Car-free adventures aroundWeymouthDorset
Great Western Railway runs direct trains to Weymouth from Gloucester via Bristol, Bath and Dorchester and there are regular trains from London too. Here's our round up of five Weymouth car-free adventures. There are royal connections in this iconic Dorset town: when George III went famously mad, his doctor sent him to Weymouth as “the Resort of many people of the first Distinction”. But there’s no need to go mad or get stuck in traffic to enjoy these long sandy beaches and chalk-white cliffs; travel via picturesque paths, scenic railways, open-top buses or coastal bike rides. Scroll to the end to find more tips for Weymouth-based staycations.
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1. Bus to Portland
Arrive in Weymouth by train and you can soon be strolling by the long sandy beach; hop on a bus and you can visit some more unusual landscapes. Our Weymouth car-free adventures start with a trip to Portland. Portland peninsula has its own distinct feeling. With sunshine sparking from the turquoise water, the wild, white cliffs have a Mediterranean air with their coastal flowers and rock-hopping ravens. Four miles long and never more than half a mile wide, Portland has sea views on all sides. The north end of the island, nearest to Weymouth, overlooks Portland harbour and Chesil Beach while the southern tip, with its red and white lighthouse, enjoys glimpses of migrating birds and huge panoramic seascapes.
- From Weymouth Railway Station, stroll along King Street to the Esplanade, where you’ll see the clock tower. This bright red landmark commemorates Queen Victoria’s jubilee in 1887.
- Turn right along the Esplanade, with the beach on your left (see map below) and you’ll soon reach a statue of George III, who made Weymouth fashionable with his love of swimming in the sea. There’s a replica of his bathing machine nearby, a sort of beach hut on wheels.
- From the King’s Statue, you can hop on a bus to Portland (and other places). The seasonal open-top bus 11 runs all the way to the lighthouse at Portland Bill. Other times, you can catch the frequent bus 1 to Southwell and walk along Southwell Road to pick up the coast path. Turn right along it for a beautiful mile-and-a-half’s walk to the Lobster Pot café near the lighthouse.
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2. Tout Quarry Sculpture Park
New York’s United Nations HQ, Dublin’s City Hall, the Tower of London, St Paul’s cathedral and the Cenotaph in London… there’s a long worldwide list of historic buildings and monuments made with white Portland stone and old mining equipment stands along the rugged cliffs. To get a sense of the sites where this iconic stone originated, visit Tout Quarry, where fanciful sculptures are carved into the pale boulders and rock faces overlooking Chesil Beach.
- Hop off bus 1 (or summer time, open-topped 501) outside the Portland Heights hotel.
- Walking from the hotel towards the nearby mini roundabout, look out for the stone circle that is part of Tout Quarry. Remnants of tunnels and horse-drawn tramways are monuments to this former quarry’s industrial past and some of the subtle relief carvings feel like the ghostly memories of the stone itself.
- Dotted among the flowers and bushes that now soften the landscape are sculptures, some simple, some spectacular. Anthony Gormley’s “Still Falling”, where a human figure seems to swim head-first down through layers of Purbeck and Portland limestone, dates from the Sculpture Park’s creation in 1983.
- More recent sculptures include the mythical Roy Dog; local stone worker Damien Briggs spent more than a year carving the Portland legend, a monstrous dog with one red and one green eye, completing the sculpture in summer 2018.
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3. Sandsfoot Castle and the Rodwell Trail
From the causeway that links Portland to Weymouth, there’s an interesting three-mile walk (or bike ride along the parallel Rodwell Trail) along the iconic South West Coast Path back into town. Hop off bus 1 at Ferrybridge near the celebrated Crab House café.
- Follow signs for the Rodwell Trail, with great sea views on your right. Leave the tarmac path when a sign points right to Sandsfoot Gardens café to explore Sandsfoot castle, a picturesque ruin in palm-treed gardens, overlooking Portland harbour. Henry VIII built it in 1542 to protect against French invasion.
- On foot, follow the Coast Path (with acorn way marks) along winding Belle Vue Road and later around Nothe Point past the towering fort at the end. Finally, stroll along the road beside the harbour, stopping off at Bennet’s fish and chip shop for a local speciality – crispy mackerel bap.
