What To Do On The Isle of Wight
The Island has many attractions to offer our Isle of Wight holiday cottage guests, most of which are open all year round – see here.
Walking
With a spectacular coastline, rolling hills, green countryside, historic buildings & welcoming pubs, the island makes a great location to explore on foot. Visit the Slow Wight Travel Guide, Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership and Isle of Wight National Trust which have some great downloadable walks – as well as a map and full directions the trails include information on local history, nature or wildlife. You can also buy beautifully illustrated trail maps from Gift to Nature. Keep an eye on the National Trust Isle of Wight Facebook page for guided walks organised throughout the year.
Cycling
Visit Isle of Wight and Wightlink have excellent downloadable cycle routes and cycle hire information. You can hire bicycles (including electric bikes) from Wight Cycle Hire who will deliver to our Isle of Wight holiday cottages (minimum hire fee applies). You can store bicycles in the garages, or outhouses of most of our Isle of Wight holiday cottages.
Make 2020 a year of sustainable travel!
We offer incentives for Isle of Wight holiday cottage guests arriving by sustainable travel – from free maps, walking and cycling guides to free electric charging points, free foot passenger ferry travel, 5% off electric car rental and 5% off cottage rental – see each cottage for details.
Have a look at all the useful information on Visit Isle of Wight’s dedicated Green Travel page. The page includes information about the Green Star scheme and the Slow Travel guide – both of which provide plenty of practical information and inspiring itineraries for car free days out. The Green Star pack in each Isle of Wight holiday cottage has a Sustainable Directory – providers of pedal and electric bikes, hire cars, taxis, water taxis, buses & trains.
Download or ask for a leaflet on how to get to the Isle of Wight by train, coach & bus – this includes a great map of the British rail network and guidance when you reach the ports. If you have an electric car you can download the list of Electric Vehicle Charging Points or use Zap Map. If you are travelling to the Newport area during your stay we recommend the use of e-taxi, the Island’s first electric taxi service. And now you can take a tuk tuk tour of the isle of Wight with the Isle of Wight Tuk Tuk Co!
All our cottages have achieved Gold Awards in the Visit Isle of Wight Green Star Scheme.
Other “green” activities for our Isle of Wight holiday cottage guests include:
Join West Wight Alpacas and enjoy a range of walking experiences with alpacas and llamas. Special winter rates – open Fri-Sun in winter.
If you have a head for heights and nature how about trying a bit of recreational tree climbing at Goodleaf. Operating in winter if weather is mild.
If trees are not high enough for you then try paragliding with High Adventure or Butterfly Paragliding.
The Donkey Sanctuary provides donkeys a safe and permanent home – come and visit them and look out for the regular events all year. Walk a Donkey Day 25 Jan.
Spot wildfowl and waders at RSPB reserve Brading Marshes – a haven for wildlife including buzzards, little egrets, green woodpeckers, marsh harriers, butterflies, hobbies and red squirrels.
Isle of Wight Dark Skies
The Isle of Wight has some of the darkest skies in the UK, which helped the Island secure UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status. Visit Isle of Wight has just launched a brilliant dark skies page on the website showing best spots for an astronomical night out. The Island Planetarium (re-opening Feb) & Vectis Astronomical Society (observatory open to visitors every Thu) are useful resources if you want to learn more and attend Stargazing evenings. Our Isle of Wight holiday cottages are well placed to do stargazing from the garden – some of our regular guests already bring their telescopes! This Lunar calendar is useful for choosing the best time to visit for a dark sky experience!
Catch the bus
The Southern Vectis bus stops are in easy reach of most of our Isle of Wight holiday cottages so jump on board and have a car-free day out. Places which are easy to get to from our Isle of Wight holiday cottages include Carisbrooke Castle, The Needles, Alum Bay, Newport, Yarmouth, Farringford House / Dimbola Lodge / Freshwater Bay , Compton Bay, Colwell Bay, and Totland Bay. Visit Southern Vectis and FYT bus for more information – winter timetable out now.
Isle of Wight holiday cottage must dos!
Visit Isle of Wight to see what else is on offer including IOW Steam Railway (open again on 21 Mar), Brading Roman Villa, Farringford House (gardens only open until 1 Apr), Ventnor Botanic Garden, Quarr Abbey, Shanklin Chine (closed for winter), Fort Victoria, theme parks for the children (Robin Hill – Spirit of the Orient 14-22 Feb) and Blackgang Chine (closed for winter), The Needles Landmark Attraction (chairlift & children’s world undergoing winter maintenance), Tapnell Farm, Isle of Wight Zoo, Amazon World, Monkey Haven, Arreton Barns craft village, fishing trips, plus much much more.
Isle of Wight Festival 11-14 June 2020. Headliners: Lionel Richie & Lewis Capaldi (Friday), Snow Patrol & Chemical Brothers (Saturday), Duran Duran (Sunday). Other acts announced so far include Happy Mondays, James Arthur, Supergrass & Dido.
National Trust – The Needles Old & New Batteries (tea room open only Thu-Sun in winter), Newtown Old Town Hall (closed for winter), Bembridge Windmill (closed for winter), Mottistone Gardens (closed for winter), Bembridge Fort (closed for winter). Newtown National Nature Reserve, St Helens Duver, Needles Headland & Tennyson Down, Compton Bay & Downs, Chillerton Down, St Catherine’s Down, Ventnor Down, Borthwood Copse open all year.
English Heritage – Osborne House (open weekends up to Feb half term), Carisbrooke Castle (open weekends up to Feb half term), Yarmouth Castle (closed Oct – Mar), Appuldurcombe House (closed Oct-Mar), St Catherine’s Oratory (open all year).
And finally! The Island has excellent pubs serving local beer and good food. Many of these also have live entertainment. Pubs near our Isle of Wight holiday cottages include The Three Bishops at Brighstone, The Crown Inn at Shorwell, Wight Mouse Inn at Chale, The Sun Inn at Hulverstone, Blacksmiths Arms outside Carisbrooke and The Bugle Inn in Yarmouth.
Isle of Wight weather
For today’s weather see Isle of Wight Pearl webcam.
Isle of Wight holiday cottage “What’s On”
For more information on the island, places to visit and the latest events for our Isle of Wight holiday cottage guests we recommend:
Isle of Wight area of outstanding natural beauty – winter programme
