Camping on the Jurassic Coast

I've had this blog post in my Drafts for a few weeks now - the difficult thing about the summer, especially with the gorgeous sunshine we're enjoying now, is that we end up being so busy actually DOING things, that I run out of time to write about them!

Consequently I'm now sharing our May half term trip to the Jurassic Coast which seems like an age ago, but was a lovely family adventure. The weather was nowhere near as nice as it is currently, and we were somewhat plagued by sea fog rolling in and obscuring our views, but we still had a great time exploring lots of new places!

We stayed at Durdle Door Holiday Park in our Decathlon Inflatable Tent - you can check out my review here!

Decathlon Inflatable Tent Review

The campsite was in a great location, right next to Durdle Door beach with the iconic rock arch literally on your doorstep and so many other great destinations nearby.

Here are some of our favourites that I'd recommend exploring if you're headed down to the Jurassic Coast:

Durdle Door

Durdle Door was created when the sea pierced through the Portland limestone around 10,000 years ago and its a pretty eye-catching rock formation! The beach itself is a small shingle bay which can be reached by the natural cliff path from the campsite. The sound of the waves lapping on the stones is incredibly relaxing, and there are some caves at the base of the chalk cliffs, as well as crazily tilted rock beds to check out as well. It's a pretty steep climb on the way back up the path ,but you can distract yourself with the stunning coastal views (if there's no fog!).

Lulworth Cove

Lulworth is considered one of the best places in the world to study geology with its amazing landforms and different types of rocks. I was in heaven admiring the spectacular folds and twists where the land has been uplifted and crumpled in different directions, and finding lots of fossils! Again we struggled with the fog, but Lulworth Cove is a lovely little bay to just sit and enjoy the seaside experience. We had a coffee in The Boat Shed Cafe which is right on the seafront, and bought some fudge in a tiny little sweet shop called The Dolls House.

Studland Bay

Studland Bay is a four mile stretch of golden sandy beach a bit further round the Purbeck Coast. It's owned and managed by the National Trust, so has a typical NT cafe and shop, as well as a range of watersport activities. Had the weather been a bit better, I would have loved to go stand-up paddleboarding or kayaking here, the waves were small and calm and the views round the coast were great.

One thing to note is that there is a very popular naturist beach about halfway up the four-mile stretch, which is worth bearing in mind if you're visiting with children!

Swanage

Just a bit further down the coast from Studland Bay, Swanage is a fun, family seaside resort town. It has the usual ice cream cafes, amusements and a Victorian pier. You can walk around the promenade admiring the views across the bay, past the brightly coloured beach huts - like Studland bay, there is a long golden sandy beach, perfect for collecting seashells and building sandcastles!

Just make sure you take some change for car parking - it gets pretty busy, and unlike London and the surrounding areas, the machines aren't contactless!

Have you been to the Jurassic Coast?

Beki x