Spend the day in Lyme Regis

Obligatory on a visit to Lyme Regis is a walk to the end of the Cobb – the curving arm of the harbour wall. From here you get sweeping views of the town and coast. Take care walking along the top level: the stone is rough and slopes towards the sea… and look out for 'Granny's teeth', jutting-out stones masquerading as steps. On the lower level, if the sea's rough, it's great fun to dodge the showers of spray from the waves breaking right over the top.

Out at the end, don't miss the appealingly tiny Marine Aquarium (adults £2; children £1.50) by the fishermen's huts. Its display tanks house local marine life, nothing exotic, but it's fascinating to see it close up. The fishermen's huts are still in use, which is why the quay is festooned with heaps of nets, and you may see one of the boats land its catch.

Walk right to the end and you can have your own 'French Lieutenant's Woman' moment gazing longingly out to sea. The 1981 film was shot here (as was 1995's 'Persuasion' plus a TV series of the Jane Austen classic to be shown this year. You'll still see film stills dotted around town.

Finding fossils

Tell the kids that dinosaur skeletons have been discovered here then, at low tide, take the two-mile walk along the beach from Lyme to Charmouth, and you'll be tripping over fossils. The elegant grey beach boulders and slabs are studded with ammonites and trilobites, and the looming cliff, which is slowly making its sludgy way onto the beach, is depositing new ones all the time. Home in on the 'tink, tink' of fossil-hunters' hammers and you might witness a good find. Go back to Lyme by bus or walk inland or by the sea.

If you had no luck on your fossil hunt, you could join a guided walk. One fossil-hunter advertises on boards in Broad Street and promises that if you don't find a fossil on one of his walks, 'I'll give you one'! Whether you take him up on that offer is between you and your conscience…

Arts and crafts

Lyme is home to a clutch of local designer-makers and artists. Start at the top of the high street, Broad Street, which drops down to the sea. Pop Goes the Weasel is where local milliner Alison Tutcher sells her seriously covetable bespoke headgear, from elegant wedding hats to funky felt beanies. Opposite is Hilary Highet, crammed with upmarket imaginative knitwear from this local designer.

The kids will make a beeline for the Chimp and Zee Bookshop by the Sea, with its cycling monkey in the window. Created by local author and illustrator of the Chimp and Zee series, Catherine and Laurence Anholt, it's stocked with signed copies of their work, plus prints and cards, and the magical interior is like stepping into one of their books. And there's an old-fashioned weigh-out sweetshop a few doors up.

Across the road, The Fossil Shop will sort out any disappointed fossil seekers. There's lots at pocket-money prices, necklaces, bracelets and rings of semi-precious stones, as well as huge crystals.

At the bottom of Broad Street, turn left across the river Lym where it meets the sea, then left into Coombe Street, for the Blue Lias Gallery, which has local paintings, ceramics, photos and captivating moving wooden machines on display.

Further up is Fuego, for Latin American folksy handicrafts including knitwear, delicate ceramics and jewellery, including colourful glass rings for just £1 and beaded bracelets for £1.50.

Places to visit

Housed in a lovely Edwardian building, the Town Museum is a manageable-sized collection, with displays on the famous fossil-hunter Mary Anning, the history of the town and tales of smuggling, adventures on the high seas, and Lyme's links to Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, Joseph Lister and John Fowles. (Adults, £2.20; children with adults, free. 01297 443370).

The 600-year-old water-powered Town Mill has been restored and you can hear its 'thump, splash' as you walk up Mill Lane. Inside there's a café, galleries and exhibitions. The power it generates produces electricity, as well as grinding wheat. You can buy the resulting bread at The Town Mill Bakery on the site, open 'from daybreak till sold out (about 1-2pm)'.

Food and drink

When you need a cuppa and a sitdown, you'll find great coffee at Jalito's, at the lower end of Broad Street. Café Sol, on Coombe Street, has tables by the river – as well as delicious cakes and sandwiches.

For fish and chips, locals reckon Cobb Gate Fish Bar, by the sea at the end of Broad Street, is the best in town. Sit on the beach or sea wall to tuck in, but don't feed the seagulls.

Enjoy decent pub grub in the beer garden of the Rock Point Inn next door, overlooking the sea and the Cobb, while the kids clamber around on the improved sea defences which, with hardly any imagination, can become the battlements, turrets and ramparts of a castle.

For something more substantial, walk along Marine Parade (the prom) to the Royal Standard for good home-cooked specials like cottage pie, and broccoli, leek and Stilton crumble, plus indulgent puds including yummy Dorset apple cake. Its beer garden opens onto the sandy beach so you can keep an eye on any paddlers.

If you're splashing out, The Broad Street Restaurant (01297 445792), tucked downstairs from pavement level at number 58, offers highly acclaimed, locally sourced produce.