Date: Saturday 24th August 2013
Route: Circular Walk from Durlston Country Park into Swanage and back
Distance: 4.25 miles
After a night of loud music and psychedelic light shows (Hawkwind in Bournemouth!), the perfect recovery walk turned out to be an occasionally steep but beautiful wander around the hillsides and town centre of Swanage in South Dorset, taken from the AA's 1001 Walks in Britain.
The walk starts and ends at Durlston Country Park, which is signposted multiple times from Swanage town centre and has at its heart a fantastically restored castle, with great views out to sea and multiple tea and cake purchasing opportunities.
The walk starts along the coastal path, passing the Tilly Whim caves - old limestone quarries that used to be a tourist attraction until the landslides started! The path climbs past a lighthouse and over the hillside of Round Down, through an area of fields and butterflies and onward towards the distant Purbeck Hills and chalk cliffs before reaching the road into Swanage.
The centre of the town boasts plenty of shops, places to eat chips or local seafood, a pier, a Heritage Centre, which you pass on your way towards the harbour and, not surprisingly, all kinds of boats. The coastal path leads to Peveril Point and the coastguard station before circling back to Durlston Head, passing over hillsides, alongside imposing Victorian villas and through woodland, with an optional detour to see a much-heralded "large globe", before returning to the Castle.
If you haven't been to Swanage before, this is a really good way to get a sense of the place, blow a few cobwebs away and get a strong dose of sea air and fantastic views.
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