Dorset Coast & Purbeck Ridgeway

Overnight stops:

D6 tour: Nights 1 & 2 West Lulworth (Lulworth Cove);  3 & 4 Corfe Castle; 5 & 6 Swanage

Accommodation: Small guest houses (B&Bs), usually including a farm guest house; some nights with en-suite or private facilities, which can be guaranteed throughout for a supplement.

Meals included: 6 breakfasts; evening meals can be obtained locally without pre-booking. Packed/picnic lunches are obtainable locally from village shops (but not at Kimmeridge) or from the accommodation.

Rail stations. Start of tour: Wool, then short taxi ride to West Lulworth/Lulworth Cove; end of tour Wareham or Bournemouth (frequent bus services from Swanage – bus timetable information is provided – or taxi). Wool and Wareham are linked by direct trains once per hour every day of the week via Bournemouth and Southampton airport with Woking (shuttle bus link with Heathrow airport) and London Waterloo. From Bournemouth the service to Southampton, Woking and London is faster and more frequent than from Wareham. From Bournemouth there are also direct trains to the Midlands, North of England and Scotland avoiding London. Bus and taxi fares are not included in the tour price.

Nearest international and other airports: London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Bournemouth, Southampton.

Tour code D6E:
6 night tour, en-suite or private facilities every night: £800. Single room*: £1280. STS**: £70.

• 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 £110 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.

The Purbeck peninsula has long been an officially designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and as part of the ‘Jurassic Coast’ of Dorset and East Devon, has now been awarded the coveted status of World Heritage Site by UNESCO, putting it on a par with such wonders as the Great Barrier Reef and the Giant’s Causeway.

Between White Nothe and Studland coastal footpaths (part of the South West Peninsula Coast Path national trail) pass rugged sea cliffs, headlands, sea stacks, natural arches, rocky coves and sandy beaches. The beauty of the coastline is protected by the Purbeck Heritage Coast Project. Inland ancient ridgeway paths follow the crests of chalk and limestone ridges. The jagged ruins of Corfe Castle punctuate a gap in the chalk ridge. Little Norman churches, village greens with duck ponds and country pubs typify England at its best.

Dorset 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 some steep gradients. The tour is therefore suitable for those with little or no previous experience of walking tours. The Day 3 walk from Lulworth Cove to Kimmeridge crosses a military zone which is only open to the public at weekends and holidays. So the starting day is generally restricted to Thursday or Friday, except at holiday periods (see ‘important notice‘ at the top of this page).

Thomas Hardy is well known as the great Dorset novelist – his novel The Hand of Ethelberta is set among the limestone quarries of Purbeck.