Lyme Regis - what to do?

[Grockle]

We're camping in Lyme Regis this weekend - what must we do?

We live in Dorset but don't know that area at all.

DS is 6.

I go down there to visit my mum regularly and have also taken many of my classes (Year 3, so a year older than your DS) down there and the thing they really love is visiting Monmouth Beach (to the far, far right if you stand on the sea front with your nose pointing out to sea. There is a car park on that side, just to the right of the Cobb). It is wild and rugged, and if you rock-hop for 20 minutes when the tide is out you will find the most remarkable, huge fossils in the rocks, as well as some very interesting rock formations and the rusty remains of a single gague rail track which mysteriously appears to desappear out to sea... I once found an amazing Ichthyosaurus fossil here (pretty big, but portable) and as the roaming fossil expert Dr Dawes (available for fossil hunting tours, see notices in the high street) was speaking to a group nearby I showed it to him and he explained that the creature from which it had come must have been very large, and that the rest of it was almost definitely still lodged in the cliff, hidden from view. This anecdote sends my pupils mad with excitement, especially as they have learned a bit about fossils already. A quirky little museum to visit is Dinosaur Land which is in... hang on, the name of the street escapes me, but I'm sure you can google it. It is cramped from floor to ceiling with artefacts and models and does a good job of explaining just about anything you might want to know about dinosaurs and fossils. You could also go on a speed boat ride across the bay. These rides are sometimes available, and are very exhilarating, but perhaps a little too full on for a 6 year old. Or perhaps right up his street...? Enjoy your weekend!

Wow, sounds fabulous, thank you

Any other indoor suggestions? The weather looks iffy over the weekend.

The town museum is good. There's also an aquarium on the Cobb but it's very small.

The town musuem is fab (small but loads to do). We booked a fossil hunt and even though we went in the height of summer we found common ones - the kids loved it! We went for a walk to the cob.
we read a coupe of the books about Mary Anning - stone girl bone girl which set it into context!

Thank you -we had a really lovely time. We went rockpooling (DS fell in), mackerel fishing (I caught one! DS was seasick...), walked along the Cobb, went to the dinosaur museum (FAB!), looked round the town museum, pottered in the shops and had wonderful bread in the mill bakery. Lyme Regis is now my favourite place!

We have just come back from a week near Lyme. I loved it. I got some smashing photos of the waves breaking over the Cobb.