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Lulworth Cove via Tyneham and Durdle Door Circular Walk

Dramatic coastal scenery, Lulworth cove, hidden beaches, Durdle Door cliff arch, and a ghost town.

Circular Coast Dorset Jurassic Coast My Favourites Purbeck Tough

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sun, 02-Jul-23 Dramatic coastal scenery, hidden beaches and a ghost town: Lulworth Cove via Tyneham and Durdle Door Circular [Dorset Trip] 10 overcast to start then mainly sunny
Sat, 08-Jul-17 South West Trains Spring Offer – Lulworth Cove Circular [Early Start] [Long Journey] [Strenuous Walk] [Swimming Walk] 16 overcast turning sunny and hot

Sunday 02-Jul-23

Thomas G
Length: 22.2 km (13.8 mi) [for easy options to shorten the walk: see below text or the webpage or pdf]
Ascent/Descent: 1014m
Net Walking Time: 7 hrs
Toughness: 8 out of 10
Take the 09.00 Jurassic Breezer 30 to Swanage from Dorchester, Trinity Street (also calls Brewery Square 09.04), which then calls Weymouth King’s Statue Stand 5 at 09.30 (also calls Weymouth, Prince Regent Hotel), arrives Lulworth Cove, Car Park at 10.09 .
In Weymouth, should the bus be full , immediately go to Stand 6 and queue for the 09.45 departure of line X50 to Wool (also calls Weymouth, Prince Regent Hotel), arrives Lulworth Cove at 10.20 .
From Dorchester , the earliest train to Weymouth is the 09.24, arrives 09.35, ie you’d rely on the 09.45 bus.
Return buses : X54 at xx.20 to Wool Station (last at 17.20) and at xx.56 to Weymouth (last at 17.56);
Jurassic Breezer 30 at 15.40 , 16.55 , 17.55 and 19.15 to Weymouth (the 17.55 and the 19.15 continue to Dorchester) and at 17.12 and 19.12 to Wool Station .
Note : X54 return tickets are not valid on the Breezer 30 and vice versa.
Trains back to London Waterloo depart Weymouth at 16.48 , 17.45 , 18.48 , 19.58 and 20.58 (calling Dorchester South 11 minutes later).
This is a beautiful and challenging coastal walk along Purbeck's Jurassic Coast. It takes int he iconic Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door (an arch), dramatic white cliff coastal scenery, and the WW2 abandoned and ruined village of Tyneham. The walk is a 'dog bone' shape, centred on Lulworth Cove. The 2 independent loops can be done on their own.

The longer Tyneham loop starts with a hill, with fine views of the coast before following the coast over dramatic cliffs. It then climbs a ridge above Tyneham with a 360° view of Purbeck. It then descends into the ghost village, which is worth exploring (church, museum), and climbs the other side of the valley to the cliff edge. It then follows the rollercoaster South West Coast Path (SWCP) back to Lulworth Cove, past a beach and more dramatic viewpoints. The abandoned and ruined coastal village of Tyneham was evacuated at very short notice in December 1943 at the behest of the War Office to prepare troops for D-Day. The inhabitants were never allowed to return. The village is now a picturesque ruin.
The shorter, gentler Durdle Door loop follows the SWCP west along cliffs to Durdle Door (an arch) and down to a nice beach. The return is slightly inland, on a higher path (with fewer ups and downs) over open grassland, with fine views of the coast.

Walk Options: plenty of shorter or longer options , but also a route to/from Wool Station, which enables to cut out large parts of the Tyneham Loop. See the webpage or the pdf for details.
Lunch and Tea: plenty of options in Lulworth Cove (16.8 km/10.5 mi).
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos, and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.54
  • Sun, 02-Jul-23

    4 off the bus and 5 off a car at the start in Lulworth's car park. 1 other car driver parked some way away to avoid the NT's sumptuous charges and started a bit behind the rest. 10

    Butterfly spotter no 1 set off along the Durdle Door loop to look for rare finds, while we set off along the shingle and up along the coast in an easterly direction. Some had swimming at Warbarrow Beach foremost in their minds, while still routing through Tyneham, others preserving troublesome knees and cut out Tyneham and an extra ascent. I walked the full route as a text check was due. We bumped into each other here and there though.

    Tyneham had some upgrades since the last visit, namely more info panels and old photos, but also some fencing around a few of the ruined buildings.

    The weather was overcast to start then mainly sunny but always with a breeze, ie ideal for walking.

    The swimmers took the shortcut between Tyneham and Warbarrow, I believe, and strolled into Lulworth Cove just as the 17.20 to Wool Station pulled out (which I was on).

    Back to London, after retrieving luggage in Dorchester, on the 19.00.

Saturday 08-Jul-17

Thomas G
Length: 24.0 km (14.9 mi) [for easy options to shorten the walk: see below text or the webpage or pdf]
Ascent/Descent: approx. 1100m; Net Walking Time: about 7 hrs for the full walk
Toughness: 10/10
Take the 08.05 Weymouth train from Waterloo (CJ 08.12), arrives Wool at 10.34.
From Wool take Bus 104 run by Damory Coaches, dep. 10.48, arrives Lulworth Cove 11.08; although with some luck you can still catch a delayed Bus X55 (First Buses), dep. 10.31, arr. 10.44.
Return buses : 16.25 to Wool, arr. 16.38 (line X55) and 17.11 to Wool, arr. 17.30 (line Breezer 30, run by More Bus); 17.35 to Weymouth, arr. 18.16 (line Breezer 30). After that it’s taxis, I’m afraid! See phone numbers on the webpage. Return trains from Wool are: 16.45, 17.22, 17.45, 18.45, 19.45, then 20.34 and 21.34 (the latter is a very slow service though).
Buy £13 Singles to Wool but from Weymouth , to be covered for all the return buses.