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4. Bus to Abbotsbury
A short walk from Weymouth station, there are more beautiful bus routes leaving from the stops near King’ Statue (see 1 above). The scenic X53 bus is among Britain’s most beautiful bus routes. You can ride all the way through West Bay and Bridport to Lyme Regis or hop off and explore pretty towns like Abbotsbury along the way.
- With great views of the coast and the undulating green hills above it, these buses have some stupendous scenery.
- One of the highlights of the route is the view towards Abbotsbury, with St Catherine’s chapel perched atmospherically on a hill above the sea.
- The bus then winds past the gold-stoned shops and cottages and out into fields again. A pretty path, fringed with pampas grasses, leads from the next bus stop towards Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, a third of a mile away.
- Visiting the gardens is a leafy adventure, through palm trees and jungle glades: a Burmese-style rope bridge under Japanese maples and winding paths past ginger lilies or bright blue agapanthus.
- Look out for the kookaburras in a cage near the Colonial café in the walled garden, lined with palm trees.
- To visit Abbotsbury Swannery, hop off two stops earlier outside the Swan Inn. Walk past Abbotsbury Abbey and down Grove Lane towards the coast.
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5. Hardy’s Wessex and more
If you arrive in Weymouth by train, you will pass through Dorchester first. The railway runs south, past Maiden Castle, to Weymouth and the rolling countryside has inspired generations of writers, from Thomas Hardy, who lived near Dorchester, to Ian McEwan, whose novella On Chesil Beach became a 2017 film.
- Look out of the right hand window as you leave Dorchester. Maiden Castle, the earthworks visible beyond the main road, features in novels by John Cooper Powys and in Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge.
- Soon afterwards, the train stops at the village of Upwey, now a suburb of Weymouth. The Old Ship Inn here appears in Under the Greenwood Tree; Dick Dewy and Fancy Day stop here for tea and kissing! Don’t miss the Upwey Wishing Well tea room if you get off here. George III often visited the source of the River Wey, now celebrated as a Wishing Well in beautiful water gardens (£1 or free for tea room visitors).
- Upwey is also a useful base for walking the Dorset Ridegway or the Jubilee Trail. Both routes lead up to Hardy’s monument, about five miles west; this 70-foot, telescope-shaped tower is not dedicated to the novelist, but the Victorian vice-Admiral (of “Kiss me, Hardy” fame). The monument is a 40 minute walk from the Kings Arms in Portesham village, where the X53 bus will take you back to Weymouth.
- From Dorchester station, it’s a mile’s walk to Thomas Hardy’s house at Max Gate. See map below.Bus 5 or a short taxi ride from the station will also get you there.
- The novelist designed this Victorian villa himself and wrote Tess of the d’Urbevilles and Jude the Obscure while he lived there.
- Look out for references to Wessex, Hardy’s naughty pet dog. He bit visitors (guests at Max gate included WB Yeats and Rudyard Kipling) and stole their food. He’s now memorialised in the sitting room by an innocent-looking life-sized toy.
- And don’t miss the gardens, managing to feel peaceful despite the noisy nearness of the Dorchester ring road, with vegetable beds and woodland walks laid out as in Hardy’s day.
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Buses, bikes and places to stay
Here are some more tips if you’re planning a staycation in the area.
- If you are planning to hop on the bus on the day you arrive in Weymouth, the Plusbus tickets are unbeatable value and are even valid on the open-topped bus 11 to Portland Bill.
- First buses offer a range of tickets that let you explore the area, including Day Tickets valid throughout Dorset.
- If you’d like to explore the area by bike, and don’t have your own, Weymouth Bike Hire offer all-year bike hire with free delivery and collection.
- There are lots of places to stay in Weymouth. One of our favourites is the Seafront Premier Inn, which is a very pleasant half hour’s stroll left along the seafront from the station and is close to a stretch of sandy beach that is quieter than the areas near the harbour.
- If you’re looking for something a bit fancier, the No 98 Boutique Hotel on Weymouth’s Esplanade, very near the station, which has seaside-themed bedrooms, complimentary sherry in the lounge and a fresh fruit-nuts-granola buffet at breakfast alongside full English fry-ups, of course. For supper, try cheerful Enzo’s, almost next door, or Rockfish, five minutes along the seafront, for seafood and beach views.
