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Walking the Isle of Wight coastal path

Walking the Isle of Wight coastal path is worth considering if a) you're fit enough to manage 65 miles over a few days and b) you're old enough to appreciate scenery.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, but I had absolutely no interest in views, scenery and picturesque landscapes until I was at least 20, so I personally wouldn't waste your time dragging a reluctant teenager on a week long walk (are you reading this, mother?)
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The walking route hugs the coastline more closely than the official round the Isle of Wight cycling route so two legs do tend to offer better views than two wheels.

How long does it take to walk the Isle of Wight coastal path?

The Isle of Wight coastal path is 65 miles. You can obviously walk it in a couple of days if you're a lunatic, or you can take a month doing it if you really want to, but bear in mind that some parts of the route are very rural so don't have many accommodation options.

Option 1: The Isle of Wight coastal path over four days 

One company, Contours, suggests a route over 4 days, with walks of 15 - 17.5 miles. This is an ideal option if you fancy a challenge rather than a sauntering holiday. The Isle of Wight coastline is not especially hilly apart from some bits around the West and South points.

The four day anticlockwise option stops at:
Option 2: The Isle of Wight coastal path over six days

The Official Tourism people have produced handy PDFs with walking routes with a route over 6 days, with daily walks ranging from 8 to 16 miles in an anticlockwise route. This is closer to a holiday kind of pace, with some long days and some short days. 

It includes stops in:
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  • Cowes (start from here, or Yarmouth or Ryde as they all have ferry ports).  (Search for Cowes hotels from Expedia)

The only slight snag is that there isn't very much accommodation in Brighstone or Niton as they are very sleepy (but pretty) places. So you can either camp, or take what's available.

Option 3: The Isle of Wight coastal path over 7 days

This is a more leisurely option for those who want to have the time to sit on benches with sea views eating squashed sandwiches for hours on end. This one is also anticlockwise and includes walks ranging from 8 to 11 miles and would include stops at:


Shalfleet, Brighstone and Chale are all quite small places so you won't have loads of choice for accommodation.

Guide Books and maps about the Isle of Wight coastal path

​Besides the official anticlockwise route from Visit Isle of Wight there are a couple of books which tackle the Isle of Wight coastal path in a clockwise direction. They're by Brian G Smailes and Paul Curtis and they get similar review scores. I can't help feeling that Brian looks like he's lost on the front of his own book.
If you want a map for walking the coastal path then I’d either go for the OS Explorer map or the A-Z Adventure Atlas which uses the same scale but is a little easier to handle whilst on a windy cliff edge as it uses OS maps in a book format and highlights the Isle of Wight coastal path. If the weather forecast is for seven days of rain then I’d get the all weather version of the OS Explorer map (or just postpone your holiday).
You can also buy both versions of the OS Explorer from Amazon which is sometimes cheaper than direct from Ordnance Survey.

Day by Day guide to the Isle of Wight Coastal Path

Here's my summary of the 6 day Isle of Wight coastal path guide from the Official Tourism people. I'll link directly to them along with my advice on what to expect. This route is anticlockwise.

Day 1 - Cowes to Yarmouth (16 miles)

This leg tackles the North West coast of the Isle of Wight which is pretty sleepy, even by Isle of Wight standards of snooziness. There are very few houses or substantial roads and there are also not that many accessible beaches. Ask an Islander to talk about the last time they went to the area and most of them will give you a blank look.

It is, however, very pretty. A big chunk of it is Newtown Creek with its weird Town Hall despite not having a town (see our guide to historic attractions for more details).
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Yarmouth Pier is worth a wander
Yarmouth itself is a lovely little sailing town (and quite posh). There are enough places to sleep and eat to give you a choice and there's a little castle by the pier. Download the official PDF route from Visit Isle of Wight

Day 2 - Yarmouth to Brighstone (14 miles)

This is probably my favourite section of the Isle of Wight as it is largely 'unspoilt' by which I mean that your peace and quiet won't be broken by clanging amusement arcades. Well, that's not quite true - the section around Alum Bay and The Needles is full of such things, but the walk from the Needles towards Brook and Brighstone is gorgeous with really nice high cliffs looking down on sandy beaches.

It's a very rural area, so there isn't a great deal of choice of places to stay or eat, and there's zero nightlife. You'll find a pub inland a little bit at Brighstone but the choice is limited.
Search for places to stay in Brighstone or take a look at some of the campsites in the West Wight

Download the official PDF route from Visit Isle of Wight

Day 3 - Brighstone to Niton (8 miles)

The planners of this route decide to give you a nice easy day today. It's another lovely stretch of unspoilt coastline without a great deal of people to get in the way. Some of the coastline - like Whale Chine - is difficult to get to thanks to landslides and the like.

