Portland doesn't open until 10am

[SpainAlien]

There is a free shuttle from the port to either Portland Castle or Weymouth but the Portland castle doesn't open until 10am, neither does the WWII museum and the first Coastliner bus doesn't leave the castle until 10.12am.  If your plan was to just mooch around Portland or get the bus around the island on your own do yourself a favour and stay onboard awhile.

[tc-cruise]

Our ship docks at 7AM. So you mean we can't even leave the port without booking a tour?  

[John Bull]

You'll hopefully get responses from folk who've ported at Portland.

But payable cruise shuttle-buses run between the ship and Weymouth and I'm PDS that they start waaay before 10am.🙂

 

Yes, Portland Castle opens daily at 10am

I couldn't find the hours of the nearby quite small but excellent volunteer-run D-Day museum.

Most visitors travel from the nearby Victorian seaside resort of Weymouth, so a 10am opening time is sensible.

The Portland Coaster bus https://www.firstbus.co.uk/adventures-bus/services/portland-coaster is a seasonal tourist open-top sight-seeing bus - local scheduled buses run from about 5am !!!!

 

Portland is a secure Royal Navy port, cruisers can only exit or enter the port either on the payable shuttle between ship and Weymouth or the free shuttle between ship and Portland Castle or - I'll guess - on a ship-sponsored excursion. There's no taxi rank or ad-hoc tours at the port, those who pre-book independent tours take the free shuttle a mile or less to Portland Castle where they meet their tour operator. 

 

Yes, it's a little difficult, but Portland is under-rated.

Portland Bill itself is a craggy outcrop, effectively an island except for the road across a narrow shingle causeway to the mainland (but not affected by tides etc).

As well as Weymouth you can take a tour along the dramatic Jurassic coast as far as Lyme Regis (village well-known to fossil hunters) in one direction or in the other direction to places like Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove and Corfe Castle. Or inland to the market town of Dorchester and villages in the Dorset Downs.

The ship will probably offer excursions to Bath or Stonehenge. Both are quite distant and most of your day will be spent on the bus.

Here are some threads with a stack of info and suggestions. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Portland&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=148

 

JB 🙂

[tc-cruise]

I just want to take a train to Poole. 

[Cotswold Eagle]

On 4/20/2024 at 1:49 PM, John Bull said:

couldn't find the hours of the nearby quite small but excellent volunteer-run D-Day museum.

For future reference, it’s 1030, but currently they are not open every day - important to check their Facebook page, where they are posting opening days weekly. I believe the ambition is to open every day in the summer. 
https://www.facebook.com/castletownddaycentre

 

[Cotswold Eagle]

4 hours ago, tc-cruise said:

I just want to take a train to Poole. 

Then take the shuttle to Weymouth. 

[John Bull]

5 hours ago, tc-cruise said:

I just want to take a train to Poole. 

 

 

Weymouth train station is a 15 - 20 minute walk from the shuttle drop-point.

Half-hourly service, no need to specify a train time, journey time 35 - 45 mins e/w, day-return fare £18.30 (two one-way tickets cost a lot more).

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

JB 🙂

[YVRteacher]

How much is the shuttle to Weymouth, please? Any recommendations once in Weymouth?

[John Bull]

@YVRteacher We know Weymouth & Portland & the surrounding are quite well, but we've never ported there.

 

In the past, cruisers have mentioned the ship's shuttle buses for the 10-15 minute drive from Portland port to Weymouth have been charged - I guess it would be around $10 - $15.

But the port website says its a free service provided by the port, and en-route those same buses drop & pick up at Portland Castle (for those meeting pre-booked taxis & private tours, and for those who want to visit Portland Castle and/or the D-Day museum)

.https://www.portland-port.co.uk/welcome+to+portland+port

These maps show the detail

https://www.portland-port.co.uk/public/files/2023 CRUISE/Map_Portland%26Weymouth Shuttle_Jun23_EN compressed.pdf

 

Instead of Weymouth or elsewhere, Portland Castle and the D-Day museum (both quite small) are fine for a lazy half-day, or head back early from Weymouth & drop in to one or the other.

