September 24, 2026
The two most photographed places on the Jurassic Coast sit barely a mile and a half apart, and most visitors try to squeeze both into one day. The real question isn't which view is better — it's which walk suits your legs, your car and your patience for crowds. Here's how the two compare once you're actually standing in the car park.
The two walks at a glance
- Lulworth Cove — five to ten minutes on a mostly level path from a large car park to a sheltered, near-circular cove. Cafes, toilets and a visitor centre at the start.
- Durdle Door — a steep, stepped descent to a shingle beach under the arch, or roughly a mile and a half of coast path if you walk from Lulworth Cove. No facilities at the arch itself.
- The link walk — the South West Coast Path between them, with two proper climbs and wide clifftop views the whole way.
Lulworth Cove: the easy, sociable option
Lulworth Cove is the one you can do in flip-flops and still feel like you've had a day out. From the main pay-and-display car park in West Lulworth, a tarmac path drops gently past the visitor centre and the village pub, and within a few minutes you're looking down into a almost perfectly round bay with a narrow gap to the sea. The geology is the reason it exists — soft clays behind a hard limestone wall have been eroded away, leaving a natural harbour that shelters swimmers on days when the open coast is choppy.
The last stretch to the water is a slope down onto pebbles and a slipway, which turns slick after rain and is worth taking slowly. Once you're there, the beach shelves quickly, so small children need watching. The upside is everything else: somewhere to buy an ice cream, a loo, a bench to sit on while the rest of the group paddles.
Don't miss Stair Hole
Five minutes west along the coast path brings you to Stair Hole, a collapsed cave with folded rock layers that looks like the cove did thousands of years ago. It's a short, easy add-on and far quieter than the cove itself, because most people never bother walking past the car park.
Durdle Door: short, steep and genuinely spectacular
The arch is everything it's cracked up to be, and the approach is where people come unstuck. From the car park at the top of the hill, a path leads down towards the coast. The clifftop viewpoint above the arch is reachable without steps, though the surface is uneven and slopes in places, so it's a slow push for a wheelchair or a buggy and hard work in wet weather.
The beach is a different matter. Getting down to the shingle means a long flight of steps — well over a hundred of them, cut into a steep bank with sections that feel steeper than they look from above. There's no lift, no ramp and no shortcut. Coming back up is the part that catches people out, particularly on a hot afternoon with a rucksack.
Down on the beach, the shingle is coarse and shelves steeply into the water, and there are no lifeguards. Treat it as a place to look, photograph and paddle rather than a swimming spot.
Walking between the two
If you have the time, the coast path between Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door is the best of both. Allow forty minutes to an hour each way at a relaxed pace. The route climbs over the ridge above St Oswald's Bay, drops, climbs again, and then delivers you to the top of the steps with the arch framed below.
A few things worth knowing:
- The path is exposed. There is almost no shade and the wind can be strong even on a warm day.
- Ground is firm and dusty in summer, greasy and muddy between October and March.
- Sheep and cattle graze the clifftop fields for much of the year, so keep dogs close and under control.
- There are no bins, benches or taps between the two, so carry water and take litter back to the village.
Most people walk it out and back. In summer, seasonal open-top buses run along this stretch of coast, which lets you walk one way and ride the other — check times before you set off, because the last one goes earlier than you'd expect.
Parking and crowds
Both car parks are pay-and-display and both fill up. Lulworth Cove's is larger and has overflow space nearby, so you'll usually find something even on a busy Bank Holiday, though you may queue to get in. Durdle Door's is smaller, sits at the end of a narrow lane, and is often full and shut to new arrivals by mid-morning on a sunny summer weekend. Stewards turn cars around at the entrance.
The reliable strategy for either is the same: arrive before ten, or come after four when the day-trippers are leaving. Midweek outside school holidays is transformed — you can have the clifftop above the arch almost to yourself in May or September. If you only have one day and want to see both, park once at Lulworth Cove and walk; you'll skip the worst of the traffic and the second car park fee.
Which one is right for you?
- Choose Lulworth Cove if you're short on time, walking with young children or grandparents, want facilities close by, or the weather is marginal and you'd rather be near shelter.
- Choose Durdle Door if you're reasonably steady on your feet, don't mind steps, and want the photograph and the quieter beach at the bottom.
- Do both if you've got three or four hours, decent shoes and a reasonable level of fitness. Walk from Lulworth Cove to the arch, have a look from the top, decide whether the steps are for you, and come back along the cliff.
Before you go
Wear shoes with grip — trainers at minimum, not sandals, for anything involving the steps or the coast path. Take more water than you think you need and a windproof layer, whatever the forecast says. Mobile signal is patchy along the cliffs. If you plan to continue west past Lulworth Cove towards Kimmeridge, check whether the army ranges are open, as red flags and closures affect those paths on firing days. And if you're swimming anywhere on this coast, remember there are no lifeguards and the currents offshore can be strong; know your limits and stay shallow.
Whichever you pick, go early, go slowly on the descents, and give yourself time to sit and look rather than tick off the photo and leave.
Photo: Pixabay / Pexels
