The best coastal run: Swanage to Worth Matravers

If you are after a run that earns its reputation, the stretch of the South West Coast Path between Worth Matravers and South Haven Point is widely reckoned as one of the best coastal runs in the UK. It sits within the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and covers 14 miles (22.6 km), rated at moderate difficulty. The hard work comes early: high, level cliff walking between St Aldhelm's Head and Durlston Head, before it eases into a stroll along Swanage seafront, through Studland, and finally three miles of sandy beaches down to South Haven Point.

The scenery does the heavy lifting. St Aldhelm's Head holds a Norman chapel dating back to 709 AD, named after the Bishop of Sherborne who died that year, and a National Coastguard lookout. Then come Durlston Country Park, Peveril Point, the chalk stacks of Old Harry Rocks, Fort Henry, and Knoll Beach, before a steel sculpture marks the end at South Haven Point. From the path you look across Poole Bay towards Bournemouth and the Isle of Wight.

Worth a stop or a slower section is Durlston Country Park, a 340-acre National Nature Reserve just a mile from Swanage. It takes in sea-cliffs, coastal limestone downland and meadows with more than 500 kinds of wildflower, and stays open from sunrise to sunset all year. The Visitor Centre at Durlston Castle runs daily except Christmas Day and Boxing Day, 10am to 5pm from 1 April to 31 October and 10am to 4pm from 1 November to 31 March. In 2020 it took the Visit England Gold Award for Accessible and Inclusive Tourism. While you are there, look out for The Great Globe, a 40-tonne sphere carved from Portland stone in 1888 by George Burt, for whom Durlston Castle was built in 1886; it now holds the visitor centre, a gift shop, a restaurant and an art gallery. Not far off, Swanage Pier, built in 1895, still keeps a 196-metre wooden section.

Getting there is straightforward from Bournemouth or Poole. The Sandbanks Ferry, also known as the Shell Bay to Sandbanks Ferry, runs daily all year, leaving at 07:10 and then at 30, 50 and 10 minutes past the hour until 23:10, with a four-minute crossing and cashless tolls for pedestrians and cyclists. South Haven Point itself marks the start or finish of the full 630-mile South West Coast Path, which runs from Minehead in Somerset to Poole in Dorset, and Parkstone station sits 3.5 miles away on foot or by bus from the ferry terminal. Regular buses, including the 40 and the 50 Breezer, link Swanage, Poole and Bournemouth.

For the finish, the Knoll Beach Café opens daily from 09:30 to 16:30, and there is the Seventh Wave café and the Cafe in the Castle over at Durlston. The Fish Plaice and Harlees in Swanage and the Square & Compass pub in Worth Matravers are the other obvious spots to sit down. If you are staying over, Tom's Field Campsite & Shop, Millbrook Guest House, Chiltern Lodge and Weston Farm Motorhome & Campsite are all in the area. Knoll Beach, managed by the National Trust, is the largest beach in Studland Bay, with non-member parking at £6 for up to two hours, £12 for up to four and £16 all day.