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15 things to do in Sandown and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight (2021 guide)
Sandown and Shanklin are friendly resorts for families with young children, or for older visitors who like to sit on the esplanade eating chips. There's a zoo, a dinosaur museum, a theatre, sandy beaches and more minigolf courses than you can shake a golf club at.
I wouldn't recommend either town for trendy childless travellers looking to avoid people - see our days out for romantics for that sort of thing.
If you're looking to stay in the area then there's a big choice of hotels and guest houses in Sandown and Shanklin. Popular options include the Premier Inn on Sandown seafront or an independent hotel such as Brooke House, The Fawley or super-posh Haven Hall Hotel.
If you're after self catering, there are 200+ Airbnb properties in Sandown and Shanklin. The two main holiday parks in the area are Lower Hyde and Landguard which are both in Shanklin.
Anyway, here are 15 things to do and attractions in Sandown and Shanklin:
I wouldn't recommend either town for trendy childless travellers looking to avoid people - see our days out for romantics for that sort of thing.
If you're looking to stay in the area then there's a big choice of hotels and guest houses in Sandown and Shanklin. Popular options include the Premier Inn on Sandown seafront or an independent hotel such as Brooke House, The Fawley or super-posh Haven Hall Hotel.
If you're after self catering, there are 200+ Airbnb properties in Sandown and Shanklin. The two main holiday parks in the area are Lower Hyde and Landguard which are both in Shanklin.
Anyway, here are 15 things to do and attractions in Sandown and Shanklin:
1. Beaches at Sandown and Shanklin (free)
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The beaches at Sandown and Shanklin are sandy and clean and have parking nearby, which is ideal for endless trips back to the car to collect things for young children. They aren't the place for private marriage proposals or badly performed acoustic love songs because they are overlooked by a row of hotels and guest houses.
The water along this coast has won awards for cleanliness, so hopefully the swimmers will be the only floaters in the water. There are kayaks and pedalos which can be hired for not a great deal of money, and there are 37 different places to buy ice cream (I made that up, please don't write in). If you want a slightly quieter spot in the vicinity then the section between Sandown and Shanklin (Dunroamin Beach) is worth a go, or the Yaverland end of Sandown. Occasionally you'll get waves and surf at Shanklin but generally the water is flat. |
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2. Mini golf/ crazy golf
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It seems a shame that mini golf has never quite risen to the stature of PGA golf with its millionaire players and hours of televised ball hitting.
I would love to see 40 year old men weeping with joy after successfully putting a red ball through a concrete tube whilst their nine year old walks off in a strop. If such things did happen then Sandown and Shanklin would surely be described by softly spoken commentators as 'the spiritual home of mini golf', at least on the Isle of Wight. Shanklin has got three mini golf courses on the Esplanade (a pirate one, a dinosaur one and an indoor one called Caddyshack) as well as a mini golf course in Rylstone Gardens on the cliff top. Sandown has indoor mini golf on the Pier as well as Dino Islands minigolf at Sandham Gardens at the Yaverland end. For the benefit of minigolf historians, Shanklin's Adventure Golf course (the one next to the ice cream place) disappeared in 2019 to make way for Caddyshack at the Summer Arcade. Meanwhile, the old concrete course at Sandham Gardens was flattened in 2019 for the much more impressive new course. |
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3. Sandham Gardens (free)
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Besides the dinosaur themed minigolf and go karts, Sandham Gardens on Culver Parade is also home to one of our favourite Isle of Wight playgrounds. There is a good-sized toddler section, as well as a climbing frame for older children. It is also alongside a hard surface football/basketball court and a skate park.
You might even manage to keep the whole family happy, for five minutes. |
Sandham Gardens (also known as Sandham Playground is near the seafront)
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Looking for accommodation? Check out our caravan holiday park guide
4. Wildheart Animal Sanctuary (previously Isle of Wight Zoo)
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Many years ago, this had a bit of an iffy reputation as Sandown Zoo, but after a rebranding and a lot of TLC, Isle of Wight Zoo turned into a good quality attraction and then rebranded in 2021 to Wildheart Animal Sanctuary. It costs about £10 to get in and specialises in lions and tigers.
