Every real attraction from Weymouth to Portland, Abbotsbury and Dorchester, each checked on its own website. If it closed years ago, it is not here.
Showing 40 of 40. Every one checked on its own website.
Barrack Road, on the headland above the harbour
Victorian sea fort with tunnels, gun decks and the best view over the bay. Ramparts are largely covered, so it holds up in poor weather.
Lodmoor, next to the country park
Aquarium and adventure park, nearly all under cover. Book ahead, it is noticeably cheaper than paying on the gate.
The Esplanade, at the harbour end
Theatre, comedy and, since February 2025, films on an eleven metre screen. It became the town's only cinema when Cineworld shut.
Boards at the steps near Weymouth Pavilion
Sightseeing along the bay towards Bowleaze Cove, Osmington, Ringstead and Red Cliff Point. They are clear that they do not reach Durdle Door from Weymouth.
Pontoon beneath the RNLI shop, Cove Row
Twelve seat catamaran doing Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour in an hour and a half, plus Jurassic Coast and Durdle Door runs.
Weymouth Harbour
A 250 seat vessel running themed cruises, and one of the few operators that keeps going through autumn and winter. Breakfast, cream tea, wildlife, sunset and fish and chip trips.
Town centre, behind the Swannery car park
A proper nature reserve in the middle of town. Flat, step free paths and free to everyone. The Discovery Centre has toilets and a cafe.
Lodmoor, by the Sea Life car park
Three signposted trails and a viewing screen. No visitor centre, no toilets and no staff on site, enquiries go to Radipole.
39b St Thomas Street, opposite Tesco near the Town Bridge
Currently a pop up while a permanent home is built at Brewers Quay. Small, free and run by volunteers. Check the day, the hours change through the week.
The Esplanade
Three miles of sand, shallow and sheltered. Flies the Seaside Award. It lost its Blue Flag in 2025 when bathing water dropped from Excellent to Good, which is worth knowing because most sites still say Blue Flag.
Easton, Portland, about twenty minutes drive
Portland stone, shipwrecks and island history, in a pair of thatched cottages. Worth the drive on a wet afternoon.
Portland Beach Road, at the Chesil end
Dorset Wildlife Trust centre looking out over the Fleet and Chesil Beach. Open every day of the year, which very little round here is.
Lodmoor Country Park, Preston Beach Road
Indoor and outdoor sand sculpture park where professional carvers build huge themed sculptures each season, with have a go carving for visitors. A ticket is valid on any day until the season ends.
Preston Beach Road, behind Preston Beach
Big seafront country park that holds Sandworld, the pirate mini golf, SEA LIFE and the RSPB reserve, plus open green space and a play area. Free parkruns on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Bowleaze Coveway, Preston, overlooking Bowleaze Cove
Weymouth's biggest funfair, the old Fantasy Island, with outdoor rides for all ages, a ghost train, a big arcade, indoor soft play and a bar and grill above the cove. One wristband covers the rides and soft play.
Next to SEA LIFE at Lodmoor Country Park
Eighteen holes of pirate themed adventure golf run by SEA LIFE, with themed obstacles and pirate facts along the way. Separate ticket from the aquarium, and booking a tee time online is the way in.
68 St Thomas Street, a short walk from the harbour
Glow in the dark indoor mini golf that opened in autumn 2025, with two twelve hole UV courses, one animals, one dinosaurs, each ending in a ball pit with a slide. Most visits take an hour or so, book ahead at weekends and in school holidays.
Boards on the Esplanade opposite the M&S Foodhall
Road train on a half hour loop from the seafront around the harbour, with a hop off stop at Hope Square for the Nothe Fort and gardens. Runs every half hour from 10am, weather permitting.
The Three Chimneys, 143 to 145 The Esplanade
Escape rooms on the seafront with four themed games including two prison breaks, a bomb to defuse and a Jurassic dinosaur room. Book online before you go.
Knightsdale Road, run by Everyone Active
The town's public pool, with a 25 metre six lane main pool, a teaching pool and a gym. Anyone can swim pay as you go with a free Everyone Active card, check the timetable for public swim times.
Hotel Rembrandt, 12 to 18 Dorchester Road
Hotel pool and spa that is open to the public, no booking needed: heated indoor pool, spa bath, sauna, steam room and gym. Pay as you go, card only, with blocks of ten cheaper.
Between the town centre and the Nothe, along Custom House Quay and Trinity Road
The historic working harbour, lined with colourful old buildings, fishing boats, pubs and restaurants. Where the boat trips leave from, the best crabbing spot in town, and the Town Bridge lifts to let the yachts through.
