 60 of us to have a sit down meal in the Gloucester, a large venue on the seafront.  There was a live band in there playing 60’s rock type music which was a great end to the day.

 

Sunday: 5 mile Lulworth Cove and Bindon Hill walk

We met again at the Lulworth Cove Visitor Centre car park and this time headed off to walk in the opposite direction. We picked up the South West Coast Path again and hiked along Lulworth Cove beach before heading towards Binden Hill.

As with yesterday there were some steep ascents and descents but much of the track was easy walking terrain. The weather on this day was bright and sunny and the views once again were incredible.

We made our way back along the coast, back on Lulworth Cove beach and back to the car park. There was a real holiday atmosphere as we sat eating ice creams in the sun with fellow walkers and tourists before heading home in the afternoon.

All in all we had an excellent weekend of eating, drinking, walking and lots of laughs 🙂