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Cycling Holidays On The Isle Of Wight 2025

A few years ago, Lonely Planet wrote an entertaining feature that declared the Isle of Wight as number one in their list of the 'world's best cycling routes', ahead of Australia's West Coast and Provence in France.

I've never been quite sure if their top 10 was meant to be ranked 1-10, but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth and embrace this opportunity to get a few more planet-saving cyclists over to the Isle of Wight.

Here's our guide to cycling on the Isle of Wight with advice on taking a bike on the ferry, bike friendly places to stay, popular routes and cycling facilities.

Jump to the relevant section:

Several former railways lines are now traffic-free cycle tracks (this is Yarmouth - Freshwater)

The Chalk Ridge Extreme is suitable for mountain bikers with firm buttocks and soft suspension

Getting to the Isle of Wight with a bicycle

If you are new to Isle of Wight ferry travel, then you might like to trawl your way through our ferry beginners' guide. However, if you have better things to do - such as renewing your home insurance or re-grouting your shower - then here's the gist of it:

Bringing a bike to the Isle of Wight is free for foot passengers. Cars are charged depending on how much space they use up, so bike racks can bump up the price if it makes your car notably longer or taller.
There are six ferry routes to the Isle of Wight. At the time of writing, four of them are properly geared up for taking lots of bicycles (Ed: is this page going to be full of bicycle puns?) whilst two of them have limited space and run a 'first come, first served policy'. You might end up in a fist fight to decide who gets to catch the next ferry.
So, if you're arriving by bicycle then I'd get a ferry from Lymington Pier to Yarmouth (40 minute car ferry), Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier Head (20 minute foot passenger ferry), Portsmouth to Fishbourne (40 minute car ferry) or Southampton to East Cowes (55 minute car ferry).

The Hovercraft has a limited amount of space for bikes and doesn't allow them during a couple of peak crossings each day. It only takes 10 minutes and travels from Southsea to Ryde Esplanade. They describe trips on the Hovercraft as a 'flight' because technically it hovers above the water...

Red Funnel's foot passenger service - the Red Jet - does have space for bicycles but it is 'first come, first served' and isn't as large as the car ferries. It takes 28 minutes.
Car ferry return prices range from about £50 - £300 depending on time of year, whilst foot passengers cost about £15 - £40 return regardless of the time of year. There are discount codes and deals regularly and a general rule is that travelling as a foot passenger on a car ferry is cheaper than travelling on a faster foot passenger ferry. See our guides to saving money as a foot passenger with Wightlink or Red Funnel.
Broadly speaking, if you are travelling in winter as a group of four then you will probably find that it is cheaper to bring a car with bikes on the back. In summer, if you're travelling alone you'll find it is a lot cheaper to travel as a foot passenger.

It is always worth having a look at our ferry discounts code page or take a look at the 'official' offers pages for the three ferry companies yourself:

You can take your bike on ferries operated by Red Funnel from Southampton...

...and on Wightlink's ferries from Lymington and Portsmouth

Check Wightlink's offers page

Check Red Funnel's offers page

Check Hovertravel's offers page

Taking your bike on public transport on the Isle of Wight

There is space for four bicycles on the 'Island Lane' trainline, which starts at Ryde Pierhead (next to the Wightlink foot passenger ferry). The train travels south via Brading, Sandown, Lake and Shanklin.

You can't reserve a space for your bike onboard.

You generally can't take bicycles onboard the Isle of Wight's buses (it is occasionally allowed 'at the sole discretion of the driver'). A few years ago, there was a bus with special space for buses but that stopped running. See the official policy.

Southern Vectis buses parked at The Needles

You generally can't take your bike on the Isle of Wight's buses

Bike hire on the ISle of WIght

If you're not bringing your own bike, then bike hire options on the Isle of Wight include:

Wight Cycle Hire (10 minute walk from the Yarmouth ferry port)
South Island Cycle Hire (Freshwater, about 3 miles from the Yarmouth ferry port)
Tav Cycles (15-20 minutes walk from the Ryde ferry ports)
RouteFifty7 (two bases in Shanklin, 10-15 minutes from the railway station, next to the Red Squirrel Trail)
Wight Bike (Merstone, near Arreton, near to the Red Squirrel Trail)
Zoom E-Bike hire (Niton, South Wight)

You can also hire electric scooters from a company called Voi. It's one of those pay-per-minute schemes.