Again, you'll find that there isn't a huge amount of choice of where to stay or eat in Niton (which makes me wonder why it's a suggested stop off point), but it is a lovely area with an olde worlde feeling.
Whale Chine
Whale Chine is one of the hardest to reach beaches
Search for places to stay in Niton.

Download the official PDF route from Visit Isle of Wight

Day 4 - Niton to Sandown (9 miles) 

This is a busy stretch of coastline which takes in three of the Isle of Wight's most famous seaside resorts - Ventnor, Sandown and Shanklin.

The first half of the walk wanders through the olde worlde South Wight which has the feeling that time stopped about a century ago. Ventnor Esplanade is a good spot to stop for something to eat. You'll pass St. Catherine's Lighthouse, which offers tours in high season.

Sandown and Shanklin are pleasant bucket and spade-type resorts with lots of hotels, guest houses and counters selling chips and ice cream.

Download the official PDF route from Visit Isle of Wight

Day 5 - Sandown to Ryde (12 miles)

There are some really attractive beaches along the Sandown to Ryde route, most of which have shallower water than the West Wight. 

St Helens, Bembridge, Whitecliff Bay and Priory Bay are all popular spots with holidaymakers although not quite as hectic as Sandown and Shanklin. 

Bembridge has a huge great lifeboat station on stilts which is free to visit if you have time.

Download the official PDF route from Visit Isle of Wight

Day 6 - Ryde to Cowes (8 miles)

Considering it's called a 'Coastal Walk' this day does spend a curiously long time away from the coast. My suspicion is that this is because some of the coastline is privately owned by people who would shout things like 'Gerofff my land!' at you whilst waving a musket. 

Queen Victoria's Osborne Bay is en route and is a pretty little beach where her madge used to be wheeled into the sea in her bathing hut. However - it's only accessible if you pay the entrance fee for Osborne House (free for English Heritage members).
You can also see from the ferry as you approach the north east coastline that there often isn't a great deal of beach available to walk along.

The Ryde to Cowes route does have some nice features though, passing over Wootton Bridge, near Quarr Abbey and Osborne House and through some woodland. The Folly Inn at Whippingham, is only a small detour.

Personally I'd say this is the least interesting section, but I'm sure others would disagree. One option is to arrive at the ferry at Cowes and depart from the ferry at Ryde, which would miss out this section. This option is not recommended for anyone with vaguely completest tendencies...


Download the official PDF route from Visit Isle of Wight

Books of walks on the Isle of Wight

If you've gone off the idea of the coastal path, there are several books with suggestions for short and not so short walks which don't stick to the coastal path:​
  • Isle of Wight Short Walks (Pathfinder guide) - 20 walks split into three different lengths including eight under three miles. Includes a bit of history, some small OS maps and suggestions of pubs en route. This is a good one for people who go on walks whilst on holiday, rather than one for people who go on walking holidays.
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  • Walk! The Isle of Wight - 40 walks mostly between 5 and 10 miles. The exclamation mark makes it sound like an instruction but it's completely optional, unlike the walks I went on as a child. This one includes some sections of OS maps too.
  • 50 Walks in Hampshire and Isle of Wight - Islanders don't like being bundled in with Hampshire, so including this one might cause a bit of a kerfuffle. By my count only 9 out the 50 walks are Isle of Wight ones, just to make matters worse. However, it does get good reviews and you could use the Hampshire pages for doodling on.

Themed walking trails on the Isle of Wight

Of course, there are endless options for walking routes but I've dug out a few themed walks which are available online for free, mostly from the lovely people at Visit Isle of Wight:
  • Victoria's Island Trail - this one came out to coincide with the release of Victoria and Abdul a few years ago. It follows the route that a young Victoria Beckham (nee Adams) took on a school trip to the Isle of Wight in the mid 1980s. Obviously that's not true, but I like to see if anyone is actually reading this waffle. There's a printable document and a webpage with some clickable maps and suggested itineraries. 
  • The Literary Heroes Trail is more of an iSpy for book worms, as it shows you all the Isle of Wight places with a literary connection rather than planning a whole route for you (as far as I can tell). The Churchill Trail works along similar lines, pointing out the various places on the Isle of Wight with connections to Winston Churchill. They include Winston's holidays in Ventnor and his parents' whirlwind romance in Cowes.
  • The Warrior Trail is a 6 mile walk around some pretty parts of the West Wight which celebrates the role of a famous horse. Apparently it's nothing to do with the War Horse film, but it is about a horse during the same war, so I'll forgive your confusion. There's a PDF of the route.
  • The Rope Walk is a trail which links Cowes and East Cowes and shows off their maritime history. It says it takes about three hours, although it would be about three days with my family by the time we've stopped at a cafe and a playground and then given up because we'd run out of snacks for the children.

Good sources of walking routes that you can download for free are also available from:
Suggestions for family friendly short walks can be found in our guide to days out for families and children (about half way down the page). 

Related guides from Isle of Wight Guru: