Tell me the truth about IoW

[LittleMonks11]

Is the Isle of Wight really as lovely as people say it is?

Compared to Cornwall - or even Devon and Dorset?

I love the Isle of Wight but it's much easier for me to get to than Cornwall, Devon or Dorset. What do you want to know?

Yes the Isle of Wight is lovely

I love the Isle of Wight. There is quite a lot of variety on offer so to get the best out of it you need to make sure to choose the right location.

Basically Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin for family oriented bucket and spade holidays - my recommendation would be Ryde. Ventnor for quirky, arty seaside. Anywhere on the South or West Coast for fresh air and open spaces.

Wherever you stay you'll want to explore the whole island of course, but bear in mind the traffic on the Eastern side and going through Newport can be very heavy. But the buses are good and a pass is good value.

Thank you. Ventnor like most like 'me'

I think we just need to give it a whirl - maybe a short break rather than a week of hols

Hols are so precious which is why I'm umming and ahhing so much.

With or without DC? If you like walking and views, scrummy lunch spots and the coast, you will be just fine for a week! With younger DC there is plenty to do, teens less so unless they like the outdoors.

I’ve been twice and tried to like it, but I just don’t . I did really enjoy the garlic farm though.

Also if you breakdown you have zero chance of getting recovery , I speak from bitter experience (thanks RAC).

My favourite beach is Sandown. Unfortunately, Sandown itself is sadly neglected 😢

We went on our first post-lockdown holiday to the IoW in 2021. I'd never been before. I was giddy with excitement on the ferry, as it really felt like we were going on a proper holiday!

I loved it - really relaxed vibe, lovely views, pretty towns and villages, nice beaches... We stayed in Shanklin, and there was a lovely bar up on the cliff top where we just sat and soaked up the sun and enjoyed the views - it felt like being abroad.
I'd stay on the south coast, rather than the north. That way the views are of the sea so you feel like you're a long way away. On the north, you get a view of Southampton/Portsmouth, and the mainland just feels really close.

We had a car with us, but also used the buses, which were really efficient and easy. It meant we could do point-to-point walks.
The only place I was disappointed by was the beach which allegedly has 7 colours of sand (or some such). It has no such thing - just some slightly different coloured cliffs. But other than that, we enjoyed everywhere - we did one day each in the north, south, east and west and one in the middle. Perfect!

We travelled around over a fortnight. I liked Ventnor, but not the rest of the island enough to return.

We did 5 days in an October half term so knew it wasn't for a beach holiday and had a lovely time. Osbourne house, the needles, dinosaur footprints and yes the garlic farm all went down well with dc. We based ourselves centrally and planned day trips to the four corners 😊

It's run down and grim. I've been twice and hated it both times. Apart from the Garlic Farm which was nice (and where we saw red squirrels).

Found it OK but wouldn't be in a rush to go back and prefer Devon and Cornwall especially Isles of Scilly.

Thank you for the honest opinions!

We went for the first time last year and fell in love with it so are returning this year

Love it but ferry so expensive