Isle of Wight - good days trips with 11 year old

[Lottie4]

We're having a holiday in the Isle of Wight soon. Can anyone recommend any good places to visit. We've interested in anything, like eating out, shopping, having fun, visiting zoos, parks and so on.

Sooo many things to do - really depends what your DC is into.
Historical things like Osbourne House and Carisbrooke Castle are great.
Fun days like the steam train, Blackgang Chine and Robin Hood Country Park, The Needles
Animal things - Seaview Park, Amazon World and the Zoo (great tigers but quite small otherwise)
Dinosaur World
Lots of countryside to walk in
Great beaches - a variety including sandy beaches, rock pools and fossil hunting
I've probably forgotten something, but there is loads of information when you get there.

The new and old battery at the needles. Park at the honky tonk then walk away from it down to the very end. You get to go in the view point underground in the rock, see the powder magazines etc in the old battery and then see where the UKs space program was run from at the new battery.
Go up on Culver Down and see why it was vitally important to the defence of Southampton and Portsmouth in the Second World War. Marvel at just how massive those guns must have been to sit in the emplacements. Much, much bigger than anything in Normandy.
Osborne House just amazing it gives you a really good glimpse of what the private side of Queen Victoria's life was like.
Not yet done Carisbrooke, but is on my list.
Just walking all over the place.

We did cycling along disused railway lines/other safe routes - we took our own bikes, but I'm sure you can hire.
The DC also did tree-climbing (google it!)
And glass-blowing on a rainy morning - just out of Ventnor. There is also the botanical gardens there and a long walk along the cliffs with access to various beaches.

Wouldn't recommend bow,ing in Sandown unless you like noisy amusement arcades!

Thanks for your replies - they have given us some good ideas and we going to google them to get a better idea.