Read the blog about our visit to Isle of Wight Zoo (as it was called at the time). |
Wildheart Animal Sanctuary is in the remains of a fort
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5. Dinosaur Isle
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The Natural History Museum once declared that the Isle of Wight was the dinosaur capital of the UK. Read it and weep 'Jurassic Coast'! You might have Broadchurch but you don't have as many dinosaurs as us.
Local rivalries aside, Dinosaur Isle at the Yaverland end of Sandown is the UK's first purpose built dinosaur museum. It isn't huge, but then it isn't expensive (about £5) and some of the bones they have are massive. Visitors who don't want to learn anything (such as me) will want to ignore the first corridor of stuff and move on to the bits you can poke and prod. |
Please don't let dogs near the bones at Dinosaur Isle
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6. Sandown Pier (free to walk on)
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Alas, the Isle of Wight's pier collection has slowly been eaten by the sea over the last few decades. Over the years there have been 11, but there are now four left.
Ryde Pier is attractive but is really just a grand place for Wightlink to park the catamaran, Yarmouth Pier is a pretty walkway for fishing and Totland Pier is currently being rebuilt after spending many years with more holes in it than an episode of Midsomer Murders. |
Sandown Pier is good for a rainy day
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Sandown's Pier then is the only one that offers indoor attractions, with bowling, a bar, a children's play area and minigolf. It is pretty garish, but that's what you were hoping for wasn't it?
7. Rylstone Gardens and Big Mead (free)
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Rylstone Gardens is a Sunday afternoon sort of place, with lemon drizzle cake, mini golf and live music performed by brass bands. It links up with the cliff top walk, which is really rather splendid for promenading. There's one bit which has so many benches bought as memorials for people who presumably thought it was a lovely spot, that it looks a bit like a lower league football stadium.
Read the blog about our trip to Rylestone Gardens. |
Setting up for some parping at Rylstone Gardens
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Meanwhile, Big Mead is only really a public park with a duck pond, but it does also have a smallish playground for younger children. It's also got a free car park (postcode PO37 6QY).
8. Jurassic Jim's Fossil Shop
Jurassic Jim's in Shanklin is essentially a shop which sells fabulous fossilised finds of flora and fauna from far flung...er, cliffs. However, it is more like a mini museum than a shop with some impressive fossils to look at, as well as some smaller specimens for pocket money prices.
9. Indoor play
Ah, the welcome refuge of indoor play on a rainy day with a toddler in Sandown. Magic Island on Sandown Pier is fairly cheap and cheerful. Don't forget to bring the socks...
10. Amusement arcades
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Some amusement arcades have a marmite quality about them. By which I mean that they are bit too expensive and sticky, rather than you either love them or hate them.
Sandown Pier and Shanklin Esplanade's amusement arcades are actually pretty decent (and not too sticky) and are a good way to waste time on a wet day if you have a high tolerance for noise. My personal favourite is Shanklin's arcade, where we've won many yellow tickets over the years. As an aside, there was a big landslide near the arcade on Shanklin Esplanade in 2001 which sent thousands of tons of mud pouring onto a hotel dancefloor just as a pub quiz was starting. The story goes that a man from Bradford got his leg trapped in the landslide but that he managed to free himself by removing his trousers, unclipping his false leg and hopping to safety. Thankfully no-one was badly hurt. Another article says that a couple who were 'having an early night' felt the earth move. Well, that's my paraphrase anyway... |
This neon light has strong political views
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11. Tweerooms and Shanklin Old Village
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Shanklin's Old Village is on the shortlist for the Isle of Wight's most twee spot, alongside Winkle Street and the church in Godshill which is always on fudge boxes. There are thatched pubs and tea rooms, including the Old Thatch Teashop which has a fairy garden which will appeal to girly girls (and some boys, I'm not judging).
There's also a B&B where John Keats wrote some of his poems (now called Keats Cottage surprisingly). |
Fairies at the Old Thatch Teashop
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12. Devil's Chimney (free)
The Devil's Chimney does perhaps sound a little more exciting than it actually is, but it is a curious little quirk in the landscape. It is essentially a gap in some rocks which you can walk through on the route between Shanklin and Ventnor.
Don't plan your day around it, but include it in a small detour. The nearest postcode I can find is PO38 1QD.
