Isle of Wight "Filler" Ideas
 

Hi again, Fodorites!

I'm returning to England in September, and the Isle of Wight is on the itinerary. My main reason to visit is Osborne House. But I am searching for other ideas that pertain to history and hiking/walking.

QUESTION RE: A BASE
Where would you recommend I base myself for a couple days if I want to do a couple walks along the cliffs/beach? I’ve heard Yarmouth is a good base. But does anyone have recommendations? Any particular walks you might recommend?

QUESTION RE: HISTORICAL INTEREST
Has anyone visited any historical sites on the IOW that you enjoyed?

QUESTION RE: IOW-Specific Culture, Food, People, Shopping
Any particular foods I should try, or interesting crafts on the island?

Thanks for any recommendations, Fodorites! I'll be sure to post a trip report on the other end.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/v...brooke-castle/

Haven't been there in decades, but I imagine it's still worth seeing.

Thank you, thursdaysd. The castle's history is amazing. I really need this on my list.

We were there last week and frankly, didn't find it all that interesting, apart from the ferry to and fro. A bunch of hilly walks and tinny Atlantic-City-type beachside towns with bad food and a lot of pubs with guys sporting tatoos from head to toe who are drunk before noon and in your face if you stop in for refreshment. We had a kind of ideal notion of what it might be like, but it was nothing like we thought. All in a day's travel, and live and learn, but we seriously did not like this place.The food was godawful, the vibe was threatening, the whole experience one of get-out-of-here-quickly. I am a very low-key traveler who always tries to find the best of any place, but it was really, really hard to find anything to like about this place. The ferry was very cool, though. Should have just stayed on board and gone back and forth.

We loved Penzance, Mousehole (had one of the best meals ever here), Lyme-Regis and Newlyn.

Where were you on the IOW?

Absolutely not our experience of the IOW, which we found to be welcoming and lovely. We stayed in a small B&B (now closed sadly) in Freshwater, and loved it. We went for walks to the battery by the Needles, over Tennyson Down, visited a vineyard and the garlic far, and saw the dinosaur footprints at Compton Bay. We didn't visit either Osborne or the castle.

There are of course very tacky bits, but it is easy to avoid them. West Wight, so Freshwater, Totland, Alum Bay is a lovely area to stay.

Thank you, St. Cirq and hetismij2, for the impressions. I actually heard some negative things about IOW from a coworker of mine, so am somewhat prepared (I hope) and keeping my expectations low.

I had heard of a circular walk around Freshwater, that included Tennyson Down, so that does sound like an area I'll look at, and will try to base myself on the west side. Osborne House is really the main reason for me to visit, so the rest is gravy.

But as I'm not a beach person, more museums, historic houses and hiking, I imagine this will be my first and only visit to IOW. Appreciate the ideas so I can make the most of the visit. The island certainly seems to have some really beautiful areas.

>>tinny Atlantic-City-type beachside towns with bad food and a lot of pubs with guys sporting tatoos from head to toe who are drunk before noon and in your face if you stop in for refreshment<<

Sounds like a frank - but fairly accurate - description of Ryde, Cowes, Sandown or Shanklin to me. Newport (the main town is also a bit of a dump).

However, all is not lost - the west and south west coasts of the island are completely different, with dramatic cliffs and quaint old villages. Yarmouth would be a great base to see this. But you really need a car to see the best of the island. Many foot passengers take the ferry across and spend a disappointing day wandering around the tacky funfares and takeaways in Ryde for example, and don't realise what they are missing elsewhere.

Thank you so much, Gordon_R. That's just the kind of information a traveller loves to get.

I'll look into whether or not I'll need a car (once I firm up the itinerary), but I wonder if you happened to notice how cyclists did on the island...? I heard the bus system was fairly extensive, too, but I'll have to look at some timetables. If the roads aren't too congested, or if there are bike paths, I may look at renting a bike.

Does Alum Bay still have the multi-colored sands? We spent holidays on the island a few times when I was a teenager (a looong time ago) but we stayed on the west coast and I don't remember even visiting Ryde and Cowes.

Sorry I am not a cyclist (or a bus user for that matter). The roads are not congested at all (apart from near to the ferry terminals when a ferry is arriving / departing), but many of the country lanes on the island are narrow, so care is required to avoid coming into conflict with cars / vans / lorries.

I haven't biked on the IoW but have driven on it 2 or 3 times and it isn't bad at all. You'd really need a car to see most of the best bits.

We took a bus from south to north across the island and saw some lovely villages and countryside, but we were on a bus and didn't stop off to investigate, except in Newport, which didn't exactly thrill us.

ride a bike up to the needles, if you look carefully you can still see the base where the British tried to make rockets to the moon based on the V2 rocket.

I have fond memories of Yarmouth and the river up to Freshwater.

Booked on the southwest side of the island, and looking forward to exploring. Thanks for all the advice, Fodorites! If you've heard of anything new coming up this week, please share!

If Victorian photography interests you, you'll enjoy a visit to Dombola Lodge, the home of Julia Margaret Cameron, a museum for her work. http://www.dimbola.co.uk

If you enjoy Gregorian Chant, as I do, Quarr Abbey is the place. I went to the abbey to see the ruins of the original buildings and found myself the only visitor in the current church for a service and it was beyond wonderful. https://www.quarrabbey.org

For both of these I think you'd need a car.

It's decades since I was there, though malign gossip would have it the Island is still in the 1950s. Another vote for Carisbrooke (see if the Victorian children's adventure novel Moonfleet is to your taste, by the way, it has a crucial scene in the castle well), but there is also
http://www.bradingromanvilla.org.uk/

Since you asked about typical local foods, these days the IOW is known for producing a major crop of garlic.
https://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/visit

Local bus services:
http://www.islandbuses.info/page.shtml?pageid=1263

bilboburger, MmePerdu, and lovely Patrick: Thank you so much for the suggestions. HAs been a busy month, selling and buying a new home, so haven't been able to obsessively plan as I normally do. But getting excited for England.

I enjoy loads of garlic in my food, so I'll be sure to check that out.

Many thanks, Fodorites!

We stayed in Freshwater for bit less than a week this spring.
It sure has a different "vibe" than the resort towns on the other side of the island.
And, to be honest, while we might not have wanted to stay in one of those resort towns, we did not find them ghastly. It's bit like 1950s/60s motels in the US - you can find them camp or dated.

We mostly had pub food and what we had was good. Like at the Red Lion on Hooke Hill in Freshwater:
http://www.redlion-freshwater.co.uk/
You can walk to Yarmouth from there - a nice trail starts at the nearby causeway.

We found the bus network across the island very good. So it's not that difficult to walk/hike from A to B and take the bus back.
Actually, there are many trails well sign-posted wherever you are.

The "usual suspects" Osborne House and Carisbrooke had also been on our "list", and both sure did not disappoint us.
Neither did the Roman villa - which I don't think gets that many visitors
http://www.bradingromanvilla.org.uk/

The only place we found a bit lacking was Godshill in the center, excuse me, centre of the island. While the houses are pretty, you need to share the village road with cars and tour buses to walk from one end to the other.

Fantastic, cowboy1968. Such great info. Will be getting to the island tomorrow and buying a 48 hour bus pass, but hoping to hike as much as possible. Thanks for the pub suggestion, too. That's near where I'll be.

Keep thinking the IOW sounds much like Key West. Parts can be wild and a bit tacky, and other areas just lovely and historic. It all depends on the experience you seek, I suppose.