I

f you’ve ever seen French Lieutenant’s Woman or read the novel by John Fowles, you’ll know how dramatic and romantic this mystical seafront town is with its cobbled streets and fossil hunting heritage.

Fowles described Lyme Regis ‘perched like a herring gull on a ledge suspiciously peering both ways into Devon and Cornwall’.

A walk out on the Cobb is a must and if you come on a warm sunny day, you can sunbathe on the newly replenished beach and treat yourselves to fish and chips and a Lovington ice cream. You might spot Adrian Gray in his signature Indiana Jones hat, who has made a fine art out of balancing impossibly large stones precariously on one another.

Just wandering hand in hand round the narrow streets, you’ll come across enticing art galleries like M.L Gibson Studios on Coombe Street or the Town Mill on Mill Lane. Turn the corner for the best pizzas in town at The Town Mill Bakery or if you can scrape the money together for a plate of oysters, head to Hix Oyster and Fish House.

Step just out of town and you’ll come to the Undercliff, one of the first National Trust Reserves created over the years from a series of landslips.

Head off along the South West Coastal Path and you’ll soon reach Golden Cap, the highest point on the South Coast with memorable views back over Lyme Bay and the welcoming Anchor Inn.