If you love nothing better than a classic English seaside holiday town, Weymouth makes an excellent destination. Weymouth day tours whisk you to a place where it’s all about the harbour, seafront, beach, coast and wider natural setting. With enough shops for your everyday needs and a few gems – think stunning fossils in one and beautifully-curated interior design treats in another – all you need to do is stock up on the snacks and head for the blue, blue sea.
A bit of background – Meet Weymouth
The ancient settlements of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, on opposite sides of the harbour, were once bitter rivals. Weymouth was older, part of the parish of Wyke Regis and a bustling port by the 1250s, mostly handling imported wines. Melcombe on the north side developed from the mid 1100s onwards, by 1310 a thriving wool port. Sadly French raiders found the town far too easy to ransack and wool imports ended in the 1430s. Not long afterwards the Black Death arrived via Melcombe, an unfortunate town if there ever was one.
Great ships set out from Weymouth headed to the Americas, full of hopeful settlers. It played a starring role in the Normandy Landings. Now it’s all about tourism, a seaside holiday jewel set half way along magnificent Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
Weymouth bay, Weymouth beach and world-class Weymouth sand
Weymouth’s perfect golden sandy beach is lovely to lounge on. It’s also the best in the world for building sandcastles; not too coarse and not too fine, neither too heavy or too light. It’s just the right texture and consistency for awesome sand sculptures, which means every child’s sandcastle is a miniature masterpiece. There are plenty of varied seashells on the beach to decorate your castles with, too.
There’s a display along the seafront, where you look down on an impressive sand sculpture, and the Sandworld International Sand Sculpture Park at Lodmoor Country Park in Weymouth is stacked with sand sculptures, a fantastic sight. World-class resident sand sculptors work there over the summer season, and you get the chance to vote for your favourite.
Weymouth Bay itself defines the enormous smile-like curve of the beach, a large bay with sheltering arms that keep the water inside it relatively calm. There’s Punch and Judy, pedaloes, kayaks and more, and the water is shallow, sloping gently into deeper water, so there aren’t any nasty shocks for swimmers. King George III adored this place, calling the town his ‘first resort’. These days trampolines, a small funfair, Weymouth Pier, the Pavilion Theatre and Weymouth Sea Life Tower line the old King’s favourite beach.
Voted Number 1 in The Times and Sunday Times Best UK Beaches for 2023, the beach makes a lovely walk all year round, along the wide paved Esplanade or on the sand itself when the tide permits. Eat well at seafront stalls and boat-shaped cafes with sea views in summer, pop into a cafe or pub off-season. The historic Nothe Fort gardens, right on the coast, are a nice place to stroll, dog-friendly with almost-tame squirrels and rooks. The Fort itself is quite something, a spooky maze of underground tunnels with great views, a nuclear bunker and a cafe.
Why Portland is weird – And wants to stay that way!
People have lived on Portland since Mesolithic times, separated from the mainland by the sea. It’s as near to cut off as it’s possible to be without being surrounded by water, something called a ‘tied island’. At the southern end there’s Portland Bill and the vast pebbly barrier ridge, Chesil Beach joins Portland with Weymouth, an impressive walk, drive or bus journey over the Fleet Lagoon bridge.
You might see someone wearing a ‘Keep Portland Weird’ t-shirt. Maybe thousands of years of relative isolation is what makes Portland residents cherish their eccentricity, maybe not. But it’s interesting to know that Portland in Oregon, USA, also describes itself as weird!
The Portland stone the island is famous for is a dense, pure white limestone that pops up all over the craggy island, which is effectively a huge solid hunk of rock with some soil on top. Lovely public pathways criss-cross the old stone quarries, full of wildflowers and dotted with curious stone sculptures carved by locals and visitors. You can clamber the cliffs around the edge of the island, an exciting experience but dangerous in windy weather when the prevailing westerlies howl across the open sea.
Portland Harbour itself, in between Portland and Weymouth, is just one piece of evidence revealing the island’s fascinating past. This is one of the world’s biggest man-made harbours, pieced together between 1848 and 1905 an for decades a vital Royal Navy base, and it has a powerful military history to match.
Church Ope Cove is a secret treat, a tiny cove down steep steps dotted with colourful beach huts overlooking the sea and pebbly beach. Here, the sea has rolled chunks of fallen Portland stone around like boiled sweets in a child’s mouth to leave beautiful pure white spherical and ovoid pebbles. It’s a good place for a paddle and can be deserted off-season, full of atmosphere. Look out for the ruined church and ancient graveyard part-0way down the cliff, satisfyingly spooky.
Portland comes with eye-watering dramatic views, steep streets, a friendly feel and some cool independent shops. Some of the tiny roads z-bend their way dramatically to the top where the forbidding-looking prison is. There’s a really good cafe at the prison, the Jailhouse Cafe in the Verne Citadel, open to the public and popular with locals. The views from up there are spectacular. Prepare for enormous portions of perfectly-cooked, hearty food, served with a smile by inmates and volunteers.
A foodie’s paradise
There’s excellent fish and chips in town. This is the seaside after all. But there’s also a thriving smart foodie scene for keen gastronomers. You’ll find excellent eateries lining the road opposite the Esplanade and more around the scenic town centre harbour. Catch At The Old Fishmarket is a Michelin Star-level eatery, the Crab House cafe is famed for its delightful seafood, and Billy Winter’s is actually on Chesil beach itself, with awesome views of the bay.
Try French food to die for at Les Enfants Terribles. Fall in love with brilliant burgers at the Dorset Burger Company. Go Italian at Olivetto on the top of the pier bandstand. Or head for the old post office, transformed into the Nautico Lounge for breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, cool decor and electic comfort.
Add a super-lively local music scene, with excellent bands in bars across the town all week, live music in town on hot summer days, and some wonderful personality-filled pubs, and you’re all set for a great time.
Natural wonders around Weymouth
Right in the middle of town, the Radipole Bird Sanctuary offers quality bird watching with rare species frequently spotted amongst the brackish reeds. Walk along the edge of the reserve on the pavement towards Radipole itself, a suburb, for a clear mental image of what’s going to happen to the surrounding roads and homes when sea levels rise through climate change.
Maiden Castle, just out of town, is one of the most impressive earthworks in England, with amazing views of lovely, wild Dorset chalk landscapes from the top. Hardy hikers trudge Chesil beach from one end to the other, spotting masses of unique flora and fauna along the way while getting a seriously good workout walking on the pebbles.
You’ll leave this lively little seaside town invigorated and inspired, ready for your next UK day tour adventure!
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