Press Visit
We recently headed over to the Isle of Wight with Wightlink Ferries to spend a day at Blackgang Chine and we absolutely loved it! I first went to Blackgang as a child and I had taken the older two children with my family when they were toddlers but hadn’t made it back since. It was so lovely to share somewhere that I have such fond memories of with my own little family – all three of the children absolutely loved it there and I am sure we will be returning before long!
Here’s a few reasons why you should definitely book those ferry tickets over to Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight in 2024..
Quick and Easy Crossing from Lymington
We are based in Bournemouth and can easily reach Lymington’s ferry terminal for Wightlink by car in around 45 minutes. The crossing itself is so hassle free and really quick and enjoyable. When you reach Yarmouth, it’s a short 25 minute drive over to Blackgang Chine. We opted for the 9am ferry, which meant we were able to arrive at Blackgang for when it opened, giving us a full day at the park before getting the 6pm ferry back to Lymington. I love that Wightlink are flexible with their bookings too, meaning that if your plans change you may be able to get a different ferry (we did this on our last trip over to the island when bad weather meant we wanted to go home a little earlier than planned). You can travel as foot passengers, if you’d prefer, as there is the option to get a bus from the ferry terminal too.
Rides the Whole Family Can Enjoy
Something I really loved about our visit to Blackgang Chine, compared to other tourist attractions/theme parks was that the rides were able to be enjoyed by our youngest, as well as our older two children. He’s seven and was able to go on everything, which was lovely for him. If you are going along with much younger children who aren’t able to ride, tickets are free for those under 1m. The children really enjoyed Evolution and Water Force, which they went on multiple times. We were there on Good Friday and yet we never needed to queue for very long at all (generally under five minutes), which was also refreshing and meant we could fit multiple rides in during the day. There was one ride which wasn’t in action, and both Evolution and Extinction weren’t open first thing on the day we went as they are affected by wind speeds and other extreme weather, so bear that in mind. There are two new attractions opening for 2024, which means we will definitely need to make a return trip!
Plenty to Explore around the Park
We were at the park from opening until close so had plenty of time to explore but we didn’t feel that we were bored by the end of the day. We liked being able to take our time and enjoy all areas at our leisure, before being able to return to the areas and rides we loved the best in the afternoon. I think everybody loved Cowboy Town the most and we did stay there for longer and decided to eat our lunch there too (highly recommend La Cantina, which was fairly affordable with very tasty food, we especially enjoyed the loaded fries). As well as the rides, there are also plenty of other activities to enjoy around the park – the kids really loved the pirate ships which had water guns – they especially enjoyed it when I joined in and got absolutely soaked! It really is fun for all the family!
Affordable Annual Passes
If you plan on visiting the Isle of Wight more than once during the year, it is definitely worth getting an annual pass for Blackgang as it works out really affordable, even when visiting just twice. Equally, if you are staying on the island or are local, you can return for free within seven days with your general admission tickets, which again makes the ticket price a bargain – there is definitely enough to keep you occupied across more than one day, plus it’s great if you weren’t lucky with the weather on your first visit (fortunately we were so lucky, beautiful blue skies and one of the warmest days in ages, we felt blessed)!
Gorgeous Views
In case you needed another excuse to book those tickets, due to the cliffside location of Blackgang, you are also treated to some gorgeous views out to sea as you wander around the park. I especially loved the views from the Evolution ride, stunning from that height, but from the maze and Pirate Cove, you also get a lovely view and the viewpoint in Nurseryland provides the perfect backdrop for those selfies and group shots (make sure to also get a photo by the toadstool, which has the year painted on for those memories).
Have I convinced you to make a trip to Blackgang Chine? If you’ve been before, let me know which your favourite area was! You can also check out my reel to see how fun our day at Blackgang Chine, travelling via Wightlink Ferries, was!
We were provided with a complimentary ferry crossing and gifted our tickets to Blackgang Chine, however I was under no obligation to write this post and all words and images are my own.
