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10 reasons to visit the Isle of Wight
Did you ever play that game called Outburst where you shout out '10 things that are red' or '10 Eastenders characters'? Our copy is ancient so you have to shout things like Beppe Di Marco and Matthew Rose.
Anyway, here are ten things I'd suggest for a category of 10 reasons to come to the Isle of Wight for a holiday.
Anyway, here are ten things I'd suggest for a category of 10 reasons to come to the Isle of Wight for a holiday.
1. Sailing
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Cowes considers itself as the UK's home of sailing in the same way that Wembley is the home of football and ITV2 is the home of mindless drivel which makes you question whether we ever evolved beyond apes.
Cowes Week in early August is the town's main sailing event with about 8000 sailors and another 90000 people who just fancy a nosey. The Round the Island Race in late June/early July is also worth watching with 1500 yachts competing in various classes. It's a bit like sports day for posh people. If you want to stay in Cowes, there are lots of self catering options on Airbnb as well as a nearish holiday park called Thorness Bay. Hotels which get good reviews include the Best Western's New Holmwood and North House. |
Lots of yachts and bags of flags at Cowes Week
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2. Sandy beaches
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Coachloads of holidaymakers come to the Isle of Wight for the sandy beaches of Shanklin, Sandown and Ryde. I'm certainly a fan of such places on the right day, but I always encourage visitors to explore a bit further than the obvious beaches.
We like bodyboarding at Compton Bay, rockpooling in Bembridge, swimming at Whitecliff Bay, kitesurfing at Brook Chine (OK, I don't do that, but other people do) or fossil hunting at Yaverland. |
You won't get that view in Bedfordshire
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We also enjoy kayaking in Freshwater or St Helen's, eating out on Ventnor seafront and watching the yachts sailing past from Gurnard.
There are also harder to reach beaches such as Steephill Cove and Whale Chine or secluded spots like Binnel Bay or Castlehaven in the South Wight.
See our guide to 'which is the best Isle of Wight beach for...'
There are also harder to reach beaches such as Steephill Cove and Whale Chine or secluded spots like Binnel Bay or Castlehaven in the South Wight.
See our guide to 'which is the best Isle of Wight beach for...'
3. Dinosaurs and red squirrels
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The Isle of Wight's entrepreneurs have done a thorough job of flogging a dead dinosaur with numerous prehistoric themed attractions and oddities. There's a dinosaur museum, dinosaur minigolf (three different dinosaur themed minigolf courses in fact), dinosaur-shaped biscuits, fossil hunting tours, dinosaur poo in gift shops (I'm afraid it is just chocolate covered raisins) and a few carbon fibre and animatronic dinosaurs hanging on a cliff edge.
Meanwhile, red squirrels love a game of hide and seek on the Isle of Wight, to the extent that seeing one becomes something you mention to nearby strangers. Try doing the same thing when you spot a grey squirrel in London and see what reaction you get... |
Brook Chine is one location for fossil hunting
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4. Music festivals
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I may be overstating things here, but my view is that the revival of the Isle of Wight Festival in 2002 had a hugely positive impact on the Island's culture.
When I was growing up in the 1990s, your best chance of live music without boarding a ferry was a husband and wife pub band doing Supertramp covers. |
Primal Scream at the Isle of Wight Festival
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After the Isle of Wight Festival returned, Bestival soon followed and then others had a go at putting on a decent event which would attract mainlanders. Some events failed, others succeeded for a while before disappearing or retiring to Dorset.
As I write this, your options include the Fringe Festival in Ventnor, Jack Up The Summer, Wight Proms and Great Wonderfest.
Fans of nostalgia might like to look at my top 10 Isle of Wight Festival moments.
As I write this, your options include the Fringe Festival in Ventnor, Jack Up The Summer, Wight Proms and Great Wonderfest.
Fans of nostalgia might like to look at my top 10 Isle of Wight Festival moments.