 

Weymouth is a great base for UK holidaymakers spending a week or more there, usually by car & exploring the area.

The town is very pleasant & interesting, with a harbour, lots of pubs & cafes & restaurants & eat-in or eat-out fish-and-chip shops in the maze of little streets, a promenade, & one of the biggest & best sandy beaches on England's south coast (and favourite for those who create sand-sculptures)

Plenty in Weymouth to amuse you for the day, but nothing iconic. 

 

Lots of places worthy of a tour

- to the west 18-mile-long Chesil Beach (as the shuttle bus crosses to the mainland you'll see it on the left disappearing into the distance), Abbotsbury Swannery, the Jurassic coast, West Bay and Bridport, mebbe as far as the fossil-hunters' village of Lyme Regis.

- 8 miles north of Weymouth (by half-hourly train or by road) the market town of Dorchester and surrounding villages on the Dorset Downs & in the valleys

- to the east, along the coast to Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, the abandoned village of Tyneham (when open - it's a tank firing range), Kimmeridge cliffs & bay (more fossil-hunters), Corfe Castle ruins (sacked during the English Civil War). North of there Bovington Tank Museum ( regarded as the world's finest) - and Monkey World for those who want to split their group between the two.

(You ain't gonna fit all these places into one day, but several can be combined on a tour)

 

If there's time at the end of a tour, get the driver to take you to the top of Portland Bill for a panoramic view. 15 minutes round-trip plus 5 to 10 minute photo-stop

 

But tours aren't available on-spec, you need to book.

A number of tour recommendations on the Great Britain forum by typing "Portland" into the search box on that page & clicking onto the spyglass beside that box.

 

JB 😀

Edited April 22 by John Bull

[Harters]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

Weymouth is a great base for UK holidaymakers spending a week or more there

Which we did in 2022. JB mentions many of the "out and about" places but you could happily spend a day just mooching about in town. 

 

If doing so, my solid recommendation for lunch would be fish & chips at Bennetts (at the Town Bridge). So good it could be northern. 

[MeHeartCruising]

I was in Portland in late 2022 (I think).  For us, the shuttle bus was free and available shortly after we docked.  As mentioned above, it stops at Portland Castle and then in Weymouth.  These stops are offered in both directions.  So I went into Weymouth first, just as it was waking up and then stopped at the Castle later in the day on the way back to the ship. 
 

Walking around Weymouth was quite nice.  I enjoyed the waterfront and marina area and the nearby Fort.  
 

This makes a lovely day for people who just wish to relax and saunter about at a leisurely pace.  

[YVRteacher]

I think I will love Weymouth! Thank you for all the help and suggestions.

[YVRteacher]

On 4/22/2024 at 10:49 PM, MeHeartCruising said:

I was in Portland in late 2022 (I think).  For us, the shuttle bus was free and available shortly after we docked.  As mentioned above, it stops at Portland Castle and then in Weymouth.  These stops are offered in both directions.  So I went into Weymouth first, just as it was waking up and then stopped at the Castle later in the day on the way back to the ship. 
 

Walking around Weymouth was quite nice.  I enjoyed the waterfront and marina area and the nearby Fort.  
 

This makes a lovely day for people who just wish to relax and saunter about at a leisurely pace.  

Perfect! Thank you!

[WESTEAST]

On 4/21/2024 at 10:57 PM, YVRteacher said:

How much is the shuttle to Weymouth, please? Any recommendations once in Weymouth?

We have been to Portland port twice and both times went to Weymouth. As noted, this is a secure port (naval bas) and everyone must exit via this shuttle or by a shore excursion.  Both times we took the free shuttle to the lovely harbour town of Weymouth. We walked along the beach front promenade enjoying the sites and there are a few streets of shops (got our M&S fix), pubs etc. Last year, the shuttle stopped at the Museum on the return trip back to the ship so folks got off, toured and got on the next shuttle to the ship. Going to Weymouth no one wanted off at the Castle or Museum. These sites will be helpful https://www.portland-port.co.uk/welcome+to+portland+port

https://www.portland-port.co.uk/public/files/2023 CRUISE/Walking Tour of Castletown V1_5.pdf

Edited Sunday at 08:57 PM by WESTEAST