Review: Why The Isle Of Wight is THE family holiday destination for 2023 ★★★★★
The Isle of Wight is a wonderful destination for families looking for a memorable holiday experience.
As one of the most beautiful and charming areas of the UK, the Isle of Wight is packed with stunning landscapes, fascinating attractions, and exciting activities that cater to people of all ages.
Here are some recommendations for things families can do on holiday on the island:
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Visit the Needles: The Needles is one of the most iconic landmarks on the Isle of Wight. It is a series of sharp chalk cliffs that rise from the sea and is a spectacular sight to see. There are several attractions to enjoy here, including a chairlift ride, a sweet factory, and an amusement park. Just up from the attraction is a National Trust site (the Battery), which is reachable via a short walk. You can also view the Needles from Tennyson Down, where there’s a beautiful walk and a highly-recommended pub.
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Take a stroll along the beach: With over 60 miles of coastline, the Isle of Wight has some of the most beautiful beaches in the UK. Whether you want to build sandcastles, paddle in the sea, or just relax in the sun, there is a beach for everyone. Some of the best beaches on the island include Compton Bay, Shanklin Beach, and Sandown Beach. We spent hours with our small dog, walking along and every beach is impressively clean. Go looking for sea-glass amongst the rocks, and the hours will wizz by!
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Visit Osborne House: Once the holiday home of Queen Victoria, Osborne House is now open to the public and is a fascinating place to visit. The house is filled with beautiful Victorian furniture, artwork, and personal items of the royal family. The extensive grounds, including a private beach, are perfect for a family picnic or a leisurely stroll.
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Go on a dinosaur hunt: The Isle of Wight is known as the "Dinosaur Island" because of the large number of fossils found here. The Dinosaur Isle museum in Sandown is a great place to learn about these ancient creatures, and families can also go on guided fossil walks to search for their own specimens on the beaches. We went to Compton Beach and after waiting for the tide to go out a little, found the footprints - the kids absolutely loved it!
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Visit Robin Hill Adventure Park: This theme park is located in the heart of the Isle of Wight and offers a wide range of activities for families, including treetop walks, falconry displays, and a 4D cinema. The park also hosts special events throughout the year, such as a summer carnival and a Halloween-themed scare fest. It will cost over £100 for a family, but promises a day’s entertainment.
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Explore the Isle of Wight Zoo: The Wildheart Animal Sanctuary is home to a variety of animals, including tigers, lions, and lemurs. Families can participate in animal encounters and watch feeding sessions, and the zoo also offers a range of educational activities for children. It’s open 10am - 5pm, so fills a whole day!
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The Garlic Farm: One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to this beautiful site. Take a tractor ride or walk around the farm which sits in a valley, overlooked by impressive, rolling hills. The Garlic Farm shop has some fantastic produce available but best of all is the restaurant. It’s dog-friendly, has a great children’s menu and most of all the food here is out of this world. You MUST try the garlic bread, but there are plenty of other options available as well. We also recommend the local Isle of Wight lager, available on tap! Whether you eat here in the day or at night, it is a must-visit destination for sure.
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Briddlesford Farm Shop: This delightful farm was featured recently on Channel 5’s series, exploring life on the island. As well as an excellent cafe, the farm shop has high quality produce including some real gems; the farm’s own milkshakes, butter and cheese. We tried all of them and couldn’t get enough. One of the best milkshake’s we’ve ever had!
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Shanklin Chine: Carved by Mother Nature’s own hands over thousands of years, the stunning tree lined gorge that is Shanklin Chine cuts its mark from Shanklin Old Village to the sandy beach and Esplanade, far below. Your tickets will enable you to walk through the Chine for seven days, so if you’re staying in Shanklin like we did, it’s well worth the money to see the beautiful sights. The Chine opens until 9pm (or 10pm in Summer) and by night you can see the beautiful illuminations.
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The Mews Craft Shops: The Mews Craft shops might not look like much at first glance, but we found this row of olde-worlde shops was brilliant. We particularly loved the shop which sold natural goods, including some witch’s stones which make for excellent and original gifts.
We know there is so much more to see, do, and eat but we just couldn’t fit it into our short trip so we will most definitely be back! Easter was a great time to visit, with much of the island nice and quiet. We’d love to see it in full swing in the summer months, when the sunshine and heat is on!
Getting to The Isle of Wight
Wightlink is the leading cross-Solent ferry operator, carrying 3.8 million passengers to and from the Isle of Wight every year. Eight ferries on three routes complete more than 140 sailings a day across our three routes, giving Islanders an easy and frequent service to mainland Hampshire and visitors an easy way to enjoy a taste of Island life.
They have more ferries on more routes running more often than any other cross-Solent service.
We could not have been more impressed with Wightlink. Firstly, on rocking up in Portsmouth we were so impressed by the short queues, the ease of parking up and the helpfulness of all the staff. The site has a small cafe and shop, which is really useful, and we paid a little extra for priority boarding which meant we were straight on the ship - and straight up to get some excellent seats on board! The ferry has a whole host of lounges, seating areas, a cafe and a Costa. With the sun beaming, we sat outside and the kids and our small dog just loved it. You won’t believe how quick the journey feels! Everyone on board was so friendly - staff and passengers alike - we found we got talking to lots of people who gave us some great recommendations of places to visit on our trip.
Any preconceptions we’d had about long queues at the ports were dismissed on both legs of the journey; the experience couldn’t have been easier and we simply can’t recommend Wightlink enough. See https://www.wightlink.co.uk/ for more details.
Where to stay on The Isle of Wight
There’s only one answer to this; Luccombe Manor Country House Hotel. What a gem!
The hotel offers:
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Stunning clifftop location where you can watch the ferries and yachts pass by
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Truly unique Victorian decorative detail in the reception, stairway, bar & restaurant
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Beautiful sun rises to savour over breakfast or from your sea view room
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Delicious breakfast that bring in a stream of great reviews
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Easy access to Shanklin Old Village, the beach and the rest of this magical island
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Truly family friendly where even your pet dog is warmly welcomed
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In Partnership with Shanklin Chine, the hotel is able to offer you unlimited FREE access through this historic and beautiful chine to Shanklin Seafront, beaches and revetment for all guests booking directly with the hotel (April to October)
We stayed in the most beautiful family room, furnished with two single beds and a double. We had a Smart TV and coffee making facilities; the latter was topped up daily with biscuits, lots of coffee, tea and milk, making our stay really comfortable. The room was immaculate and spacious, and we really did not want to leave!
Staff at the hotel couldn’t have been more friendly or helpful, especially Brooke on Reception who gave us lots of great advice and information. The hotel has a restaurant, including a very sunny conservatory (at least when we visited!). There’s also a lounge, a pool table and beautiful gardens which include a very nice looking swimming pool and sunbathing area which must be fantastic in the summer months.
Right next door is the sister hotel, Luccombe Hall, at which we ate dinner. We had a great menu, with really good children’s options and the highlight was definitely the chickepea curry which was brilliant! Again, super-attentive staff, a really welcoming service and a great menu made this a great experience for all.
A definitely highlight of our stay was the breakfast, which was first class. Each morning, we were greeted to a display of fresh fruit, fruit juices, bread for toasting, croissants, yoghurt etc. There’s also a menu which included excellent dishes such as a Full English, Eggs Benedict, Pancakes with Maple syrup and porridge. Every option we tried was exceptional, all washed down with fresh coffee and enjoyed with stunning views across the sea. Breakfast felt very special and we all left each morning feeling completely fulfilled.
