Isle of Wight with a toddler

[fiorentina]

We are off to the Isle of Wight in a weeks time with a toddler, staying on the west of the island. Any recommendations for must see places with a 2 year old or nice places to eat. Any ideas much appreciated. Thanks

We used to go when ours were small. 4 summers when they were aged between 2 & 8) They still talk about this place (now 15 and 12yo) www.blackgangchine.com/.

We also used to go to the Robin Hill park but they dont seem to have as many memories of there.

They do recall this place for the garden and play area thegriffiniow.co.uk/. I seem to recall the food was rather good too.

There was a donkey sanctuary we visited that was a hit and I can also recommend Ryde for the paddling pool on the sea front (free). Scroll down this page to Ventnor for the info although the whole page probably holds some useful info. www.redfunnel.co.uk/my-isle-of-wight/features/oh-i-do-love-to-be-beside-the-seaside/.

We loved IOW and usually stayed in Shanklin - I loved the beach there. Sandown has a peir. But there are loads of fab places all over the island.

The only place we were not that keen on was The Needles - found it too commercialised and money sapping.

We recently took DS (19 months) and apart from the beaches which he absolutely loved, I'd recommend The Isle of Wight Steam Railway. We had a lovely day there going on the railway, the cafe is a little bit expensive, so I'd recommend taking a packed lunch, they have a nice playground and a small indoor playroom as well. DS was fascinated by the trains and we felt very relaxed there.

I personally would avoid Alum Bay unless you are planning to go on a boat trip to see the Needles a bit closer as the parking is £4 all day and the rides and shop are pretty shite IMHO!

Yarmouth is a nice small town if you're staying in the West Wight, there's lots of nice shops and a good place to buy gifts. You can walk to the end of the pier which is nice and watch people fishing. I haven't been to Fort Victoria for a long time, but heard its good now.

I'd recommend Colwell Bay and Totland Bay as good child friendly beaches in the West Wight, as well as Compton Bay although the steps are quite steep on the way down the cliff to the beach at Compton. The water is very clean and not commercialised like Sandown/Shanklin.

Freshwater Bay is nice for adults to enjoy the views, but not much good for children, it's not very safe to swim there unless you're a very good swimmer as the sea bed shelves suddenly and there's an undercurrent.

Ryde beach is good for children too, there's always plenty to watch with the hovercraft and boats etc., there's also a children's play area at Appleby and SeaView has a wildlife park which was recommended to me.

Thank you. Will do some more research and draw up a list!

Second Blackgang Chine - as a child I considered it a sort of paradise on earth.

loved Ventnor botanical gardens