36 Hours in the Isle of Wight

This past weekend some of my flatmates and I went on a somewhat spontaneous weekend getaway to the Isle of Wight. It’s a little island off the very southern coast of England, just a quick hour ferry ride away. We went with a travel agency, which I would definitely recommend if you’re ever in England. The trip was very reasonable and enjoyable weekend, so if you’re ever looking for day or weekend trips around Europe from London visit Andersontours.co.uk.

We left very early yesterday morning where the bus picked us up early just a block away from our flat. We weren’t quite sure who would be on the tour considering we found out about this place through our college, so we weren’t sure if it would just be students or just us considering we did book this tour less than a week before we left. It turned out to be quite a diverse mix of people—all different age groups, someone representing every single continent (minus Antarctica), etc. It was cool to talk to some of the people and get to know them.

Anyway, we got on our “luxury bus,” as the agency calls them, and began our journey to Southampton at the Southern tip of England to take the ferry ride to the Isle of Wight. It was a generally enjoyable ride. The ferry was pretty cool too and we got to know a kind of eccentric Australian woman on the tour with us. She had been in Europe visiting her daughter who lived in London for over three months. She was pretty cool.

Our first stop on the Isle was to Osbourne House, where we were fully equipped with all you ever need to know about the Victorian age. Queen Victoria built Osbourne House in the mid-1800s as a vacation home because she loved the island so much. The house and the grounds were quite awesome. The house was very preserved to what it looked like when Queen Victoria lived there and the huge land it was on was simply breathtaking. We also visited the church she attended when she was there. So we got a pretty comprehensive history on the Victorian age and its influence on the Isle. Queen Victoria was a very interesting person, so seeing her huge palace was cool.

We then made our way south to the center of the island where we stopped in Godshill for a long overdue lunch break. Godshill is by far the smallest town I have ever seen. It was literally only one road with about 10 shops on it, most of which were not open because it is the off-season. We settled at a cute little place with amazing-looking desserts and ate a quick sandwich before exploring the little of the town there was to see. It was a cute place with some cute stores, but it was the smallest place I had ever seen.

By that time, it was late afternoon when we began driving to our bed and breakfast in Sandown, on the eastern coast of the Isle. It was a cute little place with little heat where our group was the only guests. The evening was free, so eager to explore we left our hotel in search of things to do. Like Godshill, most everything was closed, so we walked the very short walk to the beach. It was not very pleasant because the wind was blowing so hard sand got in our eyes and hair, but we were eager to see the Channel so it was pretty. We were desperate for some warmth and saw a very modest building with flamboyant lights advertising “family fun.” So we went in. It was kind of a bar/restaurant/casino/arcade with hardly anyone in it at 6:00 on a Saturday night. It was pretty cheesy, but we walked around and saw mini golf for just 2 pounds. We figured we couldn’t pass up a random game of mini golf in the middle of nowhere, so we played a round. We then went to a pub for some dinner and drinks and hung out there until we called it a night.

Despite the fact that our room was freezing, the bed and breakfast was very nice. They even provided us a full English breakfast the next morning, which was delicious despite the fact that, like the last English breakfast, I did not eat half the things on my plate. We then said goodbye to Sandown and made our way to the southeast part of the Isle to Shanklin to see a ravine there. It was probably my favorite part of the trip, definitely the most beautiful thing there. It was a gorgeous view of the sea (the Isle is surrounded by the English Channel) with beautiful cliffs all around it and a ravine off the side. The view was simply extraordinary. The pictures I have of it do not fully capture how gorgeous it was.

The Isle of Wight is very, very small. It is only 26 miles across the whole thing, so getting from place to place was relatively fast, although our big coach on the tiny, mountainside roads was a little scary. We then went to the highly talked about needles, which the Isle is famous for. The town we went to in order to view the needles was a ghost town. It looked to be like a miniature version of Coney Island but everything was closed. We saw the needles and they were okay, but nothing special after seeing all those cliffs, so we left a little disappointed.

The next stop was not something you would expect to do on a tour, but it was a fun thing to do, especially on an island. We went to the Isle of Wight Pearl. It was part museum about pearls and where they come from and what famous people like wearing them and mostly a jewelry store with all pearls. If you are a fan of pearls, then this would be to die for. There was ever a place with fresh oysters in water where you could go and pick out your oyster, have the pearl taken out of it in front of you and keep the pearl. I know this is shocking, but I ended up buying a pair of blue-pearled earrings that were the cheapest thing in the store. They are very pretty, so I’m glad I have a souvenir from this gorgeous Isle.

Almost done with our day, we went to our final stop at the town of Yarmouth—the oldest town on the Isle that was a marina and port. That was another highlight of the trip, because that was a very quaint little town with plenty open and much to see. We stopped for a little snack in this cute seaside café that was literally almost right in the water. Waves literally crash into it. It was the perfect restaurant. We only ate scones and Cadbury hot chocolate, but between the Mamma Mia! music playing in the background, the sign that said that the restaurant was a nut-free facility, and the view out my window, it was the perfect place for me to be. We then walked down the pier and took pictures of more cliffs and beaches when out of nowhere a wave came up and splashed all over me! I was not drenched, but I was definitely wet. I joke that I had been touched by the Channel. I didn’t touch the Channel, but the Channel touched me. It was a pretty funny moment. We walked around the town and made our way back to the bus where we waved goodbye the Isle of Wight and headed back to the bustling streets of London.

The weekend was very fun and much better than I expected it to be. It was the perfect getaway from the city with a perfect blend of scenic beaches and cliffs, but also traditional rolling English hills with sheep and trees, and quaint little villages, houses and stores. It may also be the one place in the entire world (literally) with no Starbucks. It amazes me how little commercialism was on the Island, or at least the parts of it we saw. The Island is so small that we actually covered almost every section of it, or at least drove across the entire circumference of it. There were a few grocery stores that we knew were chains in England, but no Starbucks or McDonalds, and no Costa Coffee or Pret (2 of the biggest chains in London). It was a nice weekend, but definitely a place you really could not visit for any longer than a weekend. Anyway, I’m sure I have bored you long enough with this blog. I admire anyone who has actually gotten through the entire thing. Hope everyone else had just as fun of a weekend!