This is supposed to be a very beautiful and dramatic coastal walk, which takes in the iconic Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door (an arch), Purbeck's dramatic coastal scenery, and the abandoned coastal village of Tyneham. The walk is a 'dog bone' shape, centred on Lulworth Cove by the Castle Inn (lunch pub).
While written directions are few and far between (so that this is essentially a map-led walk), steep ascents are aplenty (just look at the height profile near the bottom of this page here).
As you can see from the route map here, some of it consists of out-and-backs to outlying tops though, i.e.: those can be spared.
The easterly loop is supposedly tougher, so let’s start with that, and see whether we have time and stamina left to do the westerly loop as well.

Lunch : Lulworth Cove Inn (food all day).
Tea: Ship Inn in Wool (open all day, food all day).
For walk directions, map, height profile, some photos, and gpx/kml files click here .T=swc.54
  • Tue, 04-Jul-17

    While I have not done this particular route, I have done (a few times) its sister walk which shares the same amazing stretch of coast. It really is very stunning -- cliffs soaring high and swooping low -- definitely one of my favorite coastal stretches with great swimming as an optional extra -- well worth the effort both in terms of walk, early start and long journey. With this routing, I would suggest bringing picnics to enjoy your time near Tyneham/Worbarrow Bay (great swimming).... Also, do not worry too much about the lack of written words....we will find our way back...

  • Wed, 05-Jul-17

    I might finish the walk in Weymouth, ticket price the same and better train connection at the end, if anyone interested.

  • Anonymous
    Fri, 07-Jul-17

    This IS a beautiful stretch of coastline and Durdle Door is a real highlight! If I wasn't working on Saturday I would be doing this walk. Hilary

  • Sat, 08-Jul-17

    16 walkers on this outing in overcast turning sunny and hot weather.

    Stunning scenery, with some serious ascents, beautiful beaches and chalky cliffs. The group agreed to divert from the existing route on the swc site to follow the coastal path out of Lulworth, intermingling with 1000+ charity walk participants (MacMillan). This was to get the hard work, the steep ascents, as well as the most stunning views along the coast done with while energy levels were still high. [one had opted for a butterfly-spotting route]

    The group split quickly, the fastest pulling well ahead. Picnicks were had along the route. The abandoned Tyneham village was quite interesting, residents having had to leave during WWII.

    Some returned to Lulworth in time for the buses back to Wool or Weymouth stations, others added Durdle Door to their achievements. One even walked a loop back to Lulworth from Durdle Door via Scratchy Bottom! Dinner at the Inn or Fish & Chips in hand were had, then 2 taxis took care of us to connect to the 20.34 train back.

    A fabulous day.

  • Sun, 09-Jul-17

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  • Sun, 09-Jul-17

    Minority report: 1 walked to Durdle Door and back, then a loop to Mupes Bay. Not just to look for butterflies: also to swim at Durdle Door. Vast hordes of charity walkers dominated the coastal path (see rant on our Facebook page) but climbing a steep unofficial path just inland avoided them all. This path was a glory - great views and plenty of butterflies. The latter included marbled whites and gorgeous dark-green fritillaries (which are orange) but also plenty of tiny Lulworth skipper, which are found only here.

    The alternative path climbs steeply but in fact eventually comes to the same height as the main coast path. At this point there is the shock of the huge caravan and car park above Durdle Door. The path down to the beach was like Oxford Street and the beach like Brighton. But trusting my most treasured possessions to the honesty of the crowd I had the most wonderful swim out through the natural rock arch and back around.. This felt like real wild swimming and the view of the arch up close, under and beyond it is very impressive.

    After another swim I did a bit of the coast path but soon took a lonely path back inland across the deserted downs - more butterflies - to.....the big horrid car park. But in its defence it had not one but two tea kiosks, where I stopped for refreshments. Then down to Lulworth Cove. I went to the far end to escape the crowds and had a big tranquil swim around the yachts.

    Finally up onto the cliffs, along to Mupes Bay, up one of the muscle-shredding climbs to the summit of the ridge: then back along and down to the beach on a path surely inspired by the attack trajectory of a Stuka dive bomber. One last swim to cool, a nice meal with friends who had done the main walk, a chatty train ride home - not too crowded, thankfully.

  • Sun, 09-Jul-17

    Also to add, on the main walk 5 went for a glorious swim in the spectacular Worbarrow Bay with two having a further short dip back in Lulworth Cove to cool off after the hot return journey....

  • Sun, 09-Jul-17

    SWC.75 follows the spectacular ridge from Corfe Castle to Lulworth Cove. A nice gentle ridge walk I thought.

    But, I hadn't noticed Arish Mell on the map (the gap in the ridge between Tyneham and Lulworth), which was an interesting surprise towards the end of the walk :)

    I'll add something to the walk about sunny summer weekend crowds.