You can expect to pay about £15 - £30 to hire a bike for the day from most of these places. Electric bikes are more expensive.

Tapnell Farm is also worth a mention as it offers bike hire for its guests. There are several different types of accommodation at the site in the West Wight including Tom's Eco Lodges (safari tents, sleeps 8), modulogs (sleeps 6), log cabins (sleeps 8), pods (sleeps 4) and geodomes (sleeps 6). They've also got a 16 person manor house on the site.

This bike hire hut can be found in Shanklin (photo taken in 2023)

biCycle-friendly accommodation on the Isle of Wight

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but I've dug out a few Isle of Wight places to stay that describe themselves as being cycling-friendly, which generally means you won't have to leave your £5000 bike chained up to a lamp-post overnight. Some options include:

The Clifton in Shanklin is a guest house with sea views and 4.5/5 review scores. It has 'safe storage for bikes' according to a couple of reviewers. The Clifton was 'Commended' at a South East tourism in 2022/2023 called the Beautiful South Awards.
Luccombe Hall Country House Hotel in Shanklin has 'secure under cover bicycle storage' according to their website. It scores 4/5 from reviewers.
The Caledon in Cowes is a B&B with 'secure cycle storage' according to their website. It scores 5/5 on TripAdvisor.
Boniface Cliff Villa in Shanklin is a self catering house which sleeps eight people. The owners have built a lockable bicycle storage shed on the side of the building, which has space for eight bikes.

Sea views from the Clifton Hotel in Shanklin

The Caledon is a highly rated B&B in Cowes with cycle storage

Getting around the Isle of Wight with a bicycle

There are obviously countless routes you could take around the Isle of Wight on bicycle, but you don't really want to spend a weekend touring the Island's industrial estates. We've picked out a handful of the more popular routes and split them into:

routes for hardcore cyclists (my definition is someone wearing lycra shorts and a brightly coloured top).
those looking for more of a gentle holiday with stops every five minutes to have a drink and pretend you're admiring the view. I fall into this category.

Isle of Wight Cycling routes for keen cyclists

Does your bicycle cost more than your car? Do you wear lycra shorts? Do you wear those funny shoes that clip into your bicycle? Do you find yourself saying 'epic' a lot?

If so, I'd consider you a keen cyclist who will probably want to take on one of the Isle of Wight's two tougher cycle routes.

1. Round the Island Cycle route

Keen cyclists often attempt the Round the Island cycle route, which is about 64 miles/103km. You can join 3000 other people for the annual Randonee in May or attempt it yourself on a quieter day or two. It isn't an entirely coastal route, so don't expect endless sea views but it has some lovely sections. The prettiest bit is probably the West Wight section around Compton Bay and Freshwater Bay. The Randonee goes in a clockwise direction.

Here's a nice video of someone attempting the Round The Island cycle route whilst making me feel bad about the big slice of chocolate fudge cake I ate last night.

If you're not bringing a car and want to attempt the Round The Island Cycle Route in two days (about 30 - 35 miles a day) then I would go for one of these options (in no particular order):

a) Round the Island Starting From Portsmouth

From Portsmouth, you'll catch a Wightlink ferry to Fishbourne (check here for offers). It's a car ferry that takes 40 minutes and is round the corner from the railway station at Portsmouth Harbour. At the time of writing, you can bring a bike on the train to Portsmouth Harbour, with some restrictions. You can also take a bike on the ferry. Alternatively, you could get the foot passenger ferry from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier Head. It's a quicker crossing (20 minutes) and has the nice novelty of arriving at the UK's oldest pier. However, it's a detour to get onto the Round The Island Cycle Route so will add a couple of miles onto your journey.

If you want somewhere to stop halfway then you'll end up along the Isle of Wight's Military Road on the South West Coastline. The good news is that it's a beautiful stretch of coastline with unspoilt beaches and dark skies for stargazing. We've had many happy evenings sat on the beach at Compton Bay watching the sunset.

The bad news is that there's not much accommodation around there apart from several campsites (Grange Farm, Compton Farm). If you want accommodation with actual walls then I start with The Three Bishops in Brighstone or cycle a bit further to Freshwater Bay where you'll find the swanky Albion Hotel.

