![](https://images.suitcasemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/10155922/a-pocket-guide-to-lyme-regis-dorset_6534135f0e69c.jpeg)
hotel
Lyme Regis is the Pearl of the Jurassic Coast. It’s the UK’s fossil capital. Beyond its crumbling cliffs and sandy beaches, a small hub of design-forward B&Bs, independent shops and sea-to-fork restaurants make this a great destination for urbanites in need of a long-weekend hit of salty-fresh, small-town coastal charm.
01 October, 2020
This pocket-sized town was thrust onto the world stage in 1814 when a young Mary Anning discovered the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton on its shores and became the poster child of palaeontology. Fast forward a couple of centuries and the so-called "Pearl of the Jurassic Coast" hits the headlines again courtesy of 2020 biopic, Ammonite, starring Kate Winslet (as Anning) and Saoirse Ronan.
These aren't Lyme's only flutters with fame. In 1685, the Monmouth Rebellion that attempted to overthrow James II began here. More 100 years later, Jane Austen's Persuasion describes Louisa Musgrove falling from The Cobb. In the 60s, John Fowles used the town as the setting for The French Lieutenant's Woman, later adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep.
Yet for all its stardom, Lyme's vinegar-tinged coastal charm remains uneroded. In Lyme Bay, the 13th-century Cobb arcs out into the English Channel. Battenburg-coloured townhouses and Regency villas are framed by beach huts, shingle shores and limestone cliffs that crumble to reveal fossilised shells and scattered bones of prehistoric creatures. Community life revolves around a calendar packed with knees-ups: a fossil festival and Jazz Jurassica in spring; morris dancing and water polo in the sea come summer.
Beyond the bustling harbour, independent cafés and shops hug Broad Street, the quiet thoroughfare that draws the town inland. Until 2020, chef Mark Hix's eponymous townhouse and restaurant were the London-export headline grabbers for visitors here, but since their closure, other design-forward boltholes and sea-to-fork eateries have quickly assumed their place in the limelight.
A three-hour drive from London (or two hours and 40 minutes by train to Axminster railway station, followed by a 15-minute cab ride), Lyme Regis is prime territory for a long-weekend break or a pit-stop on a Jurassic Coast road trip - Lulworth Cove, Chesil Beach, The Undercliff nature reserve, Charmouth and Beer are all worthy additions to any itinerary.
Fuelled by pints of cold-water prawns, we've scoured East Cliff Beach for ammonite, sifted through coastal knick-knacks on the high street and washed down Dorset knobs - the local biscuit of choice - with local mead to bring you the best of Lyme Regis. Dive in.
hotel
hotel
This image is on holiday
hotel
hotel
hotel