Durdle Door Beach

Located along the Dorset County shoreline, Durdle Door Beach is a popular and splendid pebble-and-pebble beach with clean water. This beach is situated below oceanfront blufftop headlands. An immensely popular natural limestone archway named Durdle Rock is also present near the beach. As an interesting fact, the name of the beach and the archway apparently comes from the Old English word "thirl" (meaning to bore or to drill). Durdle Door Beach is also a part of the Jurassic Coast, which is a section of the Southern English coastline that has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 Durdle Door Beach does not have lifeguards or any other amenities. However, you can find restrooms (available between March through October) in a nearby holiday park named Durdle Door Holiday Park, which is a 15-minute up-hill walk from the blufftop area above Durdle Door Beach. 

Getting to the paid parking lot of Durdle Door Beach is easy - you can get to this parking lot by turning towards the B3070 road from the A352 road (which goes from Wareham to Dorchester) near the community of Holmebridge. From the B3070 road, you can easily access the paid parking lot for this beach. Once you park at this paid parking lot, you need to walk a quarter of a mile along a downhill path to finally reach the steep access stairs leading down along the steep and unstable bluff sides to Durdle Door Beach. If you are planning to travel by bus, bus services to the nearby village of West Lulworth are available from the Wool Railway Station (present in the nearby village of Wool). You can take bus numbers 15, 30, and X55 that commute to West Lulworth from the railway station. However, once you get to West Lulworth, you need to undertake a grueling 30-minute downhill walk to reach the access stairs to Durdle Door Beach. We recommend being careful while going down the access stairs to Durdle Door Beach as they can be steep and slippery.

There are many attractions near Durdle Beach. Lulworth Castle was initially built in the early 17-century as a hunting lodge. This castle has interesting Elizabethan-Jacobean architecture and offers an interesting insight into the rich history of Dorset County. This castle is also surrounded by an extensive open space that offers interesting activities including picnicking and hiking. In addition, the castle premises also have a tea-room which offers refreshments and souvenirs. The Stair Hole and Lulworth Crumple are geological formations present along the Jurassic Coast. These unique geological formations offer an interesting insight into how this beautiful part of the southwestern English coastline has formed and taken shape over the years. There is also an interpretive panel present near these two geological formations that offer additional intriguing information about them. If you are looking for another attraction near Durdle Door Beach, The Fossil Forest is an interesting remnant of a 150-million-year-old forest that later got flooded near the end of the Jurassic era. You can explore the unique fossilized trees found here, along with the remains of an ancient sea floor.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Durdle Door Beach. Limestone Hotel & Restaurant is an upscale restaurant that offers amazing gourmet dishes made from locally sourced and fresh ingredients. Weld Arms is set in a 17th-century building and offers a charming old-world ambiance. In addition, the restaurant also offers amazing salads, steaks, seafood, and sandwiches. The Dolls House is a popular sweet shop that serves amazing English sweets and cream teas and is famous for serving excellent homemade fudges. If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Durdle Door Beach, the modestly priced The Boat Shed Café offers amazing breakfast dishes, seafood, and sandwiches. 

If you are looking for a hotel near Durdle Door Beach, there are many great nearby options. The 4-Star Lulworth Cove Inn offers many amenities including a pub and complimentary breakfast. A more affordable hotel is the Lulworth Lodge that offers many amenities including a restaurant, a terrace, and complimentary breakfast. In addition, this hotel also offers packed lunches for a fee. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Durdle Door Beach, the 2-Star The Castle Inn offers many amenities including a garden, a restaurant, and complimentary breakfast.