Durdle Door – Jurassic Coast, England

Matt and I saw a photo of Durdle Door about a year and a half before departing on our big trip, and it became Matt’s mission to visit this gorgeous, natural site. We rented a car from London for a day and Durdle Door was our major highlight of that day of exploration. This stunning sea arch is part of the Jurassic Coast, which is a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. I love natural bridges and arches, so finding sea arches is always a favorite activity.

QUICK INFO ABOUT DURDLE DOOR

⋙ Visiting Durdle Door itself is free. There is no entrance fee for the hiking trails or the beaches. However, there is a small parking fee if you drive yourself there. The minimum parking fee is £4 for 0-2 hours and a max of £9 for 6+ hours. So, it’s a very affordable way to spend a day or afternoon.

⋙Access to Durdle Door is available all year long. However, the beach access is locked after 10pm. The parking area hours vary depending on the season. April to September it’s open 8am – 10pm. October to March it’s only open from 8am – 4pm.

⋙ At its highest point, Durdle door reaches a massive 200 feet tall.

VISITING DURDLE DOOR

Durdle Door is quite easy to find. You can plug it into Google Maps and the route will take you right there. (We love using Google Maps because you can download the offline maps if you don’t have a SIM card or cell service.) The drive to this area is totally unreal. I had never been to a coastline that was just surrounded by these rolling green fields full of wildflowers. Then, the road just ends and you could see the cliffs and and paths connecting the beaches. It is so unreal. You don’t immediately see Durdle Door from the parking area because it’s outstretched trunk actually comes out from a larger chunk of cliff that you see first. Immediately, you start to see some of the beautiful chalk cliffs and stunning trails that run along the coast. This trail is part of the famous South West Coast Path, a 630-mile coastal path. (This is something I would love to do someday!) If you’re going to do a trail like this, don’t forget to book travel insurance that will help cover an adventure like that should an accident happen!

 
The view of Durdle Door is about a 10-15 minute downhill hike and it’s just absolutely beautiful. Although the name ‘Durdle’ comes from an Old English word for ‘drill or bore‘ to me, it looks a lot like an elephant. Especially from this angle. I later learned that there’s a children’s book that created the myth that it’s a dinosaur that turned to stone. This idea for the story was inspired by the fact that many, many amazing fossils have been found along here. In fact, they even made several species discoveries here! You can read more about the fossils and findings of the Jurassic Coast on the trust’s website.

There are several beautiful beaches to enjoy in this area as well. Unfortunately we had to return our rental car to London, so we had a limited amount of time. But we were totally blown away by all the different types of beauty we found here on our short visit. From chalk cliffs, to a massive sea arch to turquoise waters we found ourselves in love with Dorset and looking forward to the next time we find ourselves in Dorset.

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