Lyme Regis to West Bay

(Our overall day number 57 - Part of The KC3 ECP Leg 10b11a - Dawlish to Abbotsbury)

Lyme Regis to West Bay

22nd May 2024 | Miles 10.3 | Elevation gain 2788ft

Just over 10 miles from Lyme Regis to West Bay. The first three miles to Charmouth follow a relatively permanent diversion inland to avoid the coastal erosion, and from there it's a climb up and down a couple of steep hills before ascending to the highest point on the Dorset coast path at Golden Cap. It's around a mile down to Seatown, and then another testing climb up to Thorncombe Beacon, back down to Eype Beach, and then a final short hop to West Bay.
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Getting there and back
We parked at the East Beach car park in West Bay and caught the X53 Jurassic Coaster bus back to Lyme Regis
Weather conditions
Not so good today. Threatened rain all day and made some thundery sounds. We pretty much escaped until almost done - we were hit by a storm in Eype Beach and once again finished the day rather wet!
Walking difficulty
Moderate, borderline difficult - a lot of elevation, but maybe not quite as steep and often as previous stretches on this trip

The story of our day in photos

Heading out of Lyme Regis - you can no longer walk along the beach here, and there is a diversion round to Charmouth
At the time of our visit, the path diversion wasn't very well marked - even this signpost seemed to point to somewhere without a path!
Heading down into Charmouth to rejoin the coast line
The weather turned
Looking at Golden Cap - highest point on the Dorset section of the path
Taking a break before tackling Golden Cap
Looking back towards Charmouth and Lyme Regis
Looking down from Golden Cap to Seatown
Golden Cap
Cows on our path - pass with care!
Looking back at Golden Cap, Seatown is in the foreground
Heading up to Thorncombe Beacon
And down - towards Eype
Sheltering from a heavy downpour at Eype
Water draining down the steps to the beach ⛈️
Coming into West Bay
The harbour at West Bay
Useful links
The Riviera Hotel, Sidmouth
Delightful location on the front on a sunny Friday late afternoon, for a glass of rose overlooking the sea
The Anchor Inn, Sidmouth
Pre-dinner pint here on Friday, in the nice beer garden, which allows dogs - unlike inside
The Loft, Sidmouth
Family run restaurant, open Thurs to Sat for dinner - offers an range of food types, we had the hake
Deli On The Strand, Exmouth
We had a pre-walk bacon roll and flat white here, after arriving in Exmouth on the bus on our first day walking
Dukes Inn, Sidmouth
We visited Dukes a few times! A welcome stop at the end of the first day from Exmouth to Sidmouth, and then dinner here a few nights later was excellent - very friendly people.
Myca's Seafood Restaurant, Sidmouth
We had dinner here on Saturday night - all the seafood looked lovely, but it wasn't cheap. The oysters and scallops were delicious, but they cooked the tuna steaks a little too much for our liking.
Sea Shanty Beach Cafe, Branscombe
This is a place to stop at, not just because it's a nice cafe that serves ice creams, but it also comes after six very tough miles from Sidmouth, with four to go to Seaton!
The Vault Bar, Seaton
Right by the bus stop back to Sidmouth, perfect for a drink-while-you-wait
The Bell Cliff Restaurant & Tea Rooms, Lyme Regis
Great sandwich lunch here overlooking the water, after completing our walk from Seaton. Sadly not open evenings since the pandemic.
The Marine, Sidmouth
We had a pint here after getting the bus back from Seaton, at the end of our tough day walking. Nice in the sunshine.
The Swan Inn, Sidmouth
We had dinner here on Sunday evening - decent pub food, we had the curry and the haddock
Teign Bean coffee shop, Teignmouth
There's a few of these in the area - including at Starcross Car Park. We had a coffee from the one on the front at Teignmouth, while we got our passport stamped at the coastguard station.
Spoken, Exmouth
We had a quick lunch here in the square in Exmouth - lovely outside eating area and the tapas were good too!
The Victoria Hotel, Sidmouth
Posh hotel, a few yards up a little hill from the front - as far as we could see it was the only terrace in town that kept the sun long enough for a glass of rose
Neil's Restaurant, Sidmouth
Mainly seafood - this was our favourite eatery in this trip - they do a fixed price two or three course menu, and we had some very special seafood
Hive Beach Cafe
On the beach at Burton Bradstock, en route from West Bay to Abbotsbury - followed by a lot of shingle so best to get well refreshed here!
Graze & Olive cocktail bar, Sidmouth
We had a couple of final night pre-dinner celebratory cocktails here
The Pea Green Boat
Fine dining overlooking Lyme Bay, a venue for our final night