Lyme Regis
This intimate seaside town in West Dorset never fails to charm. Whether you want to sit on the beach all day watching the breakers rolling in, wander the superb coastal countryside, or re-enact scenes from The French Lieutenant's Woman as you walk up and down The Cobb, Lyme Regis is a perfect holiday destination!
The location
Lyme Regis is on the western side of Dorset almost on the border with Devon. It's very handy for the southern side of Somerset as well. It's roughly equi-distant between the south-west's major city, Exeter, and the busy towns of Dorchester and Taunton. Tourism is the backbone of Lyme's economy, but there's more than a hint of fishing and farming in the landscape all around. Come out of season and you'll find Lyme a relaxed, sleepy sort of place.
Things to do
Coast and countryside
You're deep in beautiful countryside here and you have the Jurassic
Coast (World Heritage Coastline) to explore too. If walking's your
thing, try a section of the South West Coast Path.
If you're feeling
energetic, why not wander up Golden Cap, which
affords amazing views in
all directions. There are lots of fine inland walks too. Take a look at
Ordnance
Survey Explorer map 116.
Shopping
Lyme Regis is a very small town—so don't expect to find rows and rows of chain stores. There are a couple of small grocery stores, a good book shop, and quite a few tourist shops. That's about it! You can find a large supermarket in nearby Axminster, but try to shop in Lyme's small, independent stores if you possibly can. Honiton, a short drive away, has reputedly the greatest concentration of antiques shops in the whole of England. Sherborne has a nice selection of more individual, independent shops. Fossiling is very popular in Lyme Regis and there's a famous fossil shop in the town selling a huge range of fossil-a-bilia.
Attractions
If you're looking for big family tourist attractions, the safari park at Cricket St Thomas is only a stone's throw to the north. There are also lots of fine historic houses and gardens nearby. The marvellous former monastery at Forde Abbey is not to be missed. There are some fine National Trust properties nearby, including Montacute House, Barrington Court, and Tintinhull, all up towards Yeovil. Lyme bay is a great place to go fishing or scuba diving and you can get boat trips along the coast from the little harbour.
Places to stay
There are some terrific hotels in Lyme. The famous Bay Hotel is literally right on the sea-front, while the Alexandra is a bigger hotel set further back but with stunning sea views. There are plenty of camp sites, B&Bs, guest-houses, and holiday cottages in West Dorset. The official Lyme Regis Tourism website has a good selection. Sea food is the thing to eat if you're heading for Lyme. You'll find plenty of local restaurants offering fish caught nearby.
Getting here
Lyme is easy to get to by car, rail, or bus. You can get here by car via the M5, the A303, the A30, and the A35.
The nearest train station is Axminster,
which is on a (slow but scenic)
mainline from London Waterloo. Direct trains run to Axminster from
Waterloo, Basingstoke, Andover, Salisbury, and Sherborne and they run
on to Exeter and Paignton. You can find a current timetable by
searching for Axminster on the South West Trains Find
your timetable webpage. Once you're at Axminster, you'll need to
catch the First
Group #31 bus from outside
Axminster railway station to get the four of five miles down to Lyme
Regis. You can also get this bus from Weymouth and Dorchester railway station.
Map
Here's a map of Lyme Regis from Google Images. You can use the "Find businesses" tab and search box to find local businesses, places to stay, and so on.
More information
- Lyme Regis Tourism: The official tourist information guide to the town.
- West Dorset: The official tourist information guide to the region.
- Lyme Regis: A good, comprehensive introduction from Wikipedia.
- Lyme Regis: See what images people are posting on Flickr.
- Lyme Regis webcam:
What's happening there right now?
A handy tip
If you're looking for accommodation, it really helps to spell it correctly. Lots of people come to this page looking for things like acomodation and accomodation. At least no-one searches for accomadashun! And while we're correcting spelling, "Lyme Regis" isn't "Lime Regis"!
