To bloody love the Isle of Wight?

[BarbaraVineFan]

I’m here now with my 86 year old dad and 5 year old DD. We come every year and rent a cottage, and always have the best time! There’s so much to do in all weathers, the scenery is gorgeous and everyone we meet is friendly. But I don’t know, people sometimes seem a bit sniffy about it as a holiday destination, as though it’s old fashioned or unfashionable or something. AIBU to love it and not to understand why it isn’t seen as a ‘naice’ holiday destination like Cornwall or the Lake District?

Adore, adore, adore the Isle of Wight.
Dh's family is originally from there (and some relatives are still there)
The dc used to love going on the ferry when little.

The dc are now grown (almost) and dh would love to move to the island...

I do have traumatic memories of those terrifying cable car seat things at the needles though 🤣

Oh gawd, I’d completely forgotten about those 🙈

The cable car that Health and Safety forgot? Convinced I was going to watch my toddler slip out of it and fall to a grisly end.

I do miss the Waltzing Waters though.

Blackgang Chine!!!

Abs love the Isle of Wight, it’s beautiful😎

We go for short breaks several times a year, always stay in Shanklin, it’s so relaxing and peaceful.

Normally people slate the Island!

I moved here 7yrs ago.

Someone told me that the longer you stay, the bigger the Island gets. And they weren't wrong! All the little hamlets and villages...love living here. Everyone is amazing and I've made so many wonderful friends.

Damn the cost of the car ferries though. Grrrr...

Tapnell Farm Park is ACE. I don't tend to get too excited about them but we spent the whole day and it was heaven.

Amazon World, Sandown Pier, the Steam Railway, Carisbrooke Castle - for the PPs.

We did a few holidays there a few years ago, it is old fashioned but that's the charm. However the weather is not reliable and after a few years you've done everything. I reached a point where I didn't want to sit on a beach in cold drizzle any more, and the kids felt the same, so we went abroad.

I'm not sniffy about it at all, but the cost of the ferry makes it a MUCH more expensive break than going to one of the other beautiful parts of the UK.

Indeed, I suggested it this year, but we couldn't find any way of getting the price down to a comparable amount to Wales, where we ended up.

I love the Isle of Wight but as a disabled person with mobility problems,I don't love the steep hills that are a common feature in a lot of places on the island!

It was the wettest I ever remember being and I grew up in the west coast of Scotland. We definitely ran out of things to do the week we were there as the weather was truly terrible but the hotel was lovely.

We have lived here very happily for over a decade with kids. I never require get the "back in time" comments, yes it isn't a sprawling metropolis but lots of places on the mainland aren't too.

Worst features are definitely shopping areas and the cost of ferries. Schools aren't amazing compared to some places.

We would find it hard to move off the Island now. Maybe if the kids move off when they're grown we may.

I LOVE IOW - i love that everything’s so close and you don’t have to drive for hours to get everywhere (I don’t like Cornwall because of this). There are so many kids activities - Blackgang chine! Hello!! Then beautiful farms and shops and pubs. And the beaches. If the weather is good then it’s like being abroad.

Oh yes the needles - how has no one died on that cable car?!

We used to do Sun caravan holidays to the IoW when the kids were little. Catching the ferry made it feel like a foreign holiday so they were happy. I live in Cornwall now and still remember our IoW with fondness!

We went a few years ago with a then 18 month old. I can remember we couldn’t really get to many of the beautiful beaches without a car. How are you all getting around? Bus?

I went recently just for the day and didn’t think much of it but appreciate I hardly saw any of the island as I was limited to the bus. i went mainly for Osbourne House which was nice. I was kind of expecting Cowes to be nicer, I was expecting sort of independent gift shops and there wasn’t really. Maybe I missed them.

i’d like to go back and see the Needles but guess I’d need to take the car or at least a bike. Car is expensive to take over. It was expensive enough as a foot passenger for the day.

There's a lot to love about it. My mum grew up on the IoW and we used to have lots of holidays and visits to relatives when we were growing up (we lived just over the Solent so not far to travel).

My mum always said that her childhood was idyllic. I particularly love Yarmouth and Appley Beach (walk along from from Ryde)

I used to go annually as a kid, there was always a big group of us. Loved it.

Went back a couple of years ago and bloody loved it lit and we are going annually again.

really really disliked the pricing in the cafe at the Needles though. £10 for plain jacket potato. No thanks!

Soo many happy memories of the IoW, both as a kid and with my own DCs. We had some of the best holidays with them there.
I think two of my favourite places no longer exist - a water mill, and a wildlife place which had loads of different birds and wallabies hopping around.
But also the steam train, Osbourne house, carrisbrooke castle, and the glorious beaches and countryside.

I love the Isle of Wight. My favourite town is Yarmouth. There is beautiful scenery all over the island and lovely beaches. (Please don't tell too many people, they'll all turn up and spoil it!)

I grew up there, it's very claustrophobic, I left as soon as I could but like going back to visit friends now.

See I want to love it but have tried twice and just not enjoyed it at all! During covid I went and was treated like a leper (this was not during lockdowns obvs!) and then I went back and just found it all very run down. Glad you’re enjoying it though !