Weymouth

Weymouth sits on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, 7 miles south of Dorchester. With 53,416 residents at the 2021 census, it is the third-largest settlement in Dorset after Bournemouth and Poole, and it has a railway station that is the terminus of the line from London Waterloo.

The beach is a gently curving arc of sand with shallow water, and in summer it has donkey rides, Punch and Judy and sand sculptures. King George III began visiting in 1789 and made sea bathing fashionable. The esplanade behind the sand is lined with Georgian terraces, now shops, hotels and guest houses.

The harbour is still a working port with a fishing fleet. Nothe Fort is a coastal defence that served from 1872 to 1956 and is now a museum. Brewers Quay, the former Hope Brewery near the Old Harbour, is being redeveloped as apartments and shops, with Weymouth Museum due to return to it. The museum runs a pop-up in St Thomas Street in the meantime.

Portland is a short drive south. This tied island, 4 miles long, is joined to the mainland by Chesil Beach, an 18 mile shingle bank that runs on to West Bay, and its southern tip carries the Portland Bill lighthouse, about 5 miles from Weymouth. The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy hosted the sailing events of the 2012 Olympic Games.