Isle of Wight

[ReviewingTheSituation]

I'm planning to book a week (or 5-6 days, at least) on the IOW in June. Neither of us have ever been, or know anything about it. Can anyone suggest a good place to base ourselves - it's just us, late 40s, just want to spend a week outdoors by the sea, but will get an Air BnB with nice inside space in case the weather isn't always kind... We'd like to be near nice places to eat though - so if anyone can suggest which towns/villages are worth looking at, that would give me somewhere to start. I know the island isn't big, so we can go anywhere for the day, but for the evenings, we do like a nice pub dinner!

I’ve heard more than once that Cowes has more bars and restaurants per square mile than anywhere else in the UK. It’s pretty, friendly, has a nice atmosphere and it’s compact so good if you’ll be on foot most of the time. There aren’t many sandy beaches nearby though. We enjoy sitting on the seafront and watching the yachts trying to avoid massive container ships.
Ryde is probably the most populated town and so is the best equipped with supermarkets and cinemas etc.. It has some nice parts and a huge sandy beach, but isn’t as pretty.
Yarmouth is a postcard perfect town centre with some great pubs and restaurants, a pretty marina, and a long sandy stretch of beach with a gentle slope. Generally I find the whole of the west side the prettiest part of the IOW, but Yarmouth is quite small so might not have enough for 5-6 days.

You could stay anywhere - the island is tiny and nothing is a long drive away. We stayed near Cowes but may stay closer to Ryde next time

I know it's tiny! But we don't want to be driving to places to eat/drink in the evening. We can drive around in the day if needs be, but we would like to be able to enjoy a glass of wine or 2 with dinner.

I'll start with Cowes and Yarmouth for now...

We've stayed in Sandown twice which is lovely for a young family, and Yarmouth too. Yarmouth is vv quiet. More grown up? We went to Cowes which is also very nice. We stayed in caravans or cottages found on booking.com. Beaches are usually sandy. I recommend Osborne House for a nice day out.

I would stay in Shanklin. There are a couple of decent pubs and some cafes right on the seafront. From the seafront you can walk up the chine to the old village which has nice pubs and thatched tearooms or if you hate hills you can take the cliff lift.

Wonderful island, I took my kids there many times, just beautiful.

I hope you have a fantastic time 🎉

Ventnor is my favourite. There are some lovely Airbnb right on the sea front. It also has a unique microclimate in the UK to its position behind the cliffs and it southerly aspect means it gets more sunny days than anywhere else in the UK. Ventnor gardens can even grow tropical plants.

As a places to visit, I can really recommend the roman villa and the Old Battery if you like history. The Needles attraction is like a crap theme park (so avoid), but you actually get the best view of the Needles themselves from the Old Battery.

We’ve been to Shanklin several times, plenty of pubs in the area, lots of choice. It’s got a lovely beach. Ventnor is nice too, one lovely pub overlooking the sea.

I would stay in shanklin Old Village or on the sea front in Shankin