Isle of Wight

[lollipoprainbow]

Has anyone done it in a day? Any tips on where to go, what to do and eat out etc for us and our dd 10.

Thanks

You could go to ryde for the day. Lots of things to do, nice beach and places to eat, easy to get to as well but to see more you will need at least 4-5 days.

Quite an expensive day trip, when you figure in the crossing, a few days would be better there are so many attractions, my boys loved Blackgang Chine, Model Village, The Needles. Lovely villages, Shanklin, Godshill etc. Osborne House. We have had a few holidays on IOW with our boys.

Yes it's doable in a day. If you take the car ferry then you can do any of the many attractions the IOW has to offer. If you aren't driving then your best bet would be the hovercraft from Southsea or catamaran from Portsmouth harbour as both of those land in Ryde where as pp mentioned there is plenty to do. You can also take the train from Ryde to Shanklin which has lots of stuff for kids.

You can definitely do a lot in a day if you're driving, but like pp said it's an expensive journey to get there but the ferry is great fun for kids. I'd narrow it down to Alum bay for the chair lift and the rides and attractions there, you can probably do most in 2 hours. Then head to Godshill model village, The Donkey Sanctuary (which free to get in but they ask for a donation or at least a visit to the cafe, so ok if you only spend an hour or so there) and then to Ventnor maybe for a chippy tea on the beach before you head back to port. It gets very busy in the summer holidays so allow loads of time for getting around, finding parking etc.

Would you go as foot passengers or take your car or bikes?

Get the train to Ryde esplanade, and get an open top bus ticket. Tours around the whole island, taking in the needles, beaches, the downs, pretty thatched villages, with commentary. Then return to Ryde for a paddle on the beach. The bus is a hop on hop off service so if something takes your fancy get off the bus and the next one will be along every hour !

www.visitisleofwight.co.uk/things-to-do/southern-vectis-days-out-and-open-tops-p1881791

We're doing a day trip with older kids by car and planning to visit Osbourne House, Needles and Ryde, basically following this itinerary: livein10countries.com/isle-of-wight-one-day-trip-itinerary/