Are the activities on Isle of Wight all nature-related? After all, the word “isle” conjures up images of either palm trees or grassy hiking trails. Well, I am here to tell you that the Isle of Wight isn’t what you’re expecting, or at least, it wasn’t what I was expecting. Lying off the south coast of England, separated from Portsmouth by a body of water called The Solent, the Isle of Wight is England’s largest island, and it is, indeed, big. This isle is 147 square miles (approximately 23 miles X 13 miles).
The isle’s size means that it is comprised of many towns. So many, in fact, that the isle has its own bus system and its own train system. In the same way that one doesn’t feel like they’re on an island when they are in England, visitors won’t feel like they’re on an island when visiting the Isle of Wight. . . until you seek out the proper view, that is.
Getting to the Isle of Wight
Part of what makes a great trip to the Isle of Wight is getting there. This, too, is part of the adventure. Who doesn’t love a good ferry ride, after all? Due to the fact, that Stockholm, Sweden is comprised of dozens of little islands of land, ferries are part of their public transportation system. The system is different in Portsmouth. There is a ferry terminal to the Isle here and you can buy your ferry ticket there or online, but it is not included in any public transportation multi-day passes that you might choose to buy. The ferry transports vehicles as well. It is also slow. It takes at least 45 minutes and often, more. If you aren’t traveling with a vehicle and just need to transport yourself then the way to do it is by Hovercraft. Yes, hovercraft! One of the activities on Isle of Wight is taking a hovercraft from Portsmouth to the island to get your holiday started.
Hovertravel is the one company that offers this service. As it is the only year-round passenger hovercraft service in the world, a visitor would have to be crazy to turn down the chance to try it! A round-trip day ticket cost us 31GBP ($39) per person at the time we visited. The trip was super smooth and took only a head-spinning 10 minutes. Is this a lot of money for 10 minutes? Probably, but it’s the only place in the world where I was going to have a chance to try it so, the ticket sold itself.
Activities on Isle of Wight
As a result of the fact that Isle of Wight is a playground for English people on holiday, the place is packed with family-friendly entertainment. There are so many activities on Isle of Wight visitors will struggle narrowing it down. It’s a bit like Myrtle Beach, South Carolina without the cheesy glitz. The isle has full-scale amusement parks, a donkey sanctuary, castles and historical locations, a primate sanctuary, and a place called Shanklin Chine which is a geological feature (an historic gorge) where visitors can hike to see waterfalls and caves.
We spent just one day there, but it is easy to see why so many Brits make an entire holiday out of this island.
Vacationing Like the Victorians Did
We spent most of our day having a Victorian-style vacation. We are members of English Heritage, which is an organization that manages hundreds & hundreds of historic UK sites. With our membership we get free entry into most of these locations. Therefore, we spent most of our day exploring stunning Osborne House, which was Queen Victoria & Prince Albert’s vacation home.
Below are portraits of Queen Victoria, both young and as an older monarch.
A tour of this home tells the story of the marriage between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who were married in 1840, and of the accomplishments of one of the UK’s most well-known monarchs. The two had nine children together and worked hard to form political alliances that spread across the world with each marriage they arranged for one of their children. In particular, Osborne House was a treasured family home where the couple always came to celebrate their birthdays (in May and August). This tradition began in 1846 and continued uninterrupted until 1861 when Prince Albert died a relatively young man at the age of 42. Hundreds of the paintings, sculptures, furniture pieces, and knick-knacks on display are birthday gifts that the couple gave one another. Yet, the Queen’s heartbreak at losing her true love is palpable as you walk through the rooms. Her grief was reinforced by the fact that the went into mourning for the remainder of her life, wearing black almost exclusively, and never celebrating another birthday at Osborne House (though she did celebrate Christmases there).
The couple added on to a home that was already there and made it a palace that was appropriate for their royal stature. The artwork is gorgeous, but the architectural details in each room are extraordinary.
At the start of our tour, we asked a staff member if she had a favorite room. She said it was the Durbar Room near the end of the tour. She promised us we would know which room it was the minute we saw it. She was right.
In the Queen’s era, India was still under British rule. And though, the fact that Queen Victoria was made Empress of India in 1877 is rather politically incorrect today, it was the way of the world back then. She admired the culture greatly and wanted to bring a bit of that into her own home. The carving is all done with wooden molds created by master craftsman Bhai Ram Singh that then had a type of papier mâché applied.
The Queen’s Gardens and Beach
The formal gardens are, as you would expect, beautiful to see. My favorite area was a balcony that hovered above grassland and forest paths that lead to the private beach.
One of the most unique experiences a visitor can have is to explore the Queen’s beach. This is one of the activities on Isle of Wight that some guests probably miss, which is a shame. Walk the same woodland path that she and her family walked. Splash around in the same waves where the royal children learned to swim, and stroll on the same sand where the family relaxed in the sun with butler-served lunches. Having such a personal, and in some ways, intimate, space open to the public is not something that you see at every house museum.
A Final Note
If you are visiting southern England, you could do worse than to extend your sojourn by two or three days to give yourself time to explore Portsmouth and Isle of Wight. Whether you like history, nature or adventure the activities on Isle of Wight have something to offer you. The atmosphere is unique and doesn’t feel like the rest of England at all. A bit of ancient history, a pinch of adventurous innovation, a dash of Myrtle Beach, and a splash of royal elegance all thrown into the lobster pot. That’s the recipe for a weekend on the Isle of Wight.
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