We live in West London and decided to get away to the seaside for a weekend. After considering a few options we set our minds on Weymouth. We weren’t disappointed!
The weekend was the first in May, the long bank Holiday weekend, after a long winter in the UK.
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Where to stay in Weymouth and Portland in Dorset
We wanted a real local experience so chose a guesthouse rather than a hotel or hostel. We chose The Valentine Guest House and was perfect: only a minute from the beach, it is owned by a lovely couple who received us with a smile, gave lots of good advice about how to get around and fed us with great breakfasts! There are several guest houses around, and you can book them through Booking.com.
Other Weymouth and Portland hotel and hostel deals and options in Dorset:
Booking.comHow to go to Weymouth and Portland in Dorset
The journey to Weymouth took about 3 hours from London Waterloo. An adult return ticket cost about £70 but you can get them cheaper by booking further ahead than we did (only 2 weeks!), by travelling off-peak, or considering a discount railcard, if you are eligible. You can travel around the UK booking via the website The Train Line.
By the time we had checked in, which was after 9pm, we went out to find some dinner, but almost everywhere was closed! So, bear in mind that you should eat dinner around 7pm. We had ideas of what we wanted to do but we were flexible with the order of doing them. And, of course as we were in the UK, the weather was a factor in this! Luckily we had 3 wonderful sunny days!
Tours and Activities in Dorset, South West England
What to do in Weymouth and Portland, Dorset
On Saturday morning we visited RSPB Radipole Lake, a nature reserve in the middle of town where you can spot various species of birds and insects. It is free, though there is a suggested donation, and you can buy special food to feed the birds.
We then walked down by the marina to the old harbour and took in our first view of the Jurassic Coast (so called because of its particular geology and abundance of fossils, which provide a window into the past). Next we went through the Nothe Fort, joined the South West Coastal Path and came across Sandsdown Castle, a beautiful one built during the reign of King Henry VIII when England was under threat from neighbouring countries.
We continued down the path for a couple of Km, arriving at Billy Winters, a surf shack selling decent food and nice beer (we recommend the Crab House Mussel Ale). The famous Chesil Beach was our next stop – a beautiful place.
By now it was getting late so we caught the 1 bus back to cental Weymouth for some fish and chips. There are several options in town, we recommend King Edward’s, which serves lovely, moist battered fish and chunky chips!
The next morning we again visited a nature reserve, this time Lodmoor Country Park, to walk off our delicious and large breakfast. There’s plenty of other stuff to do there: a Sea Life centre, mini golf, Sand World, go-karting and children’s rides.
We then hit the Weymouth Beach for a couple of hours, caught the 1 bus to Portland and walked to Portland Bill. The lighthouse is very beautiful, worth some pictures, and the scenic surroundings even more so! The view of the Atlantic sea is wonderful. The weather was fantastic so we again took the coastal path the 3.5 miles back to civilisation! We highly recommend walking boots/shoes, as the terrain is fairly level but the ground is uneven and rocky. This is a beautiful walk and the other thing that’s striking is the clarity of the seawater: from up above it is reminiscent of some Mediterranean idyl while up close you can see fish and crabs dancing around your toes!
After a long day we were looking forward to a special dinner. We had reservation for the Crab House Café, a seafood speciality restaurant. They are really popular, so it’s advisable to book in advance. We made ours few weeks before and only managed to get a Sunday evening slot. The freshness and quality of the food was great. We had crab cakes and tandoori monkfish for starters, poached brill with mussels and tagliatelle and pan fried John Dory for mains. We followed all this with apple cake and raspberry and rhubarb upside-down cake. All washed down with a lovely bottle of Picpoul de Pinet. It wasn’t cheap and by eating all that we had undone the good work from the walking but it was worth it.
Would we recommend Weymouth and Portland? Absolutely. It is worth bearing in mind that we were visiting during a record-breakingly warm and dry weekend so there was nothing outdoors that we couldn’t do. This is not the typical weather experience. Best to hope for the best but plan for the worst, as the Brits do! With a little imagination and probably a car you’ll still enjoy this place in the rain, sleet.
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