Lyme Regis, GB

Compact seafront restaurant from Tom Mason that has quietly become the local benchmark for Lyme Bay fish: scallops, day-boat crab, line-caught bass and Portland lobster on a tight, changing menu. Service is informal and the dining room is small enough to feel like a private supper club. Best for a proper seafood dinner with a sea view.

Mitch Tonks's Rockfish outpost in the old Hix site above the Cobb, with one of the best dining views in Dorset. Brixham-landed fish, hake in batter, daily catch and a tight wine list keep it simple and consistent. Best for a long lunch on the terrace when the sun is out.

A tiny Italian-leaning room on Drakes Way where chef Sandro and front-of-house Vicky run a short daily handwritten menu built around what arrived that morning. Capacity is kept low on purpose, the sourdough is theirs, and the wine list is short and personal. Best for a slow, grown-up dinner.

All-day glass-fronted spot on Marine Parade that swings from coffee and brunch to small plates and proper dinners as the day goes on. Local fish, decent cocktails and a sun-deck right above the beach. Best as a flexible default when you cannot decide between cafe and restaurant.

Family-run Grade-II listed inn on Bridge Street that has been smartened up into a wood-fired pizza, seafood and craft beer pub-restaurant without losing the pub feel. Dorset ales on tap, the lifeboat is named after it, and the dog water bowls are out by the door. Best for a relaxed dinner with kids or muddy walkers.

Low-key family-run pub a few steps off the sand with a side terrace looking at the Cobb. The menu is straightforward pub-with-fish: crab sandwiches, fish and chips, Sunday roasts. Best for an unfussy lunch before or after a beach walk.

Bohemian bakery and breakfast cafe in the Town Mill courtyard with communal tables, sourdough loaves out of the oven, and an honesty-style help-yourself coffee setup. Brunch slides into lunch with stews and tarts. Best for a relaxed late breakfast with strong coffee.

Small specialty coffee bar on Silver Street with single-origin hand brews, a house espresso called Coast and cakes that often outshine the drinks. Roasts much of its own coffee and rotates guest beans from UK micro-roasters. Best as a morning stop before a coast-path walk.

Beachfront cafe on the shingle at Burton Bradstock that built its reputation on whole grilled fish, local crab and a sea view straight onto the Jurassic cliffs. It is more restaurant than cafe at lunch and books up properly in summer. Best for a long lazy lunch combined with a beach walk.

Asian small-plates kitchen in Bridport with dumplings, bao and Sichuan dishes that punch well above the average market-town fare. Tight room, lively bar, short cocktail list. Best for a livelier dinner away from the Lyme tourist circuit.

17th-century coaching inn on Bridport's main street with a smart but unstuffy restaurant doing local seafood, game and Dorset cheese. The bar is a proper one with West Country beers and is open to walk-ins. Best for a Sunday lunch or a special dinner in Bridport.

The shortest classic Coast Path leg out of Lyme, climbing inland over Timber Hill before dropping down to Charmouth beach in about an hour each way. Easier and safer than the beach route, with high views across Lyme Bay. Best as a half-day with a fossil hunt and lunch at the other end.

Seven miles of the Coast Path through the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliffs National Nature Reserve, one of Europe's largest active landslide systems and a near-jungle of ash, hazel and fern. There are no exits once you commit. Best for experienced walkers who want true wilderness on the Jurassic Coast.

Linear walk along the Coast Path from Charmouth up over Stonebarrow and on to Golden Cap, at 191m the highest point on the south coast of England. Views stretch from Portland to Start Point on a clear day. Best as a three to four hour out-and-back from Charmouth.

Easy half-mile walk west along the shingle from the Cobb car park out to the Ammonite Pavement and the limestone ledges beyond. No climbing, just timing, but the rewards are extraordinary if you go at the right tide. Best at the bottom of the tide on a calm day.

Full eight-mile Coast Path stretch east from Lyme over Stonebarrow, Golden Cap and Thorncombe Beacon to the harbour at West Bay. Probably the most rewarding day-walk on this part of the Jurassic Coast and undeniably hilly. Best for fit walkers willing to commit to a full day.

Gentler short loop west of the Cobb up through Ware Cliffs onto the start of the Undercliff path, with the option to turn back after a mile or push on into the reserve. Sea views, ancient hedgerows and wildflowers. Best as an evening leg-stretcher when you do not have time for the full Seaton crossing.

Cliff-edge community theatre right above the beach that punches above its weight with comedy, live music, indie cinema and the odd touring play. A DCP projector and proper sound make the cinema nights worth catching too. Best for an evening when the weather has turned.

Independent fossil museum in a converted Coombe Street chapel owned by a working palaeontologist, with over 30,000 specimens from Lyme and around the world. Old-school cabinets, handwritten labels and real ichthyosaurs. Best for kids who already love dinosaurs and adults who want depth over polish.

Tiny family-run aquarium at the foot of the Cobb showing Lyme Bay species in two rooms, with a hand-feeding mullet tank and exhibits on the films shot in town. The owner runs the floor and the talks personally. Best as a thirty-minute add-on while you are already on the Cobb.

Tide-led walks run by independent guides Brandon Lennon and Chris Pamplin, plus walks from the museum and the Charmouth centre, all aimed at teaching you what to look for and where. Two to three hours along the shore at low water. Best as your first fossil session so you stop walking past ichthyosaur bone.

Art Deco independent cinema and live venue in central Bridport with a packed programme of film, music, comedy and theatre, plus the From Page to Screen book-to-film festival in April. The original 1920s interior has been kept. Best for a proper night out when Lyme's calendar is thin.

The curved stone harbour wall that has sheltered Lyme since the 14th century and shows up in everything from Persuasion to The French Lieutenant's Woman. You can walk the lower level easily; the upper, unfenced top is exposed and slick when wet. Best at golden hour when the rough kerb stones light up against the bay.

Built on the site of Mary Anning's birthplace, this compact museum traces the town's fossil and maritime past and has a modern Mary Anning Wing with the fossil gallery. Staff and volunteers actually know their geology, and the museum runs the best-regarded guided fossil walks in town. Best as a primer before you head out to the beach.

A restored working watermill set around a cobbled courtyard that doubles as Lyme's artisan quarter, with a gallery, pottery, silversmith, micro-brewery and a couple of food stops. Volunteers turn the waterwheel and you can wander the three floors free of charge. Best for an unhurried hour off the seafront.

The shingle beach west of the Cobb leads, at low tide, to a flat limestone shelf studded with hundreds of ammonites up to dinner-plate size, fossilised in place 199 million years ago. It is the only pavement of its kind in the world and you can walk straight onto it. Best in the lower half of the tide, ideally a spring tide.

The wide shingle-and-sand bay just east of Lyme that gives easier, safer fossil hunting than Lyme itself, especially after winter storms have stripped the cliffs. Loose ammonites, belemnites and the occasional ichthyosaur vertebra wash out of the mudslides at the back of the beach. Best on a falling tide after rough weather.

Free Natural England-affiliated centre at the back of Charmouth beach with a small but well-pitched display on the Jurassic geology and the cliffs above. Most people come for the guided fossil walks, which are cheap, scheduled around the tides and led by people who actually find things. Best as your first stop on a fossil day.

The seven-mile strip of collapsed cliff and jungle-like wood between Lyme and Axmouth, formed by Britain's most active coastal landslide system and now one of Western Europe's strangest temperate rainforests. The Coast Path is the only route through and you commit to the full crossing once you start. Best for walkers who want true seclusion on the Jurassic Coast.