A complete guide to Durdle Door

Everyone loves to chase the sun before it sunsets, as its a absolutely perfect picture to capture;  The gateway of the UK also called , an ancient door submerged at sea, under a beautiful blue , pinks and yellows sky

A long pebble and sand beach attached to shore, awaiting for you that don’t want to go back yet, as it wants you to spend time and stay there for sometime.

The sea with open arms wishes you to enjoy your lovely day.

With chalk white cliffs that frame the coast and the sun casting a golden glow,  wouldn’t you also want to see this magnificent sunset view?

White chalk cliffs along the coast that reflects the sunlight which makes the aura so much beautiful, would’t you interested to view the magnificent view of red giant sunset.

KNOW THE HISTORY OF DURDLE DOOR

From the history perspective, this place has very old and long history back dated.  It is  located on Jurassic Coast, estimated to be created around 10,000 years ago when the giant waves hit the shore and completely eroded the long giant white limestone rocks and broke them apart.  Over the period of time the hole took the shape of the door that we see now.  To be honest its like a seahorse trying to kiss the ocean

EXPERIENCE the RED GIANT SUNSET STANDING AT WHITE CLIFFS WATCHING THE MAGNIFICENT WORLD’S MOST ROCK ARCH

When you are looking for a tourist destination, then I believe, its most difficult part of deciding where to go for a trip. London is big city where life is too fast and people don’t have much time to relax. There is much to explore outside London in England.  South of England has AMAZING scenery and Durdle Door is one of them.  It is the best place for a day trip from London and so much to do there with family and friends. From long path to walk, surfing , sun bath at pebble beach, blue clean water etc that attract you to the location.

This pebble beach which is located just behind Durdle Door is called Man O’War.  It is so long, wide beautiful beach with full of pebbles that create the water waves like the ocean trying to hold the fingers and gripping the sea shore.

How to Reach DURDLE DOOR

There are many ways to get to Durdle Door. either you can take public transport or hire a taxi , you will be there in few hours.

Hire a taxi:

If you don’t have personal car then go for a taxi / car hire because there are very limited public transport options. Bus service frequency is extremely low.

Book Bus Tour:

There are many bus tour services operating for Durdle Door . Mostly , tour buses tend to leave approx 4:30PM, so you will not get a chance to view the sunset which I believe you don’t want to.  In my opinion, these tours add dependency on your plan and you may end up sacrificing alot in terms of freedom and , intimacy if you are travelling with your partner – you’ll have to share the space in tour bus with 18 to 20+ other people.

Tour bus will drop you off in the car park which is approximately 10 to 15 minutes walk to the beach.

Public Transport- Train etc

BY TRAIN:

You can get the trains from London Waterloo to Weymouth. Get off the train at Wool as it the nearest railway station to Durdle Door. There are couple of bus services that connect Wool station to West Lulworth and Durdle Door. Bus numbers 15, 30, X55 and X54 take you to West Lulworth and Durdle Door Park. The Bus number 15 operates only on school days. The bus number 30 operates everyday starts from 25 June to 16 September. The bus number X55 and X54 operate everyday from 22 May to 3 September.

Lulworth Cove is about a 20 minute walk from Durdle Door.   Make sure you plan your travel in advance and use Google Maps as it is very useful in locating the bus stops, train stations and the bus numbers you need to hop on.

ARRIVING BY BUS:

There are couple of bus services that connect Wool station to West Lulworth and Durdle Door. Bus numbers 15, 30, X55 and X54 take you to West Lulworth and Durdle Door Park. The Bus number 15 operates only on school days. The bus number 30 operates everyday starts from 25 June to 16 September. The bus number X55 and X54 operate everyday from 22 May to 3 September.

Note:

The site is no wheelchair or stroller friendly pathway so you may face difficulty if you have trouble of walking, particularly the come back to the car park. Therefore, make you arrangement accordingly.

Things to remember when plan your visit

Interested in another beach near London- visit Brighton -The most visited beach near London

• Visit out of season. plan your visit in early april if you don’t like too much crowd. In summer , May and June months, the place is over crowded and you won’t find space to capture the scenic beauty of the area. However, if you love to see crowd then don’t miss summer bright sunny day where you will see lovely and amazing people with family and friends enjoying on the beach
• Stay at sunset.  If you visiting by own car, then stay there until sunset as it is the most beautiful view of Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. You will see the red sunset between the gateway and white rocks spread the amazing light of hope all around the area.
• Stay at night: There are lots of caravan that offering night stay near the beach. It is really an different experience staying overnight and feel the sound of waves midnight watching stars in the sky. Wake up bit early in the morning and watch the sunrise view. You may have to find the best location to view sunrise and sunset. For sunset, go behind the white chalk rocks. For sunrise, you will see the first glimpse of sunrise behind the door and don’t forget the take some shots that you may upload on social networking sites.

Decide what to wear

There are 10 to 15 minutes walk to the beach so be ready to walk. The path is not much difficult but its downhil and uphills. There are some steep steps/ staircases that goes down to the beach. Therefore, it is recommended the wear some good grip footwear / shoes that will help you to walk and make you journey easy.

If you are visiting in winter, then its supper cold and windy so carry warm jacket and warn inner wear. Carry hand gloves and scarf to protect your finger and ears to freeze.

Things to Do in Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove

• A nice long walk the beach
• View the sunset or sunrise – specially for a photographer
• You can go to Man O’War Beach
• Swim and surfing at at the beach – apply to summer months!
• View and visit the white chalk cliffs
• A nice hike to Lulworth Cove
• Try to explore nearby walking trails on the site.  You can find out more at: www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk/
• You can hire a guide from the Heritage Centre in Lulworth Cove.

Don’t DOs

. These white chalk cliffs are looking amazing and beautiful but these are extremely dangerous as these cliffs are highly volatile and unstable. The falls of these white chalk cliffs are very common in the area.

Car Parking and Payment

There are car park payment machine where you can pay for your car park. You can pay by either coin and by card.

You can download their app as well to make the payment online. Paying online through app is easy , cost effective and safe. The price depend upon how long you will stay there. so plan your stay accordingly. If you are paying through app , then you don’t need to come back to car park if you want to extend your car park. You can extend your car park through app from anywhere.

Follow the below guideline to pay for car park.

1. Type in registration plate
2. Choose payment option
3. either coins or card
4. select the number of hours and make payment

For more info, visit https://lulworth.com/visit/plan-your-visit/parking/

Some Useful Information

• Entry to the the site is free
• Car parking is paid depends upon duration of your stay

OPENING HOURS

• The site is open throughout the year
  Carpark timings:
  • April to September: 8am – Midnight
  • October to March: 8am – 4pm

General Facility

• There are toilets for both men and women. There is a disabled toilets at Durdle Door Holiday Park (approx 15 mins walk from the beach, close to the carpark)
• There are no food options at the site, however, you will find some ice cream vans there. There is holiday park so you may find some food option there, better to check the price and quality.
• No restrictions on dogs , however it is recommended to hold the string.
• You are not allowed to camp on the beach due to security reasons , however, there are camp site on holiday site.