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Cycling holidays on the Isle of Wight 2021

A few years ago, Lonely Planet wrote an entertaining feature which 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.
Chalk ridge Isle of Wight sign
Chalk Ridge Extreme is suitable for mountain bikers with firm buttocks

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:
  • There are six ferry routes to the Isle of Wight. At the time of writing, four of them are geared up for taking bicycles (Ed: is this page going to be full of bicycle puns?) whilst two of them only allow fold up bikes or only have space for four bikes so 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 route which only has space for four bikes is the Hovercraft, which 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...
  • Car ferry return prices range from about £50 - £180 depending on time of year, whilst foot passengers cost about £15-£25 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 fast ferry.
  • 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.
  • Bringing a bike is free for foot passengers. Cars are charged depending on how much space they use up, so longer cars cost more.

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:

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:


You can expect to pay about £15-£20 to hire a bike for the day from most of these places.

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.

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 which 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.
  • 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.​

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) and those looking for more of a gentle holiday with stops every five minutes to have a drink and pretend you're admiring the view.

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 which 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):
​
  1. Catch a Wightlink ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne (check here for offers). It's a car ferry which 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 and you can 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, Chine Farm). If you want accommodation with actual walls then I would search for Brighstone on Airbnb as you should be able to find somewhere which will let you stay for one night (e.g. this property along the coastal road). There aren't hotels around that part of the Isle of Wight and there aren't many places for eating out, apart from a lone pub in Brighstone. You could stop off in Ventnor or Niton en route if you don't mind cycling a few more miles on top of your fish and chips.

  2. 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, which are about half way round the route. There aren't many campsites around the South Wight but there are plenty of Airbnbs around Ventnor, St. Lawrence and Niton which will let you book for one night. There are also 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.

  3. 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 and would also look at places on Airbnb in Shanklin which will let you just book one night. 

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.
I'd say those are the two 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 Car-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 cafe.

The best guide to these easier cycle routes is offered by the Red Squirrel Trail website. It gives a detailed guide to the Red Squirrel Trail itself, as well as other quiet cycle tracks and easy routes.
The full Red Squirrel Trail is 32 miles, but you can attempt a shorter section or do it in two or three days. A lot of the trail is along former railway lines, but there are some sections which go through towns. 

If you're arriving in Cowes (or staying in Cowes) then you might like to hire a bike and try the section of the Red Squirrel Trail which follows the River Medina to Newport (the northern end of the route on the map above). It's about 4 miles each way along a former railway line and you can hire bikes from Two Elements in Cowes.

Alternatively, you can do the circular part of the Red Squirrel Trail by starting from Isle Cycle in Sandown, routefifty7 in Shanklin or Wight Bike in Merstone.

If you're looking for things to do along the route, we've got guides to things to do in Cowes, Newport, Shanklin and Sandown which will blow your socks off (Ed: think you might be overselling).

Here's a video of someone cycling along the coastal part of the Red Squirrel Trail. At times they come precariously close to falling off the sea wall whilst admiring the view...
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. 
  • Brading to St Helens is a route in the East Wight which goes along a former railway line and includes a nature reserve 

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 Cycle Hubs in Newport and Cowes both provide shelters and places for repairing bicycles whilst the Newport Cycle Hub has 'shower facilities at the Riverside Centre'. For some reason, the map on the news article I found shows the hub as being at somewhere called 'Andy's Disco and Karaoke' on the other side of Newport but the actual location is on the map below at PO30 2QR.

I'm sure Andy's a lovely guy but I doubt he'd take kindly to you using his shower without checking first.
The Cowes cycle hub is by the Cowes Red Jet ferry at PO31 7RS. 

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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