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  • Home
  • Why you should visit the Isle of Wight
  • Ferry travel advice & discounts
    • Discount Isle of Wight ferry travel
    • Isle of Wight ferry beginners guide
    • Wightlink's Tesco Clubcard deal – is it the best discount?
    • Using Wightlink’s Multilink deal for cheap ferry travel
    • Cheap Isle of Wight ferry travel for caravans
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    • Family holiday parks & caravans >
      • 10 of the best Isle of Wight caravan holiday parks
      • Park Resorts and Parkdean Resorts Isle of Wight holiday parks
      • Which Isle of Wight holiday park should I stay in?
      • Last minute deals and discounts at holiday parks
      • Is there a Haven holiday park on the Isle of Wight?
      • Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park reviews and facilities
      • Lower Hyde and Landguard Holiday Park review
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      • Isle of Wight Hotels - a beginner's guide
      • 10 of the best Isle of Wight luxury hotels
      • 5 Ventnor hotels and guest houses
      • Warner's Bembridge Coast & Norton Grange hotels
      • 5 best Isle of Wight coach tour holidays and trips
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      • Isle of Wight Festival 2021 lineup and tickets
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      • Isle of Wight Festival History
      • Cowes Week - attractions and accommodation
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      • Activities for an Isle of Wight stag do
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      • Isle of Wight TV & Movie Tour
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      • Historic attractions on the Isle of Wight
      • 10 Isle of Wight Gardens and Parks
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      • 5 Isle of Wight car journey games
      • 15 of the best Isle of Wight car park viewpoints
      • The Isle Spy car journey game
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    • Which is the best Isle of Wight beach for...
    • Isle of Wight Beaches Interactive Map
    • Isle of Wight tide times
    • Isle of Wight weather forecast
    • Isle of Wight surf forecast
    • The beach holiday checklist - 5 accessories
    • Mobile version of Isle of Wight Best Beaches
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5 Isle of Wight car journey games

Until I learnt to drive I didn't enjoy Isle of Wight car journeys. I wasn't old enough to enjoy the views and I always ended up feeling a bit queasy on the Island's bumpy and swervy roads.

Here are five Isle of Wight car journey games to pass the time on a drive from one side of the Island to the other.
Low gear now road sign in Ventnor
Isle of Wight roads are full of ups and downs - much like life

1. Isle Spy (team game)

Isle Spy is very loosely based on I-Spy.

OK, so it is very similar to I-Spy, but with an added dash of sarcasm.

Print off the PDF or do the online version and see if you can spot 15 things on the Isle of Wight roads - like the 'Woah Red Squirrels!" sign and personalised IOW number plates.

We tried this out on a stag do ("Wahey") and the winning team managed 11 in just over an hour.
Red squirrels road sign with exclamation mark
Woah! Red Squirrels!

2. Mainland v Island (2 players or teams)

Pick whether you will represent the Island or the Mainland and then give yourself a point when you see a car registered to your area.

Cars registered on the Isle of Wight start with HW or end in DL (e.g. HW56 AAA or T100 SDL).

If you spot a personalised IOW or IW car then the Isle of Wight team gets a bonus 10 points.

The first team to 50 points wins.

This game works best on a route without a great deal of cars, so perhaps from Blackgang Chine to...anywhere.
IOW personalised numberplate
Spot a personalised plate for 10 bonus points

3. Mind your own business (3 player)

Many Isle of Wight business owners are not terribly creative when it comes to branding.

The majority seem to just take a word and attach either it to either 'Island', 'Wight' or 'Solent' (for example Island Carpets, Wight Carpets, Solent Carpets). 

Pick 'Solent', 'Island' or 'Wight' and award yourself a point if you spot a business or van with your word on it.

4. Billingham (1 or more players)

The Billingham Game is utterly pointless, and is more than a little irritating for anyone who isn't taking part.

The general idea is to say the word 'Billingham' as many times as you can whilst driving along the only road in the hamlet of Billingham (near Chale).

There's a sign as you enter Billingham and another as you leave.

That's it.

No, really, that's the game. You can call yourself a winner if you keep saying it for the entirety of the very short journey.
Get ready to start saying Billingham when you see this sign...
...and carry on until you pass this sign. The game can also be played in the opposite direction as long as you say Billingham backwards.

5. Bacon thief (2 or more players)

This was my Dad's favourite Isle of Wight game, which would be dragged out for harvest supper quizzes and similar events that we were forced to attend.

One person gives a riddle which is an Isle of Wight town or village, with the person who guesses it correctly offering the next one.

For example, someone might say "Bacon thief" which would be Whippingham.

You can either pick easy ones to encourage younger passengers to join in, or ridiculously complicated stories. So, an easy one might be "Just beneath yar nose" which would of course be Yarmouth. Or a more complicated one would involve a description of how Peter Beardsley bought a new vehicle but it stopped working, which would be Carisbrooke (Car-is-broke with a Geordie accent...)

The game ends when everyone has lost interest. It usually lasts about thirty seconds.

Related guides from Isle of Wight Guru:

Children swimming at a holiday park
10 best caravan holiday parks
Carisbrooke Castle gatehouse
20 quirky places to stay
30 days out for children & families
Hot tub at a holiday lodge
5 Isle of Wight holiday lodges
Child at Compton Bay
Which is the best beach for...?
Bedroom at Hambrough Hotel
10 best Isle of Wight luxury hotels
Surfing dog
Dog friendly holidays
Glamping pod
Glamping on the Isle of Wight
Red funnel car ferry
Discount Isle of Wight ferry travel

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