Portland, England

[tony s]

We just booked a May 2022 NCL Dawn cruise for the British Isles. We have a Sunday port call at Portland. Any suggestions on what to do that does not involve a ship excursions. Thanks

[John Bull]

There'll be a ship's shuttle to the quaint Victorian seaside town of Weymouth, about 15 minutes away.

If you return early there's a good little D-Day museum (Castletown D-Day Centre) close to your ship , and diminutive Portland Castle is just a short walk.

 

There's no usable public transport options or shared tours, available from Portland Bill, and it's necessary to pre-book - even for a taxi - due to port security.

Car rental is time-consuming because there are no rental depots nearby and I don't think any of the Weymouth agencies offer a drop-off service so it means pre-booking a taxi to the rental agency.

Best bet for visiting one or two of the many worthwhile places within driving distance is to book a tour van and fix up sharers via your cruise's RollCall.

Google - to the east -  Corfe Castle, Bovington Tank Museum, Monkey World Ape Sanctuary  (the tank museum and ape sanctuary are only a couple of miles apart, easy to split your party into two) , Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door (hikers may want to bale out of the van at Lulworth Cove and walk across the Downs - about 30 minutes - to re-board the van at Durdle Door). Depending whether the tank firing range is open (probably will be on a sunday) the little coastal lane across Kimmeridge Ledges between Corfe Castle & Lulworth Cove is an interesting little route.

To the west - Abbotsbury Swannery, the Jurassic coast to West Bay and Bridport. Perhaps back via the market town of Dorchester.

Or a lazy tour of the villages in the Dorset Downs.

Finally, if you are back to Portland with half-an-hour to spare, get your driver to drive to the top of Portland Bill for panoramic views of Portland Harbour & your ship, and Chesil Beach (which links Portland Bill to the mainland & continues west with brackish The Fleet behind it). 

 

Van operators and other ideas amongst the threads at  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Portland&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=148

 

JB 

[tony s]

Thank you very helpful.  I heard the town has a very good fish and chips spot. Is that true?

[John Bull]

15 hours ago, tony s said:

Thank you very helpful.  I heard the town has a very good fish and chips spot. Is that true?

 

Best-known chippies in Weymouth are probably the Marlboro & The Old Harbour,, north side of the harbour close to the Town Bridge (the bridge which you cross from the usual cruise-ship drop-off point) altho there's another (Bennett's) just before the bridge. All are convenient for finding a spot on the harbour-front wall to sit & eat. There are several others in the narrow streets between the harbour and the seafront promenade, all very walkable.

 

I know the area tolerably-well but don't know which chippie is best.

https://www.weareweymouth.co.uk/eat-drink/fish-and-chip-shops-weymouth/

 

JB 

[fabnfortysomething]

last year we had a fantastic day with Dorset day trips in a 7 seater VW camper van-we filled from our roll call but he can sell individual seats

 

this year will have been a blow to his 1 man business so hopefully he will still be in business for your trip-Ihope so as he is a lovely man