Mid Dorset

Weymouth is a large resort town with a wide sandy beach, long promenade and a large range of popular activities. The characterful old harbour offers visitors a wide choice of activities including: fishing trips, speed boat rides, museums, family attractions, shops, pubs and restaurants. It is packed with yachts and lined with attractive, mostly old buildings; it leads inland to reed beds with RSPB bird watching. The pretty villages dotted along this part of the coast are diverse in both landscape and facilities and range from the wild and untamed Ringstead to the elegant and historic Abbotsbury with its famous swannery and sub tropical gardens.

The shore offers many contrasts: the unique Chesil Beach whose shingle bank encloses the Fleet lagoon with the famous Abbotsbury swans at one end and oyster farm at the other; Portland Bill with its quarries, famous lighthouses and harbour (ideal for sailing/windsurfing and the host for the 2012 Olympics). Weymouth's harbour and sandy beach lead finally to open shingle beaches backed by wild cliffs at the tiny settlements of Osmington Mills and Ringstead.

Fortuneswell: Linked to Weymouth via Wyke Regis, Fortuneswell was once an old fishing community with intriguing streets that wind their way up the steep hills of the Island. It has magnificent views that stretch for miles along the Chesil Bank to Lyme Regis and beyond.