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3 of the best Isle of Wight coach tour holidays and trips
A coach holiday is a hassle free and cheap way to see the Isle of Wight, with billy bargains to be had if you look around.
Occasionally, I’ve seen Isle of Wight coach trips on offer where the whole cost of the holiday is almost the same as taking a car on the ferry on your own - so, you’re effectively getting free accommodation, food and days out.
There are lots of coach companies hoping to persuade your bottom to sit in their seats. We decided to take a look at three of the biggest coach holiday companies to see how they compare on price, hotel ratings, customer reviews and choice. This guide originally included Shearings Holidays and National Holidays but they sadly fell into administration due to Covid-19.
For our price comparison, we looked for an on-peak and off-peak coach trip of four days, based on two people sharing, with pickup from the Midlands and excursions included. We searched in early June 2019.
Occasionally, I’ve seen Isle of Wight coach trips on offer where the whole cost of the holiday is almost the same as taking a car on the ferry on your own - so, you’re effectively getting free accommodation, food and days out.
There are lots of coach companies hoping to persuade your bottom to sit in their seats. We decided to take a look at three of the biggest coach holiday companies to see how they compare on price, hotel ratings, customer reviews and choice. This guide originally included Shearings Holidays and National Holidays but they sadly fell into administration due to Covid-19.
For our price comparison, we looked for an on-peak and off-peak coach trip of four days, based on two people sharing, with pickup from the Midlands and excursions included. We searched in early June 2019.
1. Just Go! Holidays
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Jauntily-named Just Go! Holidays gets an average of 5.5/10 on TrustPilot. We couldn't find Feefo reviews, but it scored 3.3/5 (or 6.6/10) on Google reviews.
They had a choice of three different Isle of Wight coach holidays, with a few dates available when we searched. You could pick from four or five days, and there were day trips to popular spots like Osborne, Yarmouth and Alum Bay and The Needles. |
Most Isle of Wight coach holidays include a trip to Alum Bay
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When we searched, they were offering accommodation at three hotels in Sandown and Shanklin - Holliers Hotel, Medehamstead Hotel and Royal Pier Hotel, all of which were scoring 3.5/5 on TripAdvisor. They also offered slightly more expensive coach tours based at Warner's Norton Grange Hotel in Yarmouth, which scores 4/5.
Price: an off peak holiday for two for four days was £320 in Shanklin in October 2019. An on-peak holiday for two in July 2019 in Shanklin was £638 (as that's an extra day, we reckon it's the equivalent of paying £510 for 4 days, so we'll use that figure for our price comparison). Most excursions were included in the trips we looked at, with one optional extra.
Price: an off peak holiday for two for four days was £320 in Shanklin in October 2019. An on-peak holiday for two in July 2019 in Shanklin was £638 (as that's an extra day, we reckon it's the equivalent of paying £510 for 4 days, so we'll use that figure for our price comparison). Most excursions were included in the trips we looked at, with one optional extra.
2. Alfa Travel
Alfa Holidays wasn't a name I was familiar with, but they work with good hotels and offer some competitive deals.
I couldn't find Alfa Travel on Trustpilot, but they were scoring 6.2/10 on Reviews.co.uk or 7.4/10 on Google reviews. The accommodation on offer when I searched was Bayshore Hotel in Sandown and The Shanklin Hotel, both of which were scoring a very respectable 4/5 on TripAdvisor.
There was a good choice of holidays on offer, ranging from three nights to seven nights. By the way, some coach holiday companies give holiday durations in 'days' and some give the duration in 'nights'. A 'three night' holiday is the same as a 'four day' holiday.
I found the Alfa Travel website navigation a little tricky (I couldn't figure out how to put the holidays in price order) but once I'd done some tinkering I found some good deals which included excursions.
Price: an off-peak coach holiday in March 2020 cost from £348 for two people for four nights/five days, staying in Sandown at Bayshore Hotel (reviews of 4/5). Included trips to Cowes, Newport and Alum Bay. For our price comparison, that's the equivalent of £278 for a four day holiday. On-peak, the same holiday cost £588 (that was in July 2019 but other dates were available) so the equivalent of £470 for four days.
