Swanage Beach to Durlston Castle (3.6mi)
Ivy Cottage bus stop – Swanage town centre – The Downs – Durlston Castle – The Downs – Swanage town centre – Swanage railway station
Page published: 9 September 2023 Page modified: 7 June 2024
My friend Kevin made a surprise visit to Bournemouth and as he knows about Walks & Pubs and also likes to walk, we decided to take the bus to Swanage.
After spending some time at Swanage Beach, we started our walk, and we couldn’t have wished for better weather. We even got a bit sunburnt which you might be able to see in the pictures. This time, I didn’t produce a video, but I hope that you like the photos we took instead.



Town centre and The Downs
From the Ivy Cottage bus stop, we went to Swanage town centre and stopped there to have some fish and chips. Many visitors to the British seaside regard this as mandatory!
Our walk partially took us over the South West Coast Path and after we had passed Swanage Pier, we went up ‘The Downs’ and made our way to Durlston Castle.






A scenic walk
I was totally stunned by this scenic walk so close to the beach where we started. The combination of forests right at the edge of the cliffs, beautiful views across the sea with its rugged coast and the warm weather on this day felt like a visit to a tropical island!



Durlston Castle
Durlston Castle has a nice café with beautiful views across the sea, a souvenir shop, a gallery, and of course The Great Globe, constructed in 1887, weighing 40 tons, measuring 10 feet in diameter, and showing a map of the world as it was viewed in Britain at that time.






Return on foot and by bus
We then made our way back to Swanage to catch the bus back to Bournemouth. This journey didn’t feature a pub as time was limited, so we brought our own drinks. I have seen many nice-looking pubs though and plan to visit one or more at a later point. Thanks to Kevin for having the great idea for this walk and for letting me use some of the pictures he took.

