Jurassic Coast
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Dorset And East Devon Coast (2001). A 185 Million Year Record Of The Triassic, Jurassic And Cretaceous In Cliffs, With Durdle Door Arch, Lulworth Cove, Chesil Beach And The Fossil Hunting Beach At Charmouth And Lyme Regis. Collecting Is Allowed On The Loose Beaches Only; Cliffs Are Unstable · Lulworth, England
The Jurassic Coast is a 154 km stretch of English coast in Dorset and East Devon, from Exmouth to Studland, listed by UNESCO in 2001 because its cliffs show about 185 million years of Earth history across the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. The famous sights are Durdle Door, a limestone arch near Lulworth, the circular Lulworth Cove, Man O'War beach, Old Harry Rocks at Studland, and the 29 km shingle bank of Chesil Beach. Lyme Regis and Charmouth are the best places to hunt fossils such as ammonites on the beach, ideally at low tide and on a guided walk. Weymouth and the Dorset villages make good bases. The cliffs crumble, so stay back from edges, and the beach below Durdle Door has been closed at times because of rockfalls - confirm before you go. Parking is expensive and queues build in summer, so arrive early, bring a picnic and treat the walks between the coves as the main event rather than the crowded car parks and the small shops at the top of the hill.
Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove in Dorset, on a 154 km stretch of coast from Exmouth to Studland, Lulworth, England, United Kingdom
The coast path and beaches are open at all hours and walking them is FREE; only the car parks charge. Parking at Durdle Door and Lulworth is commonly pay-and-display and can close when full in summer. The Durdle Door beach stairs and shore may be CLOSED at times after rockfalls, so confirm current status before you go. The Army firing ranges at Lulworth are CLOSED to walkers on certain days, with red flags flying; the coast path there is open at weekends and in most holidays but check the published schedule. Visitor centres such as Lulworth Heritage Centre keep seasonal hours, shorter in winter. Guided fossil walks run on set dates tied to tide times, not daily.