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UK travel

Welcome to our UK travel forum where you can get advice on everything from holidays to exotic destinations, to tips on London travel.

Original poster

Isle of wight ferry

16 replies

Learningtoacceptmyself · 12/02/2023 13:47

Hi, can anyone give me tips/discounts on cheapest ferry to the IOW? Driving from the NE so a long journey. Is it best to book well in advance, or wait a bit? Where is best to travel from, s/Hampton or p/mouth? Thanks

Oh any any "must see" places that aren't well known?

OP posts:
CleanHankie · 19/02/2023 22:43

We looked around last year for ferry discount and at best we were given 15% discount from the accommodation we booked. We then discovered we could use Tesco clubcard vouchers and had enough to cover the full cost. We booked early just because we saw no reason to wait and we knew it was booked. However in the few days between deciding and booking we found the ferry we wanted had become fully booked for overheight vehicles. Wasn't too much of an issue but worth thinking about.

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 19/02/2023 22:50

Where are you staying on the island? If west wight you can sail Lymington to Yarmouth both are lovely towns. If east you are better to sail from Portsmouth, or middle into Cowes from Southampton, all are stupidly expensive for the journey time.

bloodyplanes · 19/02/2023 22:53

Red funnel tends to be cheaper than wightlink

SmurfetteBlue · 19/02/2023 22:56

We go every summer and prefer to get on the ferry in Lymington. Lovely little town to wander around if you have some time to spare

Nutellaontoastplease · 19/02/2023 22:58

If you are able to, travel at off peak times of the day. We've saved a fortune in the past by having a 10pm crossing out and a 9pm crossing back. Similar saving were available for very early morning crossings too.

WestOfWestminster · 19/02/2023 23:11

There is a website called Isle of Wight Guru that has lots of ferry tips and other ideas of things to do, accommodation etc.

Do you have accomodation booked? Sometimes the place you stay can offer a deal on the ferries that work out cheaper?

If not as others have said if you can travel at unsocial hours its often cheaper, wightlink take tesco clubcard, red funnel generally a bit cheaper.

I have a feeling english heritage members might get a discount on one of the ferries too?

But definitely check out the travel guru website

Original poster
Learningtoacceptmyself · 20/02/2023 16:29

Thanks for all this. We were thinking of doing early morning to save a bit, but we're in the North east so it a 5-6 hr journey, so to make it early morning we'd have to drive through the night, which we're not keen on as it'd mean sleeping through our 1st day there (plus can't book in to the accommodation until 4pm) We're staying in St helens.

OP posts:
WestOfWestminster · 20/02/2023 18:46

St Helens is lovely. Do you have children because if so there is a bit of the beach that is great for crabbing and don't forget to walk round to priory bay if you can, its a lovely secluded beach only accessible by foot/boat.

If you like a nice walk with beautiful views drive up to Culver Down. There is a car park, ice cream stall and pub up there plus gorgeous views.

www.adgestonevineyard.co.uk/ is a nice little place to stop off for a drink or something to eat, sometimes they have live music.
Also check out the garlic farm.

Attictroll · 20/02/2023 19:03

This site was really helpful when we went last year. www.isleofwightguru.co.uk

We got a lunch tie veery which was ok but we were slightly out of season due to an inset day also we ended up turning up early and they let us on the ferry before
I chose port literally by using google maps from home and place we stayed to work out the best 😂

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 20/02/2023 19:08

Oh op, St Helen’s is lovely.

StandUpForYourRights · 20/02/2023 19:15

You can use for Tescos vouchers on the ferry. We saved £120 by tripling our vouchers.

iowlocal · 20/02/2023 20:30

Local here, the ferry doesn't get any cheaper and never does promos or deals so there's no reason to delay booking! Red funnel is often cheaper than wightlink and it's worth asking your accommodation if they have a discount available. Tesco vouchers can also be used so pay some or all of the balance.

Mindymomo · 20/02/2023 20:47

We like The Isle of Wight and use my Tesco Clubcard Rewards to pay for the ferry. We were near St Helens in Bembridge. Things to see are Osborne House, The Needles, the Zoo, model village,

waltzingparrot · 20/02/2023 20:50

If it's school holidays, they sell out through most of the day so book early.

ReviewingTheSituation · 20/02/2023 21:02

We stayed at Tappnell Farm Park and they got us a really good discount on ferry prices. We only stayed 2 nights there, not the whole trip, but still booked our ferries.

mightyducks · 02/03/2023 22:31

If you are civil service or a public sector worker, you could join CSSC, you get 15% of Wightlink ferry and then English heritage membership as well for visiting Osbourne house and Carisbrooke castle while you’re there

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