Last weekend, my mum turned to me and said she wanted to take my three children to the Isle of Wight, and did I want to go along. It meant taking a day off work as annual leave, but I didn’t hesitate. I love the Isle of Wight, and have fond memories of going there, so I booked Wednesday off and we booked the first and last ferry of the day, so we could make the most of our time on the island.
We arrived just before 9am and headed across to Carisbrooke Castle, which my mum had pre-booked tickets for when it opened at 10am. We went for a little walk beforehand, to make the most of the time, and to stretch our legs out. We were the first in line to get in the castle, which meant I had exactly 30 seconds to pose and have my mum take this photo of me, before the crowds…
Carisbrooke Castle is an English Heritage property, and is really lovely as a place to explore as a family. The children love history, but if you have children who are less interested, they have a fun activity guide for them, which is free, and helps to keep kids occupied on your way around. We had packed a picnic lunch, so we had that before getting back in the car to our next destination.
We arrived at Osborne House just after 1pm, again we had pre-booked tickets, and we spent a couple of hours exploring and enjoying the beautiful weather. The property was giving off all the Spanish vibes, and I loved how it looked against the blue skies in the sunshine. Again, a lovely historical English Heritage property, with fun activity booklet to complete for children. You can walk down to the private beach, but we chose to leave that as we had plans to go to Shanklin next.
We arrived at Shanklin Old Village at around half 3 and decided to get some ice cream to start from a local cafe. It was delicious, but I did follow it up with some slush as well from another place, which was also delicious (you could mix your own). From there, we took the short walk down to the sea, where we decided to go for a little swim, before we had a quick (or not so quick, as people were going verrrry slowly) game of adventure golf on the themed course, before heading back to the car to go back to the ferry.
On the way back we stopped at AJ’s Takeaway for fish and chips, which we ate in the car on the way – highly recommend as they tasted good and were really reasonably priced! We got the last ferry home at 9pm, having spent 12 hours on the island, and I can recommend it, as it was tiring but so good and saved us money on accommodation. We travelled by Wight Link ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth, and I would recommend a car, as it helped us get around quickly, and without hassle.
Bella hadn’t been feeling too well, so we left her with Ed, but it was good to see that she would usually be able to do everything we had done (bar going on the beach at Shanklin), with a dog. All in all, a great day trip for those living in close proximity to the South Coast, although it is also a great place to visit if you live further afield, for a little break away on the island.
