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Jack Sparrow hasn't made it to Dorset yet, but the Jurassic Coast would provide a ready-made set for a blockbusting pirate adventure. All the right ingredients are there. Take the epic natural archway of Durdle Door (ideal for a blubbery beast to wrap its tentacles round), or the smugglers paradise of Lulworth Cove. Not to mention inland oddities such as the crumbling 'ghost village' of Tyneham. Add to this 90 miles of some of Britain's most dramatic coastline, and it's no wonder that the whole area has been designated a World Heritage Site. 
Above: Durdle Door on Dorset's Jurassic coastline. The natural arch is an icon for geologists. It also served as a backdrop for the video 'Years of the Dragon', by Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson
It was in December 2001 that the Jurassic Coast was anointed England's first natural site on the World Heritage List, joining a club with man-made marvels such as Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall. It was a glorious Christmas present to the people of Dorset, whose coastline towns had already won the hearts of writers such as John Fowles and Beatrix Potter.
But besides the awe-inspiring looks, what exactly is so special about this stretch of coastline? Well, geologists have long known that this is the only place in the world that presents unbroken evidence of 185 million years of evolution. Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous cliffs are all to be savoured. But beyond these tongue-twistiing terms, it's a fact that a steady stream of dinosaur relics have been turning up here since time immemorial, some of them previously unknown species. Monsters aren't solely the preserve of the jurassic age though. In October 1752, a fifty feet sea monster is recorded as having washed up on Weymouth Beach - it's mouth supposedly wide enough to swallow a coach and horses. Are its relatives still swimming the Dorset seas? You'll have to grab your snorkel and find out.
Besides the rocky rhapsody of her cliffs, the Jurassic Coast boasts stunning beaches. The jewel in the crown is Chesil Beach, a shingle show-stopper that stretches some 29 kilometres. This was a famed hunting ground of the legendary fossil hunter, Mary Anning, inspiration for the 'she sells sea shells by the sea shore' rhyme.
A blessing for restless ramblers is the mighty South West Coast Path. This epic trail, which began as a path for coastguards as they passed from lighthouse to lighthouse on the look out for smugglers, is now maintained by the National Trust.
However, if you want to balance your adventures with some tea and cake shenanigans, the region has some beguiling towns and villages to explore. Amongst the most famed gateways to the coast is Lyme Regis, often dubbed 'the Pearl of Dorset'. Abbotsbury, Bridport and Weymouth are are other popular pit-stops in the area.
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