London to Jurassic Coast to Bath and back

As its first trip out of the US I’ll presume you’ve not driven on the opposite side of the road. Personally I’ve never found it difficult but many do.

On one of my UK trips I arrived from an overnight flight LAX to Heathrow, (slept for 5 hours on the flight) picked up my rental and drove to Lyme Regis. Took nearly 4 hours and as it was a November trip had to deal with it getting dark by 4pm. Trying to locate my AirBnb was trying.

I think you’d be smart to train to Bath from London and pick up you car rental in Bath. I’d enjoy an overnight in London,( stay near Paddington Station ) and board earliest train to Bath from there.

My stay in Lyme Regis was dictated by wanting to explore the Jurassic Coast. Liked Lyme Regis. Its hilly and the Strand is a great lengthy beach walk.
Also, as a fan of Broadchurch, drove to West Bay .

The AirBnB I stayed at is no longer available or I’d share contact intel.

The most stunning part of the Jurassic Coast - in my opinion - is Lulworth Cove and Durdle Dor - walk between the 2. Click this link to see Google Map.

If you click this link - you will see the buses that run in the area. Click ‘Jurassic Coaster’ for a map. The small town of WOOL has mainline trains from London (Waterloo) so could possibly find accommodation there or in Dorchester or in the seaside town of Weymouth or even in the village at Lulworth Cove.

Direct trains go from Weymouth and Dorchester West to Bath. So, it is possible to go from London Victoria down to Dorset (Jurassic Coast) and then up to Bath and then back to London (Paddington) all by public transport. However, a car would be useful when ‘out west’ but I suggest you zoom down on Google Maps and go to street view to get an idea of what the roads are like. (Some of them are pretty awful - especially trying to get to Wells & Glastonbury).

Pre book the longer train journeys to get the cheapest specific train Advance tickets around 11 weeks out.
https://www.southwesternrailway.com (London Waterloo to Dorset).
https://www.gwr.com (Weymouth or Dorchester West to Bath and Bath to London Paddington).

Thank you. So start in Bath and return there to train back. Also fan of Broadchurch, but thinking of staying initially in Lulworth or Wareham to see Durdle Door. Lyme Regis looks amazing too and is closer to Bath so will rethink my start and finish.

James - thank you so much! Yes that is exactly what I want to see. I appreciate all the links! Was initially considering a stay in Lulworth but Dorchester appears central to the coast so that would work too. Sounds like ‘train more’ is a smarter option. Thank you!!

The cliffs at Lulworth Cove - Durdle Dor are white = chalk (with some limestone). Broadchurch was filmed further west where the cliffs are brown sandstone. I think you will find these are Seatown & Charmouth. Between these two villages is Golden Cap = highest sea cliff on the south coast. I once climbed to the top and had fantastic views and fortunately a little road took me half way up rather than starting down at sea level.

Dorchester would make a good central base for seeing both the white cliffs to the east and the brown ones to the west. Note that trains from London Waterloo arrive at Dorchester South whilst the direct line (slow with many stops but lovely countryside) up to Bath goes from Dorchester West. Both stations are a short walk apart. Also note that Lyme regis is not nearer to Bath than Dorchester and does not have the direct train connection. If you were to travel by train direct from London (Waterloo) to Lyme Regis - the nearest station is Axminster and I can’t find a bus link for the 4 or so miles. (This is a completely different line to the one to Wareham/ Wool/ Dorchester & Weymouth).

The Premier Inn in Dorchester lies between the two stations so is an easy walk with baggage.
https://www.visit-dorset.com/explore/areas-to-visit/dorchester/
You could easily take the train for the short ride from Dorchester down to Weymouth.
You may find Poundbury - on the western side of Dorchester of interest.

Don't miss Chesil Beach and Isle of Portland. Corfe with its ruined castle is rather nice too!

Thank you again. So many wonderful options. Where we are in London is close to Waterloo Station so maybe we go to Dorchester South . I’ll check out Premier Inn! Thank you. So excited 😆

The Cerne Abbas Giant is also excited to hear that you are visiting Dorset. (Cerne Abbas is a village few miles north of Dorchester and the giant is an ancient figure carved into the chalk hillside.) .https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/cerne-giant

It is on South West Coaches bus route 5 (Dorchester to Yeovil). The service is rather infrequent so not sure if it is worth the bother. https://www.southwestcoaches.co.uk/Bus-Timetables

Too funny, we’re definitely going there and Corfe castle. Thanks for all the recs

The giant is best viewed from the lay-by on the main road just north of the village. You could ask the bus (if you use the bus) driver to drop you off at the best place. About 2 miles further up the valley is Minterne Gardens - but do not walk it as the road is very dangerous for pedestrians with no sidewalk (pavement). I also liked Abbotsbury sub-tropical gardens which are SW of Dorchester but not sure how you would reach it with public transport. I am not keen on Glastonbury and it is not easy to reach.
https://minterne.co.uk/gardens/
https://abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk/gardens/

PS. I visited both gardens on 2 June and they were really good at that time of year.

The bus from Axminster Rail Station to Lyme Regis is the X51 and X53 run by First Bus. It runs hourly and is a through bus from Weymouth to Axminster.
This is the link to the East Devon timetable book- https://www.devonbustimetables.info/current/east_devon/