I couldn't find Alfa Travel on Trustpilot, but they were scoring 6.2/10 on Reviews.co.uk or 7.4/10 on Google reviews. The accommodation on offer when I searched was Bayshore Hotel in Sandown and The Shanklin Hotel, both of which were scoring a very respectable 4/5 on TripAdvisor.
There was a good choice of holidays on offer, ranging from three nights to seven nights. By the way, some coach holiday companies give holiday durations in 'days' and some give the duration in 'nights'. A 'three night' holiday is the same as a 'four day' holiday.
I found the Alfa Travel website navigation a little tricky (I couldn't figure out how to put the holidays in price order) but once I'd done some tinkering I found some good deals which included excursions.
Price: an off-peak coach holiday in March 2020 cost from £348 for two people for four nights/five days, staying in Sandown at Bayshore Hotel (reviews of 4/5). Included trips to Cowes, Newport and Alum Bay. For our price comparison, that's the equivalent of £278 for a four day holiday. On-peak, the same holiday cost £588 (that was in July 2019 but other dates were available) so the equivalent of £470 for four days.
3. Daish's Holidays
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Daish's Holidays are a bit different to the others on this Isle of Wight coach trip guide, and they have some plus points which are worth considering.
Rather than working with several hotels, they just have their own chain of Daish's Hotels. The Isle of Wight one is in Shanklin and gets reviews of 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor. It's in Shanklin village rather than by the sea, but it was refurbished in 2015 and is a nice old building. |
Shanklin has plenty of hotels for coach trips
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I couldn't find any reviews on Trustpilot or other big reviews websites for Daish's as a whole company.
Unlike some other coach trip providers, you pay for each excursion so you need to factor that in unless you are happy to just explore Shanklin (I would suggest that you can do everything in Shanklin in a couple of days unless you want to spend a lot of time at the beach). Most excursions were £10 per person per day when I checked, with some higher-priced because of entrance fees.
Price: the cheapest off-peak holiday we found was £438 for two people in December 2019 for five days. However, excursions weren't included, so we added on £60 (assuming that a couple would go on three excursions over five days). We then calculated the price for four days, for the purposes of our comparison (are you keeping up?). So the total was £398 for two people in December 2019 including excursions. Using the same calculations, an on-peak holiday in July 2019 was £502 for two people.
Unlike some other coach trip providers, you pay for each excursion so you need to factor that in unless you are happy to just explore Shanklin (I would suggest that you can do everything in Shanklin in a couple of days unless you want to spend a lot of time at the beach). Most excursions were £10 per person per day when I checked, with some higher-priced because of entrance fees.
Price: the cheapest off-peak holiday we found was £438 for two people in December 2019 for five days. However, excursions weren't included, so we added on £60 (assuming that a couple would go on three excursions over five days). We then calculated the price for four days, for the purposes of our comparison (are you keeping up?). So the total was £398 for two people in December 2019 including excursions. Using the same calculations, an on-peak holiday in July 2019 was £502 for two people.
Price comparison of Isle of Wight Coach trip holidays and tours
OK, so this price comparison needs a few caveats. We tried to figure out the cost of a four day coach trip holiday to the Isle of Wight for two people. We looked for the cheapest option available during a peak month (i.e. June, July or August) and during an off-peak month (October to February). We included pick up from the Midlands and included the basic excursions package and food. If a four day trip wasn't available, we looked for the next best thing and calculated the equivalent price.
Off-peak coach holiday tour price comparison:
On-peak coach holiday tour price comparison:
Off-peak coach holiday tour price comparison:
- Alfa Holidays - £278
- Just Go! Holidays - £320
- Daish's Holidays - £398
On-peak coach holiday tour price comparison:
- Alfa Holidays - £470
- Daish's Holidays - £502
- Just Go! Holidays - £510
The-Isle-of-Wight-Guru-Don't-Blame-Us-Disclaimer™ The information on this website is correct, as far as we know, but please contact us if you find anything inaccurate.
