Anyone know Portland and Weymouth well enough to tell me ...

[treatastic]

... whether the road between the two gets jammed on busy summer weekends? We'll be staying in Portland and attending an all-day event in Weymouth, so I'm hoping that we'll be travelling against the flow of day-trip traffic, but thought I'd better check as we musn't be late.

We also need to decide whether to have breakfast and dinner in Portland or in Weymouth, which will partly depend on the answer to the first question, but any good food recommendations would be welcome!

I grew up on Portland. It gets very busy, yes. Going back onto the island is usually worse, but you need to leave at least half an hour heading into Weymouth in the summer - probably more if you're heading in after nine.

Didn't mention the food - sorry! I'd suggest eating in Weymouth. There are lots of places to have dinner on Portland (my favourite is The Cove House Inn, which does lovely food and is right on the beach), but there's less choice for breakfasts...

Thankyou. Very helpful!

PP is right that traffic can be bad but generally it's worse coming back onto the island. V good bus service from Portland into Weymouth if you wanted an alternative - the open top bus is good fun! Lots of lovely places to eat for dinner (and some do breakfast). Agree also that the Cove is a good dinner choice (as is the pizza van which you find in the car park nearby! Nothing better than watching the sunset on the sea wall with a pizza and cold drink). Billy Winters down on Chesil Beach is a great location and lovely food, as is the Crab House Cafe if you want something a bit fancier. White stones cafe in Easton is good for breakfast and coffee. The cafe at the Heights hotel is also good (great view). Frontline cafe down at the bottom of the island is also worth a visit for bacon sarnies etc (it's run by ex firefighters and is a social enterprise). I think the Hayloft has also reopened near Pennsylvania Castle - they used to do v good breakfast. You will certainly not starve on Portland. Enjoy! One of the best places on the planet down there!

I second Billy Winters on the beach road. Lovely food. Also the Lobster Pot Portland Bill does the best cream tea. You need to book though!

@Walkingdeadobsessed has it all listed for you! We tend to park up and bus/walk everywhere. The service is every 10 mins and most bus stops have up to date timings. There are several FB pages with island info, traffic usually features highly. If you have the chance, the boat back from the old harbour is fab - there are a pair of dolphins in the bay who like to swim alongside. For brunch we love Frontline and The Boat That Rocks which is right on the marina.

I'd say allow 30 mins to get from Portland to Weymouth town centre in the summer. Where on Portland are you staying?

Sounds perfect! Thans for all the tips. Does the bus have its own priority bus lane on the access road? It looks quite narrow, so I guess not.

We're staying in Castletown.

We go to Weymouth every year. We always allow about half hour travel to Portland. Everywhere year I insist on having my cream tea at the Lobster Pot at Portland Bill.

No, there is no bus lane, it is one lane in each direction. It's really not a bad road, the traffic generally runs smoothly, you'd be very unlucky to get caught in traffic there. Once you get into Weymouth it can get a little slow, but really nothing terrible. You would be very unlucky to take longer than 30 mins. The 501 bus is a good shout though if you're going to Weymouth town centre as then you can enjoy the lovely views. You can catch it and get off from the stop next to Portland Castle.

If I were staying in Castletown, I'd have breakfast in the Dorset Adventure Cafe (depending on what time you have to get to your event as I don't think it opens super early), and I would probably have dinner in Weymouth before heading back to your accommodation, where you have much more choice.