Durdle Door, Dorset - Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site

Durdle Door is one of the Jurassic Coast’s most iconic landscapes. It is a natural arch, formed from a layer of hard limestone standing almost vertically out of the sea.

How to Get There

Durdle Door is best accessed by car, or by the X55 bus which connects this stretch of coastline to Weymouth, The Tank Museum at Bovington, and Wool train station.

For further information, visit our Travel page.

Durdle Door from the sea. © Steve Belasco - jurassicphotographic.com

Where to Stay

We recommend staying at Durdle Door Holiday Park, located within easy walking distance of the coastline.

There’s also nearby Swanage Coastal Park or Sandyholme Holiday Park, or you can book a cottage in the area with holidaycottages.co.uk or Dorset Hideaways.

For a comprehensive list of local options, visit our Accommodation page.

Durdle Door. © Lulworth Estate

Things to Do

Lulworth Estate Bike Trail. © Lulworth Estate

Visitor Centre

Pay a visit to the nearby Lulworth Cove Visitor Centre, where you can learn more about Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove, two of the most iconic geological features on the Jurassic Coast.

Lulworth Cove Visitor Centre. © Lulworth Estate

Outdoor Activities

Lulworth Outdoors, based at Lulworth Cove Visitor Centre, offers coasteering, mountain biking and other outdoor pursuits.

Coasteering at Lulworth Cove with Lulworth Outdoors.

Walking

Walking the South West Coast Path at Durdle Door offers spectacular views across the Jurassic Coast. We recommend an Ordnance Survey map to accompany a day’s walking.

Walking the coast path to the east of Durdle Door brings you to the famous Lulworth Cove and Stair Hole. Further afield are the incredible geological formations of Worbarrow Bay and the eerie abandoned village of Tyneham. To the west are the coastal hamlets of Osmington Mills and Ringstead.

Bat Head as seen from Durdle Door.

School Groups

Lulworth Cove Visitor Centre is available for education groups, and field sessions with the Lulworth Education Service rangers can be booked.

Car Parking and Facilities

Parking is available directly above Durdle Door. For the latest parking information and costs, visit Lulworth Estate’s website.

Durdle Door is also one of the Jurassic Coast’s dog-friendly beaches and can be enjoyed with your four-legged friend.

Need to Know: How Was Durdle Door Formed?

Around 25 million years ago the African tectonic plate collided with the European plate. The huge pressures generated heaved and folded rocks to create the mountain chain we know as the Alps.

Ripples from that collision spread north through the Earth’s crust and gently folded the rocks here, in what would become south Dorset and Purbeck.