The Heritage Coast designation covers the stretch of shore running west from Weymouth towards Lyme Regis, and it is the part of the Jurassic Coast where the geology is most dramatic and the crowds are thinnest.
Heritage Coasts are defined by Natural England for coastline of exceptional scenic quality, and this one is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that runs 155 kilometres from Exmouth to Studland.
Chesil Beach starts at Portland, on Weymouth’s doorstep, and runs 29 kilometres north-west to West Bay.
It is a shingle barrier beach — a bank of pebbles up to 15 metres high and 200 metres wide, thrown up by the sea and running dead straight along the coast.
Its most remarkable property is that the pebbles are graded by size along its length: fine pea gravel at the West Bay end, increasing steadily to cobbles the size of a fist at Portland. Local tradition holds that fishermen landing in fog or darkness could tell where they were by the size of the stones underfoot.
Behind it lies the Fleet — an eighteen-kilometre tidal lagoon, the largest in Britain, separated from the sea by the shingle. It is a nature reserve of international importance for wintering wildfowl, with eelgrass beds and a large population of mute swans at Abbotsbury Swannery, managed since the 1040s and the only place in the world where you can walk among a nesting colony.
Swimming off Chesil is dangerous. The beach shelves extremely steeply into deep water and there is a powerful undertow. It is a walking beach, not a bathing one.
West Bay — the harbour town, with sheer golden sandstone cliffs, familiar from Broadchurch.
Burton Bradstock and Hive Beach — a lovely stretch under orange cliffs, with the well-known Hive Beach Café whose seafood is excellent and whose prices reflect it.
Golden Cap, at 191 metres the highest point on the south coast of England, National Trust, with a hard climb and an enormous view.
Charmouth and Lyme Regis — the fossil coast, where the Blue Lias cliffs shed ammonites, belemnites and, occasionally, marine reptiles. Mary Anning made her discoveries here from 1811, and organised fossil walks run from Charmouth’s heritage centre.
Lyme Regis itself — the Cobb harbour wall, the Undercliff, and one of the pleasantest small towns in England.
The South West Coast Path runs the full length, and this section is among the finest and most demanding on the whole 1,014-kilometre route: repeated steep climbs to clifftops and drops to sea level.
The X53 Jurassic Coaster bus runs along the coast, which makes one-way walks straightforward — walk one way and bus back.
Landslips are frequent on this coast, particularly after wet winters, and sections of path are diverted from time to time. Check before a long walk.
Free — it is open coast with public access, though car parks charge.
Parking: Abbotsbury, West Bay, Burton Bradstock, Charmouth and Lyme all have car parks that fill in season.
Fossil collecting is permitted on the beaches at Charmouth and Lyme under a local code — collect from the foreshore, not from the cliffs, and never dig into the cliff face, which is unstable and kills people.
Safety: the cliffs are actively eroding. Stay off the cliff base and away from the edge.
A 29-kilometre shingle barrier from Portland to West Bay, with pebbles graded by size along its length and the Fleet lagoon behind it.
No — it shelves extremely steeply into deep water with a powerful undertow. It is a walking beach.
Charmouth and Lyme Regis, on the foreshore. Collect loose material from the beach, never dig into the cliffs.
Golden Cap at 191 metres, the highest point on England’s south coast, with a National Trust car park below.
Yes — the X53 Jurassic Coaster bus runs along the coast and is designed for exactly that.