2 Best Sights in The South, England

Located in a former church, this compact private museum run by a paleontologist has an excellent collection of local fossils with more than 16,000 specimens dating back 200 million years. It also provides information on regional geology, how fossils develop, and guided fossil-hunting walks. There are more fossils for sale in the shop on the ground floor along with minerals.

A gabled and turreted Edwardian building on the site of fossilist Mary Anning's former home, this lively museum is devoted to the town's maritime and domestic history, geology, local artists, writers (John Fowles was an honorary curator for a decade), and, of course, Anning herself and her fossils. The museum also leads fossil-hunting and local history walks throughout the year. Anning was immortalized in the 2020 film Ammonite, shot largely in the town.