One of the places I’ve always wanted to visit has been Durdledoor which is on the Jurassic Coast in Lulworth near Dorset. That arch has been a dream of mine for many years, and finally, we decided to visit for a long weekend in August. Rather than stay in Lulworth, we chose to stay in Bournemouth and head to Durdledoor over a day.
Travelling up early on a Saturday morning and arriving by 9 AM meant we had a full day on the first day before we headed back late afternoon on Monday, which gave us two and a half days to explore and cram a lot in. So, here is my itinerary for a weekend in Dorset.
Day 1
Breakfast at Urban Reef
Honestly, I felt like we were abroad sat outside Urban Reef on the top deck. Such a nice place but the only downside was the sheer amount of wasps around Bournemouth beaches! I had pancakes with maple syrup and bacon, which were incredible along with a mimosa because it is a mini-holiday after all!
Snap A Pic of the Colourful Beach Huts
Obviously, I needed an iconic picture of the colourful beach huts on Bournemouth beach! They’re very aesthetically pleasing as the colours look perfectly matched. They line the shores of Bournemouth beach; you’re also able to hire them too if you wanted a beach day and somewhere you can flit between being on the beach and somewhere with a little more privacy with storage and cooking facilities.
Explore Bournemouth
There is a lot to see and do in Bournemouth, so we spent the first day exploring the town. We were blessed with incredible weather, so we spent a lot of time around the coast basking in the sun drinking cider and cocktails. Bournemouth Pier has plenty to keep everyone entertained from arcades to the pier to shore zip line, we didn’t end up doing the zipline, but it looked like a lot of fun!
Burgers in Bournemouth
We’d seen Monty’s Lounge for years on Instagram and knew we had to go here on our trip to Dorset. Unfortunately, the day we went was their last day of business, which is such a shame as the burgers were incredible. However, Bournemouth has some other incredible burger places including 7 Bone Burger Co., Mokobo and Lazy Fox. We like to seek out independent places to eat when we’re travelling, and I am always searching on Instagram for the best places to eat wherever I travel to.
Day 2
Breakfast at Dancing Moose
We knew we had to head to Dancing Moose for food, whether that was for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We opted to go here for breakfast on the Sunday morning before we had a long day of driving and walking. We both went for the breakfast wrap, which was amazing and washed it down with an iced mocha.
Explore Lulworth Cove
From Bournemouth to Lulworth Cove it was around a 40-minute drive, it was a pretty easy drive and we found Lulworth Cove without any issues. You’re able to park at Durdledoor or Lulworth Cove and we decided to head to Lulworth Cove and walk from here. It was bustling, but they’ve got plenty of places to park, and it cost us £5 to park for a few hours.
Many were paddleboarding and kayaking, which I would have loved to do around Lulworth Cove as it really did look as amazing as it does in the picture. Alternatively, the beach was also very busy with families of all ages sitting on the pebbles and enjoying the sun and views.
Walk to Durdledoor
The walk from Lulworth to Durdledoor is steep but quick, taking around 30 minutes. I was very excited to reach Durdledoor finally! The beach was really busy, but we did descend down the steep stairs to sit on the beach for a while. You can walk further along from Durdledoor on the coastal footpath if you have extra time on your hands as it’s a pretty spectacular view!
Sunday Roast at The Curlew
We LOVE roasts, I mean if you’re British it’s more than likely you’ll also love a roast! Wherever we go in the UK we seek out the best roast around, we did a little bit of searching and found The Curlew. We opted for the lamb rump, which was £17.95 and came with a Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. In addition, we also did add a side of cauliflower cheese for £2.95. The puddings looked good too, but we didn’t quite have enough room for one!
Prosecco on the Beach
We were truly blessed with great weather this weekend (I can only remember one bad weather weekend over an August bank holiday in the last five years!). There’s nothing I like more than the beach and as I’m from Devon, I love having a drink while watching the sunset. We decided to grab a bottle of prosecco and watch the sunset, which is one thing I would recommend, whether that’s in Bournemouth or another UK beach!
Cocktails at Aruba
When searching for the best places for cocktails in Bournemouth, Aruba came up. It’s actually a beachside restaurant and is situated on the pier, offering up a Caribbean cuisine, but we only stopped here for cocktails. We went in the evening but can imagine the incredible views you’d get if you stopped by here for a cocktail or some food during the day and when the sun is beaming.
Day 3
Catch Sunrise at Bournemouth Beach
I love a sunset, and we decided as the weather had been so lush that we would head to the beach to catch the sunrise. It was a bit chilly and quiet, but it was really lovely to just sit on the beach and see the sunrise. After this, we headed back to our hotel and grabbed a Greggs for breakfast as we had a busy day ahead.
Explore Sandbanks
Sandbanks is known for having incredible houses which some celebs even live in. It was only a stone’s throw from where we were staying, so we decided to head here first, we spent just an hour walking on the beach and looking in awe at the massive houses.
We then took the ferry over to Studland which helped to cut a bit of time and distance off our journey. It was £5 to crossover which we paid after we had got off at the other side.
Head to Harry’s Rocks
On the previous day, we didn’t get to squeeze in as much as we would like as we really loved Lulworth Cove and Durdledoor. Therefore, we decided we would squeeze in the other parts of Dorset we wanted to see on our way home.
After we got off the ferry we headed straight to Harry Rocks which is in Studland; we parked at South Beach Car Park which cost £7 for four hours (it’s a National Trust car park, so if you’re a member it’s free). It was a little bit of a walk to see Harry Rocks, which we do not mind as we love walking and the weather was pretty beautiful too.
Swift Stop in Swanage
Our last stop on our trip was Swanage, which is a town in Dorset. It’s the perfect place to spend a day with family as you’re able to go diving, play in the arcades and enjoy fish and chips on the beach (just mind out for the seagulls!). We spent a few hours here just wandering around as again we had pretty amazing weather to explore in, and in my opinion, there is nothing like being in the fresh air and especially a sea breeze!
And there we have it, my weekend in Dorset blog! We packed in a lot in our three day weekend. I’d love to go back and explore more of the coast and walk along the coastal footpath in the summer as honestly, the views are truly incredible.
Hopefully, this blog has given you some ideas for your visit to Dorset and the surrounding areas. Is there anything else you’d recommend doing on a weekend in Dorset? Let me know in the comments!
If you wonder how I manage to travel so much when I work full time, check out my blog here where I give my top tips for making the most of travelling.