Brighstone has a pub and café, whilst Freshwater has a couple of cafes and a pub.

For lunch, I would stop off around Ventnor or Niton on the first day and then somewhere in Cowes for the second day.

There are some campsites near to Compton Bay to split up a two day cycle

b) Round The Island Starting From Southampton

A second option is to get the Red Funnel car ferry from Southampton to East Cowes, which takes about an hour (check here for offers). The bad news is that the ferry journey is longer than the Portsmouth ferry (55 minutes compared to 40) and the ferry port isn't right by Southampton Central Railway Station. The good news is that you have more options of places to stay whilst doing a fairly equal number of miles each day. There aren't many campsites around the South Wight but there is accommodation at The Wight Mouse pub in Chale and there are some hotels in Ventnor.

Ventnor is probably a bit less than half way but has a much better choice of places to sleep and eat than Niton or St Lawrence. It's a decent sized town with a nice esplanade and seafront pubs/restaurants.

Ventnor is a Victorian resort with lots of hotels

c) Round The Island Starting From Lymington

A third option is to get the Wightlink ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth, which takes about 40 minutes (check here for offers). It's a quieter ferry crossing than the other two but it is pretty and is a good one if you want to cycle through the New Forest on the mainland.

Sandown and Shanklin are about halfway round and are probably your best bet for an overnight stay, although it's worth realising that it is a notable detour from the official route. The towns have lots of places to stay including several hotels and some campsites which are a bit inland. Shanklin seafront has a good choice of places to eat.

As mentioned earlier, a couple of Shanklin's hotels mention in their adverts that they have secure places to keep bikes so I would start with The Clifton and Luccombe Hall Country House Hotel in Shanklin. However, I would double-check with them that nothing has changed since I wrote this!

Average views at cycle-friendly Luccombe Hall Country House Hotel

Why does the Round The Island Cycle Route go inland?

You may have noticed that the coastal cycle route isn't all that coastal in places. The walking route certainly hugs the coastline more closely. I am not completely sure on all the reasons for this but my thoughts are:

The section along the South West coastline is on the Military Road. Some drivers have a habit of racing along here at dangerous speeds as it's a long and straight-ish road. Cycling on the quieter roads slightly inland is probably safer if you're in a group.
Between East Cowes and Ryde, a lot of the coastal section is inaccessible and privately owned. There aren't public roads or paths in a lot of places. Even the walking route misses out a lot of this section of coastline.
The section between Yarmouth and Shalfleet jumps inland. Again, I think this is to avoid the main road between Yarmouth and Newport. The section around Newtown is marshy so you couldn't cycle through there anyway.
Sandown and Shanklin are missed off the cycle route altogether. They are both popular places that get a large number of visitors and the roads get a little slow in summer. The official route follows much quieter roads.

2. Chalk Ridge Extreme

Another popular Isle of Wight route for hardcore cyclists is the Chalk Ridge Extreme, which is about 53 miles/85 km. It's a hilly route - by Isle of Wight standards - and is considered a more difficult cycle than the Round The Island route.

There is some gorgeous scenery on this route but you will need a mountain bike and thighs like tree trunks (or an electric mountain bike, in my case).

3. The Tennyson Trail

A third option for keen mountain bikers is the Tennyson Trail. It is similarly rough to the Chalk Ridge Extreme (and overlaps it) but it is 14 miles each way and includes some of the best views. It starts from Carisbrooke and follows various high points in the West Wight before dropping down into Freshwater Bay. It then continues up the hill towards the Needles where you can have a ride on the chairlift or apply cream to sore areas.

We did the Tennyson Trail on e-bikes (yes, I know that's cheating) and enjoyed it greatly. I felt like a teenager whooshing down the steep hills before remembering that it would hurt if I fell off.

Read our detailed guide to the Tennyson Trail. It would make my day if you did, it took ages.

The Tennyson Down is a terrific cycle track if you've got a mountain bike and good legs (or an e-bike)

The Tennyson Trail passes through Freshwater Bay

I'd say those are the three most famous, challenging cycle routes on the Isle of Wight, but other routes for keen cyclists are offered by Wightlink, Visit Isle of Wight and The National Trust.

