Day 3 saw us spending the morning exploring Corfe Castle itself, and trying out some of their delicious coffee shops. Perched high on a natural grassy mound, we walked the ruins of this impressive castle that was largely destroyed in 1646. From up there, we also got a different perspective of the steam train crossing the viaduct below. A lot of the castle is undergoing a £2 million conservation project to stabilise the ruins, which unfortunately means scaffolding and red plastic fencing.. but that doesn’t take away the experience of exploring one of England’s most iconic castle ruins.
We chose ‘By the Castle’ for a coffee and cake stop after admiring the treats every time we walked past. Luckily, it wasn’t just style over substance—the cake was genuinely delicious. And of course, it had to be paired with a flat white.
You can’t visit Dorset without stopping at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove—and that’s exactly how we spent the next few hours. We started at Durdle Door and arrived at the same time as a huge coach load of German tourists. We quickly hurried past them (as they would definitely ruin Momma’s photos), only to discover that access to the beach is currently closed due to storm damage to the steps. So, it was cliff-top views only—but it did mean photos with nobody on the beach. Every cloud!
We headed over to Man O’ War Beach on the opposite side of the headland, as access there is still open. Obviously, everyone else had the same idea, so what’s usually a quieter neighbour to Durdle Door was a little busier than normal. That said, it was still a great spot to watch the waves roll over the pebbles and crash into the rocks.
A word of warning—the walk back up to the car park is a seriously sweaty one. It’s a deceptively steep climb and much harder work than it looks!
After a slight overpayment (by £7.50 😭) at the car park because I read it wrong, we headed over to Lulworth Cove, which for a weekday was surprisingly busy (bloody tourists!) We walked up the hill for a panoramic view of the cove, before heading to the pub for Santa to enjoy another Butcombe, and sharing bowl of patatas bravas.
We decided to finish the day at the beach, but after putting the wrong car park into Maps, we ended up at Ringstead Bay instead of Ringstead Beach. Luckily, it turned out to be a happy accident, as this ended up being one of our favourite walks of the trip.
The walk down to the beach was about a mile, with gorgeous coastal views the whole way—and when we arrived, we had the beach completely to ourselves.
On the way back, we passed St Catherine by the Sea Church, a small, picturesque chapel perched on the clifftops overlooking the bay. It has a tiny graveyard for local residents and those lost at sea – which we thought was interesting criteria!
The final stretch took us past some of the cutest sheep, just as the weather started to close in.
Santa’s Sesh 🎅🏻 Origin IPA – 4.3% from the DBC Brewery – The Greyhound Inn, Corfe Castle
The Travelling Ginger 