Old Castle Road, Wyke Regis, off the Rodwell Trail
Green Flag gardens around the ruin of Henry VIII's Sandsfoot Castle, with flower beds, a pond and a cafe looking over Portland Harbour. The castle ruin itself and its footbridge are closed for safety, so you admire it from the gardens.
Greenhill, at the northern end of the Esplanade
Award winning seafront gardens with an eighteen hole putting green and tennis in season, a floral clock, a bowling green and two cafes. A lovely free stop between the beach and Lodmoor.
3 Trinity Street, by the Old Harbour
An early 1600s harbourside merchant's house furnished in period style and shown round by volunteer guides. One of the oldest buildings in Weymouth, open Fridays and Sundays through the season, free with donations welcome.
Lorton Lane, on the northern edge of town
Seventy five hectares of Dorset Wildlife Trust meadows, hedgerows and woodland with marked trails and nine ponds. Barn owls, orchids, butterflies and dragonflies, free and open at all times. Dogs on leads, and it gets muddy.
13A Custom House Quay, above the Harbour Master's office
New harbourside soft play built just for babies, toddlers and under fives, in ninety minute sessions. Opens 26 September 2026, with free entry on the launch day.
Putton Lane, Chickerell, two miles west of town
Eight acres of lakes holding national collections of water lilies, with a Monet style Japanese bridge, a tropical house, woodland walks and Cafe Monet. At its best in high summer when the lilies are out. Closed Saturdays, no dogs.
New Barn Road, Abbotsbury, on the Fleet lagoon behind Chesil Beach
The only place in the world where you can walk through the middle of a colony of nesting mute swans, kept here for over six hundred years. Mass feeding twice a day and cygnets everywhere in early summer.
Bullers Way, Abbotsbury, in a sheltered valley near Chesil Beach
Twenty acres of woodland and walled gardens started in 1765, full of rare and exotic plants that thrive in the valley's warm microclimate. Paths wind up to a viewpoint over the Jurassic Coast. Dogs welcome on short leads.
Liberty Road, Castletown, beside Portland Harbour
One of Henry VIII's best preserved coastal forts, built in the 1540s to guard the harbour and now run by English Heritage. Gun platforms, a Tudor kitchen and views right across Portland Harbour.
Portland Bill, the southern tip of the island
The famous red and white striped working lighthouse at the end of Portland, with a Trinity House visitor centre and guided tours up the tower. Children need to be over 1.1 metres for the climb, and tours can close at short notice, so ring ahead.
Tradecroft, off Wide Street, at the top of Portland
A forty acre disused stone quarry turned open air sculpture park and nature reserve, with dozens of carvings hidden among the gullies, including an Antony Gormley. Free to wander, rough underfoot, brilliant.
Sweet Hill Lane, at the top of Portland, with sea views
A volunteer run community farm where children can meet the animals, including the only flock of rare breed Portland sheep on Portland itself. Soft play, a cafe and rare plants on the wild side of the site.
Below Rufus Castle on the east side of Portland, down steps from the coast path
A secluded pebble cove on Portland's sheltered side, reached down steps past the ruins of Rufus Castle. Reputedly where the Vikings first landed in Britain, now a favourite for swimming and snorkelling. No facilities and no lifeguards.
The great pebble bank from Portland to West Bay, easiest reached at Chesil Cove or the boardwalk by the Wild Chesil Centre
Eighteen miles of graded pebbles sheltering the Fleet lagoon, part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and one of the finest barrier beaches in the world. The sea side shelves steeply with a strong undertow, so paddle with respect.
Admiralty Buildings, Castletown, opposite Portland Castle
Immersive D-Day museum on the quay the American forces sailed from for Omaha Beach in 1944, packed with vehicles, aircraft, weapons and full scale wartime sets. Daily in high summer, Thursday to Sunday the rest of the season.
The National Sailing Academy, Osprey Quay, Portland
Charity run watersports centre at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue: sailing courses, kayaking, paddleboarding, taster sessions and holiday clubs for ages five to adult, with subsidised places and kit for disabled sailors.
The National Sailing Academy, Osprey Quay, Portland
Windsurfing, wing foiling, paddleboarding and e-foiling school on Portland Harbour's flat water, with lessons and kit hire booked direct. The pro shop knows its stuff.
The hillside above Osmington, seen from the A353 and the seafront
A chalk figure of King George III on horseback, cut into the hill in 1808 to thank the king for putting Weymouth on the map. The only hill figure in Britain with a rider. You look at it, not walk on it.