Did you know that just 3hours from London, still within the
UK, you end up on an isle which feels you are somewhere that looks like a
Mediterranean?? I didn't know either until I saw what Portland Isle had to
offer. I was reminded multiple times during my day trip around the island of
Malta and Croatia and I am not saying that lightly! I took a train from London
to Weymouth followed by a bus to he Isle. The bus ticket was £7 for a day pass
and made good use of it. It is also easy to walkaround the island as the buses
are not as frequent. The coastal paths are sunning!
Here's what I fitted on my day trip, bearing in mind that I
did unique attractions:
- Tout Quarry Nature Reserve and Sculpture Park. This
is an active quarry of the famous Portland stone which is used in building quite
a few iconic monuments such as St Paul’s Cathedral. It is one of 2 quarries in
the world to get his special stone. The other quarry is also in Portland so a
very resourceful island. The speciality with this quarry is that it also
doubles as a sculpture park where you can find lots of sculpture dotted around
the park. It was very fun and a good innovative way to explore the park! It is
totally free to visit!
- Pirate graveyard, Rufus Castle and Church Ope cove – If you
are doing one thing on the island, do this especially if the weather is
gorgeous!! Church Ope Cove is a little secluded beach with crystal clear water that
reminded me so much of swimming in the beautiful waters of Malta! In order to
get to the beach, you will come across the ruins of Rufus Castle, which you can’t
visit but can view from the viewpoint. Then, you will need to go down the
stairs. If you are interested, half down the stairs, on the left, there’s some
stairs that will lead you to the pirate’s graveyard but there are no pirates
buried there! You can see the ruins of the church which the graveyard belongs
to. It is a very small graveyard but if you are curious about who is buried there,
like I am, then it’s a nice little stop before you resume you walk down the stairs
to the beach! I loved swimming in the water. I have never seen such clear
waters in the UK like this! There’s a couple of walking trails you can do
around the area! This beach was not crowded at all and it had toilets too! It
will be a beach that I will keep coming back in the summer month! It was stunning!
- Portland Bill Lighthouse and Pulpit Rock – The main
attraction of the isle if the Lighthouse which is set amidst unreal views of
the sea. You can go on a guided tour up the lighthouse and it also a small
museum by the entrance which explored the maritime history of the area. Beside the
lighthouse is the Pulpit Rock which is a unique rock formation.
Other attractions are the Portland Castle, D-day museum and the
Prison museum.
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