Durlston Country Park is 320 acres of clifftop and meadow at the southern end of Swanage, with the best coastal walking on the Isle of Purbeck. The South West Coast Path runs through the park and links a series of features: Durlston Castle (a Victorian folly housing a cafe and visitor centre), the Great Globe, Anvil Point Lighthouse, and the Tilly Whim Caves stone quarries below the cliff. Wildflower meadows in early summer, dolphins offshore from May to September, peregrine falcons on the cliff face.
The visitor centre at Durlston Castle is the best starting point — free parking nearby, maps, a cafe, and a viewing telescope on the terrace pointed at the Channel. Allow three to four hours to do the headland properly on foot.