5. Queen Victoria and King Charles I
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The Isle of Wight has a fine history of royalty enjoying the sunshine and frolicking with red squirrels. Admittedly King Charles I was a prisoner at the time and Queen Victoria was mostly in mourning, but that doesn't stop us from squeezing a few quid out of foreigners who love our royal family.
Both are free for Engligh Heritage members, who also get a discount on the ferry. The history doesn't stop there - there are still a few piers which haven't fallen into the sea, three lighthouses (including one which isn't really near the sea and isn't still a lighthouse), seaside forts, a weird mini-Stonehenge thing, a 17th town hall which has lost its town, a creaky windmill and a rocket testing site. See our historic days out guide for more details. |
A wonky hedge at Osborne House
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6. Cycling
Lonely planet went a bit mad for IsIe of Wight cycling, declaring it "the greatest place in the universe for a bit of lycra clad bottom wiggling" or something like that. There's a Round the Island route (62 miles) which you do with 3000 others as part of the annual randonee. There are also some more serene routes along old railway lines.
Here's our guide to cycling on the Isle of Wight.
Here's our guide to cycling on the Isle of Wight.
7. Doughnuts
What do you mean you've never heard of Isle of Wight doughnuts? According to some slightly flakey history, the whole industry started here and anyone who denies such things is offering nothing but Fake News.
Anyway, here's my plan to exploit it for my own gains.
Anyway, here's my plan to exploit it for my own gains.
8. Sunshine
Several English seaside resorts claim to be the sunniest, in much the same way that six newspapers claim they've got an exclusive with the same story.
It turns out you can measure sunshine is different ways (hours, intensity, days with at least some sun). Shanklin has a half decent claim to be the sunniest place in the UK.
Perhaps more impressive is that the Isle of Wight gets about 500 hours a year more sunshine than London, despite not being all that far away.
All the same, I'd bring a woolly jumper on holiday, just in case.
If you want to stay in Shanklin your options include dozens of self catering places on Airbnb and Hoseasons as well as dozens of hotels/guest houses and a couple of big holiday parks called Lower Hyde and Landguard.
It turns out you can measure sunshine is different ways (hours, intensity, days with at least some sun). Shanklin has a half decent claim to be the sunniest place in the UK.
Perhaps more impressive is that the Isle of Wight gets about 500 hours a year more sunshine than London, despite not being all that far away.
All the same, I'd bring a woolly jumper on holiday, just in case.
If you want to stay in Shanklin your options include dozens of self catering places on Airbnb and Hoseasons as well as dozens of hotels/guest houses and a couple of big holiday parks called Lower Hyde and Landguard.
9. Multicoloured sand
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Selling sand to tourists on a sandy Island has got to rank as one of the greatest marketing blags of all time. Nonetheless, it's hard to resist the little glass teddy bears and guitars at Alum Bay. The chairlift is fun and only slightly terrifying.
The boat ride towards the lighthouse is pleasant or the National Trust's Old Battery has splendid views and a quirky little tearoom. |
A fine bench for admiring Alum Bay
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10. Blackgang Chine
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Here's how the conversation goes when you meet a mainlander.
Mainlander: "You're from the Isle of Wight? I went there on a school trip when I was 11" Islander: "Oh really?" Mainlander: "Yes, we went to..." Islander: "Blackgang Chine?" Mainlander: "Yes, with the..." Islander: "Carbon fibre dinosaurs and giant smuggler?" Mainlander: "Yes, and we also went to..." Islander: "Alum Bay to fill up a glass jar with multicoloured sand?" Mainlander: "Yes, how did you know? Now tell me, how many people live on the Isle of Wight..." |
That's either a very large man or a very small shop
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Mainlanders who visited when they were 11 will be pleased to know that Blackgang Chine is still there and is still quite odd. Old favourites like the Crooked House and maze are still there, whilst new things have been added including an Underwater Kingdom and animatronic dinosaurs (sorry, you can't climb on the moving ones).
It's more expensive than it used to be, but it is good fun and the location is hard to beat.
It's more expensive than it used to be, but it is good fun and the location is hard to beat.
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