Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill.
A 5.6-mile out and back east along the low clay cliffs of Weymouth Bay to the Smugglers Inn, about three hours with 220 metres of undulating climb on grass paths and a short stretch of shingle beach. Start at the Bowleaze Cove car park, pay and display, large but shared with the holiday park and prone to filling on hot afternoons; the number 5 bus from Weymouth stops on Preston Road ten minutes away. Bowleaze is one of the Weymouth stretches where dogs are allowed all year, the cliff path itself is unfenced and slipping in places, and the Smugglers Inn at the far end takes dogs in the bar and garden, which makes the turnaround point a proper halfway house.
A 2.6-mile hour-and-a-quarter town circuit round the working harbour, over the town bridge and up through the woodland walks of Nothe Gardens to the fort, with views along the Jurassic Coast from the gun batteries. All surfaced paths, steps and pavement, with one steady climb of 45 metres to the headland. Park in the Nothe or Melcombe Regis pay and display, both signed from the seafront, or leave the car out of town and take the harbour ferry across, which carries dogs. Leads are required in the gardens under the Dorset order and along the quayside, where the drop into the water is sheer, but this is the driest, most sheltered walk in Weymouth on a filthy day.
Weymouth's oldest pub, a low-beamed Ringwood house on High West Street with a sunny beer garden behind. It bills itself as a dog-friendly pub and is a short walk from the harbour and the Rodwell Trail. Beer rather than food is the point.
Tiny, cluttered old pub at Hope Square behind the harbour, all seafaring bric-a-brac and Dorset beer, with a big terrace where most people sit. Dogs are welcome across the whole terrace, where there are four water bowls, and there is a jar of dog biscuits on the bar; the interior is too small for them, though the staff are happy for a dog to be tied safely outside while you go in. Good seafood.
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