Sidmouth to Ferry Bridge via Portland Bill

The most memorable feature of this lovely section of the South West Coast Path in east Devon and west Dorset was its variety - we essentially had something different each day, from high cliffs with descents to deep river valleys, to the Axmouth-Lyme Regis Undercliffs, to diversions around landslips followed by an ascent to the highest point on the south coast of England, to a high level ridge walk and a descent to the ancient village of Abbotsbury, to a meander around The Fleet, and finally to a circumnavigation of the Isle of Portland, staying close to Portland Bill lighthouse at its southern point.

After a dismal first few months of 2013, we were incredibly lucky with the weather - it wasn't warm, but we didn't get wet at all, and the spring flowers and green shoots were trying their best.

The bad weather earlier in the year had left the path in a fragile state, with many landslips. We found the route closed in several places, always with good diversions in place. The work that goes into keeping the path open is truly impressive and some of the diversions (in particular through the Tout Quarry on the Isle of Portland) were interesting in their own right.

We had squeezed this holiday in between work commitments (which made it even more memorable) so on the first day, as well as travelling to Sidmouth, we walked around 6.5 miles, and similarly on the final day we walked about 7 miles before travelling home. Walking on travelling days meant that it would have been tricky to have our luggage collected and returned, so we decided to carry our own stuff. This didn't cause any problems and it meant that we travelled rather lighter than has become the norm for our spring holidays on the South West Coast Path, which was liberating.

We booked the accommodation ourselves and it was all very good. On occasion, in particular at Branscombe and Lyme Regis, we had to go inland to find somewhere to stay (we had difficulty getting a single night booking in Lyme Regis, so went inland to Uplyme). On both occasions and as we have found before, slightly inland of the coast path you discover delightful countryside and pretty villages. The coast is pretty too of course, but if you only walk on the coast path, you miss some gems. Between West Bexington and Osmington Mills there is an alternative inland route. We wouldn't have wanted to follow this all the way, because in doing so we'd have omitted the Isle of Portland. However, we followed the inland route from West Bexington to Abbotsbury and we would recommend others to consider this option as an alternative to walking behind Chesil Bank.

We carried the South West Coast Path Association's Guide (and checked closures and diversions on their website) and the Aurum Guide to the path from Exmouth to Poole, by Roland Tarr. However, as always, our main guide was 1:25000 OS maps - on this occasion Explorer sheets 115, 116 and OL15. In addition to the diversions caused by landslips, the path has been slightly re-routed around the Isle of Portland (I would guess in conjunction with modernisation of the Fortuneswell area for the 2012 Olympics, whose sailing events were based here). The path was well signposted throughout, appropriately on Portland Stone 'gravestone'-style markers on the Isle of Portland.

First day of this leg

Following leg of South West Coast Path (Ferry Bridge to South Haven Point)