Great British Dog Walks

Walk distance: 4 miles

Difficulty: Moderate- some steep ascents and descents

Pub stop: Lulworth Cove Inn- extremely dog friendly and friendly to humans too! Great staff and they even gave Murphy some dog biscuits.

Starting point: Lulworth Cove

Download the route map here.

Durdle Door is possibly one of the most photographed and recognised land forms on the English coast line. It’s striking scenery, which started forming over 140 million years ago, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year- in fact approximately 500,000 of them every year and more than 200,000 walkers use the footpath between Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door- making it the busiest in the south west.

We started this walk from our holiday cottage in Lulworth Cove on Main Road, but there is ample parking in Lulworth Cove itself as there is a huge car park- BH20 5RQ.

To start the walk, follow the path that runs adjacent to the road past the houses up Main Road until you can see the Londis shop on the left. Go up this road past the church until you reach a T junction.

Here follow the green footpath sign through a field where you will start a very steep ascent. Please note there are cows in this field and we found them to be a little bit nervous around the dog! I would advise keeping them on a short lead while you pass through this section.

Keep walking up and up until you reach a proper track and a farmhouse at the top. Turn left here and walk all the way down until you reach the main road.

Turn left on to the road. You will need to walk down the road for a very short section until you meet the path and it can be very busy and fast, so take care.

You will then see signs for Durdle Door. Follow these signs down some steps and through woodland, until you reach the car park. Then follow the track down until you can see Durdle Door. Durdle Door beach is dog friendly and has no restrictions, as is Man Of War beach on the other side.

 When you have taken in the sights, join the footpath again climbing back where you have come from, but heading through a gate on the right when you get to the car park. This should be clearly sign posted as the route to Lulworth Cove. Carry on down this track and it will bring you back to the car park.

To refresh, I would highly recommend the Lulworth Cove Inn. It has great quality food and is extremely dog friendly.