Ideas for Isle of Wight holiday with kids

[Scottishgirl85]

Going to Isle of Wight for 1 week with young kids aged between 3 and 6. Would love to hear top tips, things not to miss, things not worth doing etc. Staying in Wooton, which is between Cowes and Ryde but we'll have a car. Thanks!

I live on IoW but the easiest way to find lots of ideas is to join ‘Love the Isle of Wight’ On FB.
It’s a mix of locals and visitors and is very active.
Hope you have a lovely time!

It's been a while since we last went to the IoW so not sure if things are still the same! Mine loved the steam train, Blackgang Chine and Carisbrooke Castle. They were probably a bit older when we went to Osbourne House and Alum Bay. We liked Robin Hill Park, but I know that divides opinion. The model village at Godshill is fun.

The model village at Godshill
Dinosaur Isle - quite small but it is near to some nice beaches and attractions (Sandown Bay, Yaverland beach, Sandham Gardens)
Id recommend cycling a section of the Red Squirrel Trail. It's mostly former railway lines (i.e. flat and car-free) but some parts go through towns.Some people hire a bike in Cowes and cycle to Newport along the Medina (4 miles each way). Or, you can do a more circular ride by starting from Wight Bike in Merstone,routefifty7 in Shanklin or Isle Cycle in Sandown.

Blackgang Chine is awesome. No trip to the IOW is complete without a visit

The garlic farm. Best day out we had with 2 DSs (10&5) - delicious breakfast then a tractor ride around the farm learning lots of interesting facts and a little play on the tiny park. Lovely!

My two adored the monkey sanctuary. Or rather the play grounds there!

The model village is great for the little one.

Beaches are fun whatever the weather and free.

Yes yes to Backgang Chine! Your ticket lasts for seven days (for return visits) so if you start with that you can return during your hols.
They often do a double ticket deal with Robin Hill Country Park which is also lovely.

We did

RobinHill
Donkey Sanctuary
Shanklin beach for 9 and rented some sun beds and spent day on beach, body boarding etc
Did Shanklin Chine at night. Can get some fresh donuts at the top in village
Botanical Gardens
Osborne house but wouldn't go back.
Alum Bay just so DD could make a sand model.
Beach with dinasaur footprint good for beach combing in evenings

Bus museum and a ride on the Island line (if it ever gets working again). Quarr Abbey, Briddlesford farm, the windmill at Bembridge and I second Robin Hill.

Oh and the water park in Ryde and Puckpool park.

Tapnell farm! My kids love it. Even my 14 year old still asks to go 🤣 they have wallaby's you can feed, indoor soft play, outdoor play, farm animals, petting animals, go carts, trampolines, zip wire etc etc.

Forgot about the donkey sanctuary - great value for money (I.e free)

The paddling pool in ventnor was a hit too

We went this summer and did Blackgang Chine, Alum bay and Godshill model village plus beaches. There is a paddling pool at Ventnor that my 3 year old loved even more than the beach, and the cafe next to it does the best scampi ever.

Needles and blackgang chine.

Oooh we’ve just come back from there with the same aged children. I’ll come back with my recommendations after bedtime.

So we didn’t have great weather but had a day on Appley beach which was nice. We did Blackgang Chine and it was a massive hit with my older one but the younger was too short for the roller coaster and I took her in some terrifying dinosaur thing (right next to the coaster) which didn’t go down well. So worth doing but we had to hang around a bit waiting for the older one to finish some rides.
I’d say the biggest hit of the holiday was the crazy golf on shanklin sea front, they both loved it plus there are some rides next door based on a token system which also went down well. We also did donuts and ice cream while there plus the beach was nice at Shanklin.
Garlic farm was a bit meh to be honest - breakfast was any bog standard cooked breakfast you’d get in a cafe (I thought it would be garlicky!), beautiful scenery though. No tractor rides.
We had a day on the west coast at Colwell Bay and that was brilliant for another beach day.
Paddling pool at Ventnor plus the fabulous ice cream parlour there was a hit.
I think that’s about it. Our last day there was a storm and it was so windy and cold, I ended up taking them to the local library to read some books during the worst of the windy weather! 😂

Thanks everyone!! This is so helpful. We go next Friday so time to plan.
When I had a look I was overwhelmed by the number of animal-based activities, so this helps narrow it down!
Those who have been very recently, do you need to book things much in advance?