Don't plan your day around it, but include it in a small detour. The nearest postcode I can find is PO38 1QD.
Do you love outdoor baths? Check out our guide to lodges with hot tubs
13. Shanklin Theatre
Shanklin's Theatre is the Isle of Wight's biggest theatre with seating for 600 and several acts that you have actually heard of. Watch out for the occasional clairvoyant who will charge you twenty quid to predict that someone in the audience lives at number 1 and has a relative whose name starts with J.
14. Shanklin Chine
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The Isle of Wight is full of Chines, which are cuttings in the land where water leads down to the sea. Shanklin's Chine likes to call itself the Isle of Wight's oldest tourist attraction, although I think the beaches and dinosaurs have been around a while too. It is basically a very pretty walkway which has lots of lights, plants and waterfalls to look at on the way down to the seaside.
There's also a nice thatched pub at the foot of the Chine on the seafront (Fisherman's Cottage). Read our blog about Shanklin Chine. |
Shanklin Chine has been going since 1817
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15. Swimming
Lots of Sandown and Shanklin's hotels have their own swimming pools, but if you aren't so lucky and can't quite tolerate the chilly sea then try The Heights Leisure Centre. Personally I like to put on a wetsuit, gingerly approach the sea, scream like a girl and then get out just as I'm starting to warm up.
16. Shanklin Treasure Trail
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Canny parents might consider a Treasure Trail as a way to encourage children to walk further than 20 metres without complaining.
You pay a few pounds for the clues (£10 at the time of writing) and then spend a couple of hours looking for answers on a circular route of Shanklin's old village (the thatched bit with the twee shops). The organisers will even text you answers if you get stuck. Read the blog about our Treasure Trail adventures. |
Trick children into going for a local history walk by buying a Treasure Trail
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17. Red Squirrel Cycle Trail
Even if you aren't a bottom-wiggling, lycra-wearing pro cyclist it's still worth considering a cycle along the South East Wight section of the Red Squirrel Trail.
The whole Red Squirrel Cycle Trail is 32 miles and goes all the way to Cowes, but you can just cover a section of it. You can find maps or GPS downloads on the Red Squirrel Trail website.
It is mostly former railway lines, so large sections are flat and traffic-free, although the Sandown and Shanklin sections do involve a fair amount of time in the towns.
Cycle hire options at the time of writing include routefifty7 in Shanklin or Isle Cycle in Sandown.
See our guide to Isle of Wight Cycling Holidays for more waffle.
The whole Red Squirrel Cycle Trail is 32 miles and goes all the way to Cowes, but you can just cover a section of it. You can find maps or GPS downloads on the Red Squirrel Trail website.
It is mostly former railway lines, so large sections are flat and traffic-free, although the Sandown and Shanklin sections do involve a fair amount of time in the towns.
Cycle hire options at the time of writing include routefifty7 in Shanklin or Isle Cycle in Sandown.
See our guide to Isle of Wight Cycling Holidays for more waffle.
18. Isle of Sweets, Wool and Craft Centre
We had a very pleasant morning painting pottery at this friendly little craft centre in Shanklin. It is three shops joined together with the other parts selling wool and sweets.
It's not massive, but when we visited (in 2019) it was really good value. In fact, our pottery bill was so small after two hours of activities that I felt guilty and started buying up several packs of souvenir Isle of Wight biscuits for relatives.
It's not massive, but when we visited (in 2019) it was really good value. In fact, our pottery bill was so small after two hours of activities that I felt guilty and started buying up several packs of souvenir Isle of Wight biscuits for relatives.
A little further afield...attractions just outside Sandown and Shanklin
- Adgestone Vineyard (good free place to go for a little wine - it was on BBC Countryfile in October 2016, in case that interests you)
- Amazon World (medium sized zoo, quite a lot indoors). Also home to Monkey Madness soft play, which you pay extra for.
- Garlic Farm (free, small playground, tractor-led tours, tasting, shop)
- Brading Roman Villa (indoor attraction with mosaics)
- House of Chilli (fancy shopping specialising in...chilli, funnily enough)
- Robin Hill (adventure park with playgrounds, toboggan run, woodland and summer shows)
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