Swanage Tourist Information Centre, The White House, Shore Road,
Swanage, BH19 1LB Tel: 01929 422885.
FInd out more about Swanage Tourist Information Centre.

Swanage Heritage Centre
Tel:  01929 42142 Email: shc@purbeck.gov.uk
Close to: Durlston Country Park , Lighthouse Road, Swanage, BH19 2JL
Tel: 01929 424443 Email: info@durlston.co.uk 

Swanage Museum is now located within the Swanage Heritage Centre (details as above)

Boat trips can be taken with Marsh's Boats Tel: 01929 427659 or 01929 427309, on Western Lady III Tel: 07807 249649 and seasonally with the Waverley paddle steamer Tel: 0845 130 4647. Open the attached Adobe Acrobat file for full details of all boat trips  jurassic_coast_by_boat (1.39 Mb)

Swanage is a Gateway Town to the Jurassic Coast.

The gentle shelving beach at Swanage, with its Victorian pier and fabulous views across to the Needles on the Isle of Wight, is hugely popular with families.

This traditional seaside resort offers many interesting shops, attractive parks and gardens, tearooms offering Dorset cream teas, fish & chips and of course... there is the famous Punch and Judy Show!  The nearby Beach Gardens offer a game of bowls, a round of putting, or a game of tennis in a tranquil setting.  The informative Heritage Centre and three "heritage trails" enable visitors to uncover the fascinating features of "old Swanage".

The beach holds the prestigious Blue Flag for beach cleanliness and is a popular spot for watersports, with marker buoys cordoning off a swimmers-only area.  Boat cruises run to and from the pier, which is also one of the best diving locations in the country.

Swanage is also the final station for the famous Swanage Steam Railway, which offers an entertaining and nostalgic trip through the glorious Purbeck countryside.  The Swanage calendar offers many railway events as well as the frenzy of the Jazz Weekend, the exciting annual Regatta & Carnival Week and the lively Folk Festival.

Nearby is Durlston Country Park, a fabulous 280 acre countryside paradise. The combination of unrivalled geology and huge range of wildlife make Durlston a very special place.  The 40 ton Portland stone globe is unique and surrounded by fascinating plaques and benches inscribed with anecdotes and quotations.  There is also an informative visitor centre and fabulous views of the coast. 

Getting There

By foot: Accessible via the South West Coast Path which runs along the entire length of the Jurassic Coast.

By bus: Find out more about the Jurassic Coast Bus Service
Visit Traveline for further information.

By road: From London. M3 South joining M27, joining A31 to Bournemouth /Poole, take the A351 via Wareham, Corfe and on to Swanage.

By Sea: via the ferry from Sandbanks

By train: To Wareham then local bus to Swanage

Find out about local youth hostels