Whilst planning your routes, it's worth knowing that the West Wight (Yarmouth, Freshwater, Brighstone) is much quieter and less developed than the East Wight (Sandown, Shanklin, Ryde). I reckon that animals outnumber people in the West Wight. The South Wight (Ventnor, Niton) is very steep in places and there's also a hilly band across the middle of the Island.

Easy and traffic-free Isle of Wight Cycling routes for families and occasional cyclists

If your bicycles have pictures of Elsa and Anna on the saddle then you will probably want to stick to one of the more family-friendly routes. Equally, you might prefer these routes if you are like me and quite enjoy a short bike ride followed by a large lunch in a café.

The main family-friendly cycle track on the Isle of Wight is called the Red Squirrel Trail. We've done the whole thing and have written a very detailed guide (Ed: stop showing off).

The Red Squirrel Trail is a worthy attempt to link up various former railway lines with other cycle tracks via quiet roads in towns.

It's worth pointing out that the Red Squirrel Trail isn't 100% traffic free and the surface varies from tarmac to somewhat rougher sections in winter. We offer some suggestions of 100% traffic free sections later on this page and in our main Red Squirrel Trail guide.

Further advice on the Red Squirrel Trail

The main Red Squirrel Trail is 32 miles and starts from (West) Cowes. This is handy if you are planning a day trip, as the first cycle track starts about 0.7 miles from the Red Funnel passenger ferry from Southampton (see our ferries guide). It then heads south, wiggles through Newport in the middle of Island and then turns into a loop near Merstone. The looped section includes the seaside resorts of Shanklin and Sandown and is sometimes known as the Sunshine Trail. You will enjoy the irony of seeing signs for the Sunshine Trail if you visit on a wet day.

My brief summary of the Red Squirrel Trail looks like this:

Cowes ferry to the start of the Cowes cycle track - steep hills, cycling on quiet roads. Tedious but necessary.
Cowes to Newport - lovely smooth tarmac with river views. Delightful.
Getting through Newport - quiet roads and cycle tracks alongside busy roads. Tedious but necessary.
Newport to Sandown - car free and pleasant cycle tracks, with only occasional busy roads to cross and a café at Newchurch. Very pleasant!
Sandown to Shanklin - very attractive seafront cycling but lots of road cycling and wobbling on the edge of a sea wall without railings. Lots of cafes.
Shanklin to Wroxall - smooth and safe for younger children.
Wroxall to Merstone - bumpy mountain bike trail with steep hills. Best avoided with small children.

After this, the Red Squirrel Trail goes back over the same route to get from Merstone to Cowes.

Long sections of the Red Squirrel Trail are traffic free and safe for novice cyclists...

...whilst other parts involve a precarious ride along a sea wall without railings

You can find maps on the Red Squirrel Trail website, although they don't make it particularly clear which sections are car-free. You might like to have a read of our guide for more advice on how you can avoid roads completely.

If you want cycle tracks that are 100% traffic free then scroll down a little to the next section or read our blogs about Yarmouth to Freshwater, Newport to Island Harbour or Wroxall to Shanklin.

This leg of the Red Squirrel Trail can be founded near a trading estate in Newport

Red Squirrel Trail cycle track from Newport to Cowes

This part of the trail leads to Cowes and is car free

What's the best part of the Red Squirrel Trail?

You may just want to do a short section of the Red Squirrel Trail. We cover this in more detail in our Red Squirrel Trail guide, but here's a summary:

If you've got your own bikes and want a safe bike ride for young children then I would head for Pedallers Café near Newchurch (park here if there's space). You can cycle in either direction for about a mile before you reach any roads and the tracks are generally smooth.

Pedallers Cafe is on the Red Squirrel Trail and provides a welcome ice cream stop

If you need to hire bikes and want a short ride for young children then I would get bikes from Route 57 at Lower Hyde Holiday Park in Shanklin. Ride for 2.5 miles towards Wroxall, or turn round earlier if the youngest child has depleted 50% of their energy (see the full guide to this route). The downside with this route is that there isn't a great amount to see or do in Wroxall. I would return the bikes and then drive to Shanklin seafront for an ice cream, amusements or a game of minigolf.

