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Jewels Of The Jurassic Coast

Day 1 - Dorchester's Dinosaurs
The West Dorset coastline is famous for its Jurassic heritage, and evidence of this can be found in many of the area's visitor attractions. The Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester is home to life size reconstructions of pre-historic creatures that are thought to have roamed our coastline in ages past, and contains multi-media and 'hands-on' displays that provide an insight into the world of dinosaurs. Following lunch in one of the many eating establishments in the town, allow a few hours to explore the nearby Dorset County Museum. A visit to the museum's recently opened Jurassic Coast gallery will reveal how the 95mile stretch of World Heritage coastline was formed, along with information about its geology and fossils.

Day 2 - Coastal Charms
Taking the 25mile drive west from Dorchester towards Lyme Regis will provide the ideal opportunity to see one of the most beautiful stretches of the Jurassic Coast. One of the most impressive features of the West Dorset coastline is that of Chesil Beach - a 17mile long pebble barrier which stretches between Portland and West Bay. The beach serves to protect the Fleet, which is the largest tidal lagoon in Britain, and is of great environmental importance. This can be viewed from one of the hilltop pull-ins on the B3151 just after Abbotsbury village, or accessed directly by taking the turning marked Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens and continuing down to the beach.

Continuing further west is the village of Charmouth, which boasts its own Jurassic Coast Heritage Centre, offering free admission to an interactive exhibition about local marine wildlife and fossils, and the opportunity to partake in guided fossil walks along the beach itself. Continue westwards for a further 2miles, reaching the town of Lyme Regis. Here there are a number of cafes and restaurants which serve lunch, alternatively, feel free to take a packed lunch and enjoy a picnic on the beach or in the attractive Langmoor and Lister Gardens overlooking the promenade and harbour. Whilst in the town, the Lyme Regis Museum can offer further information about the Jurassic Coast, including retelling the historic discovery of the world's first ichthyosaur, found on the coastline between Lyme Regis and Charmouth by local scientist and fossil hunter, Mary Anning, in the nineteenth-century. The museum itself was built in 1901, and stands on the very spot that Mary Anning was born in 1799, and later opened her first fossil shop.