Weymouth to Bridport

This is a lovely access route or extended day ride to the west. It is all on tarmac and suitable for all types of bike including loaded touring bikes, tandems, trikes and bikes with child trailers. There are two short stretches of busy road and therefore it is not recommended for children.

The route offers access to hilly rural Dorset adjacent to the coast. A very short detour will gain the viewpoint at Hardy’s Monument. The long descent through the Bredy Valley gives views which may not have changed for a hundred years.

The Beehive cafe at Burton Bradstock

After a short climb from the café you turn left onto the Friar Waddon Road. Just before the hamlet of Coryates there is a tiny chapel at Corton Farm on the left (SY63682 85569), not to be missed.

Portesham is another pleasant village with a pub and a shop and is also the start of a stiff climb towards Hardy’s Monument. Once you reach the summit you have the wonderful long descent of the beautiful and isolated Bredy Valley. There are several picturesque villages and hamlets on or near the route. There are pubs at Litton Cheney and Puncknowle, which is pronounced “punol” by locals.

Just before you reach Burton Bradstock you turn right onto the busy B3157. A short diversion to the left here will bring you to the deeply shelving shingle of Burton Bradstock beach. Here there is the award winning Bee Hive café.

Burton Bradstock village is large but spoiled by the busy road. There is no choice but to ride on this road. You can avoid a short part of it by deviating left to West Bay. This diversion is only worthwhile if you want to visit West Bay with its pleasant harbour and camp sites.

Bridport is a pleasant rural town and from here Sustrans Route 2 gives access to West and North Devon.

There are alternative routes to Bridport from Weymouth. The B3157 is a “B” road but it is very busy and not cycle friendly. Most local cyclists avoid it where they can even though it is the most direct way. It is also possible to get to Bridport on Sustrans route 2? which passes through Dorchester. It is about 8 miles further from Weymouth than this route and involves almost twice as much climbing.

Downloads for this route

The following files are in .zip format. They need to be unzipped and saved to a directory of your choice. You can then load them into the appropriate application.

This route in Google Earth format to open in the Google Earth application
This is the the route in .kml format

This route in Garmin format version 2 for uploading to your GPS
This is the the route in .gdb format

This route in Memory-Map format, waypoints only, for uploading to computer's software
This is the the route in .mxf format

This route in universal format for uploading to many applications
This is the the route in .gpx format