The Red Squirrel from Shanklin to Wroxall is flat and it has bike hire nearby

It is two miles each way on former railway line

If you are a family with teenagers and you have your own bikes then I would do the short bike ride along the seafront in the South East Wight. Park here on Sandown seafront and pedal along the seafront towards Shanklin. There are no railings and it's a popular walking route but you'll end up in Shanklin where you can get an ice cream or play minigolf. It's about two miles each way.

You can cycle along this scenic sea wall between Sandown and Shanklin

the East Wight Explorer

In 2020, the Red Squirrel Trail was extended to make it easier for people visiting from Portsmouth or people staying on the north east side of the Island. The new section is called the East Wight Explorer. It's a loop that covers Ryde, St Helen's and Wootton and links up with the original Red Squirrel Trail at either Newport or near Sandown.

As with the original trail, the new section isn't a non-stop traffic free tarmac paradise but it is a noble attempt to join up cycle tracks with quiet roads. I'd say the East Wight Explorer involves quite a lot more time on roads. I don't think they have actually created any new tracks for this, it's just a suggested way to use the available routes.

Where can I hire bikes near to a traffic free cycle track?

For a family bike ride on holiday you need a) somewhere to hire bikes near to a traffic free cycle track and b) somewhere to buy a Frappuccino. If no-one falls off, that is even better.

We've already mentioned the Shanklin to Wroxall cycle track but my favourite is the former railway line from Yarmouth to Freshwater. You can park at Yarmouth's Long Stay Car Park and walk for seven minutes to Wight Cycle Hire (there is also free parking about 20 minutes' walk away at Bouldnor Viewpoint).

You can then cycle for 1.8 miles towards Freshwater Causeway along the River Yar. It's a scenic ride and is mostly quite wide. The risk of falling in the river is minimal, apart from a little bit at the end where you meet the road.

Once you get to the Causeway, you can either turn round or carry on to Freshwater Bay. The latter requires cycling on a road for about a mile.

If you carry on to the beach then you can get lunch at Dimbola or get an ice cream from the lifeboat shop at the beach.

If you turn around and cycle back then you can get lunch at Off The Rails, which is the former railway station (it's a lovely café, but it's quite pricey).

Read the blog about our idyllic cycle along this track.

We completed the Freshwater to Yarmouth bike ride without any disasters

We enjoyed our Frappuccino at Off The Rails

Other traffic-free cycle tracks

The people behind the Red Squirrel Trail also recommend a number of other places for car-free or quiet cycle routes for families:

Parkhurst Forest which is near to Newport is a good sized woodland with lots of walking and cycling routes. Read the blog about our botched attempt at this route.
Brading to St Helens is a route in the East Wight that goes along a former railway line and includes a nature reserve.
Newport to Wootton Bridge is an inland section that meets up with the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, which is a nice family day out (i.e. a nice day out for families, rather than a day out for nice families).
Ryde to St Helens is another East Wight route that is mostly coastal. There are bike hire places in the area including TAV Cycles in Ryde.

The Newport to Wootton Bridge cycle route joins up with the Isle of Wight Steam

Useful facilities for cycling on the Isle of Wight

Cowes Cycle Hub and Newport Cycle Hub

A couple of 'cycle hubs' opened on the Isle of Wight in 2017 to encourage people like me to stop driving around in their massive cars whilst complaining about traffic.

The Cowes cycle hub is by the Cowes Red Jet ferry at PO31 7RS. It provides a shelter for locking up your bike and there are tools to help with repairs.

A Newport hub also opened at PO30 2QR, but Google reckons it is closed and I've not got round to checking in person yet. For some reason, the map on the news article launching the hubs showed the Newport hub as being at 'Andy's Disco and Karaoke' on the other side of Newport. I'm sure Andy's a lovely guy but I doubt he'd take kindly to you repairing your bike in his lounge.

Bag carrying services for Isle of WIght cycling holidays

My mother has not let me forget the childhood cycling holiday when I smuggled 26 Mr Men books into her panniers. Upon arrival at the B&B she was not amused to find that she had been carrying extra weight all day and that she didn't have any spare pants.

If you want to avoid such calamities, you could use Move My Bag. I've not used it myself so I can't offer a lot of guidance.

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