Close to Portland

Weymouth
Weymouth is the nearest town to Portland. Weymouth has a fantastic sandy beach and wide promenade. In the town there is a reasonable range of shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants. There is a good fossil shop which also sells lots of beads, bracelets etc.

Dorchester
A quaint market town with a few interesting shops, mostly arranged along the pedestrianised high street. Dorchester has a large market every Wednesday.

Bridport
Again a good range of shops. One of our favourite places for lunch is No.10 cafe bar - their menu is fairly small, but the food is always good. Taking the coastal route (B3157) from Portland takes a bit longer, but the views over Chesil Beach make it worth it.

Lyme Regis
The most westerly town in Dorset - Lyme has been a popular holiday destination since 18th Century. It is famous for it's Cobb harbour which was the setting for the opening scene in the film version of the French Lieutenants's Woman. Around the town, a number of very important fossils have been found including the first ever Ichthyosaur in 1819. If you don't want to hunt for your own, you can buy a souvenir in one of the many fossil shops in town.