Isle of Wight - day trips

[Seagullslanding]

Following on from the other thread seeking recommendations for places to eat on the Isle of Wight.

Can i ask for suggestions for days out - i'm well aware that we may need to book in advance.

DD's are 8 and 11 - we are staying in the Ryde area for 2 weeks.

I don't want to waste money on pre-buying tickets for attractions that may be too young (Blackgang Chine i suspect)

Thankyou

Watching

Alum Bay with the coloured sand? That's fun

Godshill Model Village
The alpacas and the petting zoo. I think it's near Yarmouth

We go to the Isle of Wight every year.

Monkey Haven.
The Garlic Farm (honestly, my kids love walking around it).
Tapnell Farm (also has climbing and an inflatable waterpark).
Appley Beach.
A guided fossil hunt booked through the fossil shop in Godshill.
Osborne House.
Compton Bay.
Ventnor Boranic Garden.
Steephill Cove.

*Ventnor BOTANIC Garden!

Haven Street steam railway

love the Isle of Wight 🎉

Definitely do the tree climbing www.goodleaf.co.uk/

We went to Blackgang Chine when ours were a similar age, maybe a bit older. It is a bit young but we still had a great day.

Open top bus. Brilliant

Thanks for all the suggestions, i'm looking at the following, for those interested the prices are for a family of 4.

Monkey Haven - £44

Robin Hill - £88

Osborne House - £49.40

Godshill Model Village - £22.50
then onto a Fossil Hunt at Godshill £13.50

Wildheart animal sanctuary £51
then in to Sandown for the beach and gardens

Goodleaf tree climb at Appley park £33 each
Other activities (orienteering trail) in Appley park then onto beach

Arreton Down Nature reserve - free
then onto Garlic Farm for food - Tables can be booked in advance

Isle of Wight steam railway - £37

Amazon World - £50 or Tesco vouchers (i've been in touch, if using Tesco vouchers they need to be used on site, cannot be used to book tickets in advance)

I'm hoping where I can, to book in advance. I'm going to keep an eye on the places and if it looks like they are starting to be booked i'll book.

So far it looks like only the restaurants are getting booked up in advance.

In between these possible trips i'll be looking at the other options such as Alum bay etc.

Thanks again for your help.

Sorry to hijack your thread OP but would those in the know recommend pre booking Alum Bay activities? I see you can book in advance online but would rather play it by ear unless necessary

The donkey sanctuary. Donkeys! So cute. And you can adopt one. I love donkeys, so it's my favourite place to visit when I'm on the Isle of Wight.

If you do Osbourne House and Carisbrooke Castle buy a years membership to English Heritage instead of paying out for both. I did it and it meant we could then visit other English Heritage places near where we live. I think it worked out cheaper or at least not much more expensive than paying for those two places.

I don't think Blackgang Chine would be too young. I know my DCs went there on the Y6 residential.

Carisbrooke Castle is lovely.
Calbourne Watermill
Mottistone Gardens - National Trust
Osbourne House
Steam railway

English Heritage membership is available on tesco clubcard.

Lots of great suggestions here, at Alum Bay you can also get a boat trip out to see the needles (there is a slower boat and a speed boat depending on age). I don't think you really need to pre book the Needles stuff.

Robin Hill you can go back to unlimited for a week, so if you do go perhaps go early on in the week so it gives you the option to go back. The falconry displays there are worth watching even if you aren't really into birds/animals.

I put some links on that other thread re surfing lessons and kayak/SUP hire, in case anyone else is interested.

In Ryde you can go for a lovely long flat walk all the way along the sea, past Appley (there is a park at puckpool) through to Seaview. Lots of cafes along the way if you want a rest.

Top tip, if the weather is poor where you are check the forecast for the other side of the island as sometimes its completely different!

Steephill cove Beach is very quaint, nice walk from there to Ventnor and back.

I really think Blackgang chine really divides opinion. If your children like make believe play they'd probably still enjoy it, but I can also imagine people going there are being complete WTF is this place! 8 and 11 year olds might enjoy it but definitely depends on your children and your expectations as a family. They do usually do fireworks displays a couple of evenings a week which are great to go to, but not sure if they will run in these covid times.

great tip about English Heritage and clubcard - Thankyou

Ive just checked - English heritage membership is £111 or £39 of Clubcard vouchers.

Entry to the following english heritage sites on IOW is:
Carrisbrooke - £40
Osborne House - £49.40
Yarmouth Castle - £10.40

English Heritage membership is a great idea

Another tip about English heritage - if you work in the civil service - include nhs, education etc you can join the CSSC

www.cssc.co.uk/eligibility-list

You get free family entry into English Heritage properties and the monthly fee works out much cheaper.

You can then go to carisbrooke castle and osbourne house for no extra cost.

Ryde has a great beach and we usually also go up further to Appley. There is a fab playground, outdoor pool, splash playground, swan boats. You could easily spend a couple of days around the beach area without getting bored.

There are also lovely woodland walks, e.g Firestone copse and you can walk across The Downs.

We also love the nature reserves etc.

If you are National Trust Members you can visit the windmill then have a walk through the woods and visit The Old Battery.

We also enjoy the Garlic Farm and their walks around the farm- the sunflowers were great last year.

We go to the Isle of Wight every year and spend minimal on day trips.

We use our Tesco vouchers to pay for the ferry to the Island!

Ive just looked at the Donkey Sanctuary - my girls would love this. Its free entry, no option to book in advance.

Its not far from Appuldurcombe house, another English Heritage site

National Trust membership might also be useful as quite a few car parks are owned by them and you get free parking.
Plus you can then take a walk from Alum Bay ( which personally I hate) to the old and new batteries. The New Batteries are where the British space program ran until the 1980s and is free. The old battery is national trust site- but you take a staircase down into the rock and down a tunnel to the look out post right on top of the needles.
Osbourne House is an entire day in itself, with the gardens, beach and Swiss Cottage.

@Lonecatwithkitten we love the walk from the National Trust car park to the Old Battery - it is one of my boys favourite things to do. We make a whole day of it. We did not have time last year so it is top of my agenda this year!

I forgot Quarr Abbey - really close to Ryde and lovely too!