Many of us will have seen Jurassic Park, the popular film in which an entrepreneur attempted to set up a dinosaur theme park. Away from the fiction, you could take a trip to find out what the Jurassic period was really like.
There’s an area on the south coast of England that is known as the Jurassic Coast. Covering some 95 miles of coastline, stretching from Dorset to Devon, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the UK’s lesser known gems.
This area has been given its name as a result of the age of the geology in the area. There are exposed rocks that date back some 250 million years - indeed, strictly speaking, they even pre-date the Jurassic geological period.
With such astounding geology on view, visitors will find that the scenery in this part of the UK is spectacular. The land has been shaped by millions of years of natural activity, with the forces of the Earth twisting and changing the landscape.
Today, the Jurassic Coast is known for its wonderful coastal scenes, with dramatic cliffs and rocks providing some great views. The region is perfect for those who enjoy walking, making the most of leisure time and discovering some of the country’s most unspoilt landscapes.
Of course, one of the aspects that really attracts visitors to the Jurassic Coast is the thought of finding fossils. Many of the beaches and rocks in the area contain numerous potential finds for fossil hunters, including the famous fossil forest at Lulworth.
Local fossil finds have included various dinosaur parts, with exhibitions being available to help the dinosaurs come back to life for younger visitors.
The coast can be reached in less than 2 hours from London by car.
If you are interested in visiting the Jurassic Coast and are travelling from elsewhere in Europe, then you’ll find that the airports at Bournemouth and Southampton are perfect, with the coastline being approximately an hour’s drive from Southampton Airport (and considerably less from Bournemouth).
This is an area that is popular with so many visitors from different parts of the world.