Isle of Wight .....

[pattsy]

Hi everybody,

I was wondering if anyone of you could give me some advice on holidaying in the Isle of Wight. I will be travelling with my three children aged 4,2 and 11 months, and want to go to somewhere (inexpensive?!) that is fairly quiet but is near a good beach and has some shops/restuarants nearby. (We go self catering)

Is the West of the Isle sunnier than the East? Any tips would be gratefully received. Thanks.

The West of the isle is NICER than the East, by and large, if you are looking for quieter countryside. Ryde and Sandown have both seen better days as resorts, frankly, and we found Shanklin a bit disappointing too. We loved Yarmouth and Freshwater because there are small beaches there, clifftop and downland walks, and because nearby there is the Needles Amusement Park etc.
But, if you want somewhere that has a bit of everything within walking distance, go for Ventnor, which is a pretty resort town with a nice beach and claims to be the sunniest part of the island. Only caution: Ventnor is a cliffside town and some of the roads are quite steep (for a buggy...).
We love the island because you can easily get round all of it by public transport. The buses are really good. So, wherever you stay, you can sample all four corners.
The Wight Mouse at Chale regularly wins prizes for being a really child-friendly pub. Have fun!

Hi pattsy, I'd agree with Marina, Yarmouth area is great as is the south of the Island. Living in the new forest we regularly pop over to the island for the day and my dd loves the Wight Mouse at Chale for its playroom and garden.
One of my closest friends comes from the IOW so I will ask her for specific recommendations and accomodation ideas as her parents still live there and I'll get back to you.

We stayed in Shanklin last summer.This was my first visit to the island and I would definitely go back. As someone said to me, it resembles Britain twenty years ago. The bits I saw ( mostly east coast) were pretty and quiet, the beaches were lovely and the area had lots of child-friendly places to eat, drink and stay. And it was so relaxing! My sons really liked it, and we have sworn to go back this year.

We drove through Sandown and Ryde - both had lots of seaside attractions - a few too many for us - but not in the same league as Blackpool. Shanklin seemed a little quieter. Ventnor looked good, too. The tourist board told us it was considered more refined than its neighbours. On the west side of the Island we got as far as Alum bay, to see the famed coloured sand. This place is quite commercialised and I would not recommend it. The children loved the fairground, though!

I stayed with my two sons for a few days break in a simple child-friendly bed and breakfast hotel - one of many recommended to me by the tourist office. We all had a great time and the price per night (incl huge breakfast) was OK. Our family room cost about about £40.00 per night, if I remember correctly. LOts of hotels offered an evening meal/full board for about £10.00 more than the B/B price. The Roseberry hotel (tel 01983 813818 if you are interested) had a children's playroom complete with toys (including a playstation) for chilren of all ages. A pretty town, a quiet, safe, sandy beach and a full-of-character child-friendly pub/restaurant with a playground were all within 10 minutes walking distance. Although I wouldn't say it was a luxury destination, the hotel served our purposes very well.

I had been trying to find a hotel that offered babysitting services, or even a kids club, as opposed to baby listening. None came up a the time, but I think a deep dig might have uneathed them. I'd be most interested to hear of any.

There are also three camp sites on the island, so I am told, all previously run by Haven Holidays. They are situated at Shanklin, Ryde and Cowes and they have babysitting and kids clubs. I think you can use those cheapie Sun's holiday tokens for them, so very inexpensive.... Has anyone been to one?

Hope this helps, and I will be very interested to hear more about the island from those who are more knowledgeable, like Viv and Marina.

Pattsy,

We spent a long weekend on the Isle of Wight a couple of months ago with our two boys. My 3 1/2 year old son's favorite place was Carisbrooke Castle, so that's my top recommendation. (The 3 month old didn't have much of a preference for one place over another.)

We also went self catering and stayed in the Cart House at Gotten Manor near Chale. It was out of the way, but quite lovely. A word of warning, though: the radiators creaked and clanked throughout the night and required fiddling to make them stop. I found the house through the Isle of Wight Farm and Country Holiday Group .

For eating out, like everyone else, we loved the Wight Mouse Inn. There are a lot of family friendly pubs around and if you check the Isle of Wight CAMRA website , it'll give you more details on the pubs on the island.

We also rented a car and if you'd like the details on that, I can post them.

Hope you have a wonderful time!