Portland Bill Lighthouse Reviews Summary

Category: Tourist attraction

Address: Portland, DT5 2JT, United Kingdom

Phone: +441305821050

Rating: 4.6
based on 407 reviews.

Views and Location

Pros:

  • "A stunning place, with beautiful panoramic views out to sea, watching the waves teach the rocks a good lesson."
  • "Fantastic view."
  • "Great place and amazing view!"
  • "On a clear day, the views are awesome."
  • "Great views over the cliffs."
  • "The area has wonderful coastal views."
  • "Beautiful views out to sea on a Day when the weather is nice."

Cons:

  • "Not a very good day to visit, weather was horrible."
  • "It can get a bit busy during tourist season and sunny weekends all year round."
  • "The only negative were the prices for parking, quite expensive in my opinion."
  • "Parking is a nightmare. We managed to find a space, but none of the ticket machines worked."
  • "Unfortunately when we visited the lighthouse was closed."
  • "Lighthouse was closed but carpark was spacious and toilets clean."
  • "The tour also didn’t offer the technical insight to the light house I was hoping for."

Lighthouse Tours

Pros:

  • "Me and Paul went to Portland bill lighthouse as we had never been before. And we were not disappointed lovely place. We had a tour guide take us up to the lighthouse we had a 12.15tour lovely lady very knowledgeable."
  • "The staff were amazing and you can tell that they are passionate about the lighthouse."
  • "The tour is well priced, and very informative."
  • "Loved the guided tour of the lighthouse."
  • "The tour guide was friendly, informative and knowledgeable."
  • "Great tour from Jonathan."
  • "The guided tour up to the top had an informative and engaging speaker which made very interesting."

Cons:

  • "Lighthouse was closed for the week for maintenance so a little disappointing."
  • "Bit annoyed that the only way to the top is via a guided tour, bit of a rip off with the pricing."
  • "The lighthouse tower is not open until the Spring."
  • "Our youngest is under 1.1m so he wouldn't be allowed."
  • "The lighthouse offers tours and you can climb to the top but you have to be over 1m so no good if you have little ones."
  • "Unfortunately the lighthouse was closed for maintenance however we were allowed into the visitor centre for free."
  • "I'm sure the view is amazing but the Lighthouse is so badly run/organised we didn't actually get to go up it despite going 2 days in a row."

Cafe and Food

Pros:

  • "Wonderful little lighthouse, nice walks along the cliff edge with great views, little cafe allows you to eat in or out food quality was really good."
  • "Lovely little cafe; excellent food and very fresh. The scones are warm and lovely."
  • "We had coffees and pepsi at the cafe plus sausage rolls."
  • "Crab sandwiches were £12.50, prawn sandwich £9.50 served with salad garnish and some crisps. Just to give an idea of prices."
  • "There’s a restaurant and little cafe with window service next to the lighthouse and public toilets."
  • "Recommended is having a bite to eat at the Lobster Pot café, they serve a satisfying salad bowl with various toppings."
  • "Has a lovely cafe next door, called The Lobster Pot which serves delicious food and the staff are brilliant."

Cons:

  • "Only disappointment was that they could do with a larger tea room/restaurant. Car Park must cater to over 100 cars but tea room must have approx 10 tables to serve customers from."
  • "The choice was quite limited after 2pm as they had run out of a lot of menu items on a very busy September weekend."
  • "Cafe looked good but pricy so we didn't use."
  • "The coffee were not the best value, not very hot and only small amount, sausage rolls, again not great."
  • "A visit to the lighthouse may prove expensive at £8 to climb to the top or £3 if you only wish to look over the visitor centre."
  • "The Lobster Pot cafe/restaurant close by the lighthouse is delightful, with a good range of tasty, reasonable value food."
  • "The spot has a beautiful cafeteria that has hot and cold food. The cafe has vegan options and great food."

Parking and Accessibility

Pros:

  • "Lots of parking which was a plus."
  • "The car park is reasonably priced and a decent size."
  • "Car park nearby making access easy."
  • "Car parking is available, but is pay and display for a small fee."
  • "Parking for great number of vehicles and I have never had a problem with parking here, toilets available in the carpark and in the cafe."
  • "Plenty of cheap parking, toilets and cafe near to the lighthouse."
  • "Parking is available at cost, but the views alone make it all worth it."

Cons:

  • "It was very rocky though so would not be suitable to all."
  • "Bit difficult to walk round with a wheelchair but you can get to some areas."
  • "As the ground all around is uneven care would be needed if you have walking issues."
  • "Car parking is £3 for an hour which I think is expensive, plus the machines didn't work forcing you to download an app just to pay, which I think is totally wrong."
  • "You can’t pay for parking by card so bring cash or a good mobile network to pay through the app (signal is poor on O2)."
  • "The only issue was trying to purchase a parking ticket on the phone app (we did not have cash). There was absolutely no phone signal to do this!"
  • "The car park was all broken: people were giving up and leaving because they could not find a way to pay."

Thanks! Your review is awaiting moderation.