Isle of Wight

[TimH]

We're making preliminary plans for a one night stay after disemarking a 15 night transatlantic cruise at Southampton before flying home from Heathrow. Option 1 would be to disembark, hire a car transfer service to take us from Southampton to a central London hotel, and then get to Heathrow the next day. We've been to London a number of times. Option 2 would be disembark the cruise ship, drop our bags at a Southampton hotel and ferry over to the Isle of Wight and spend the day. Then, next day transfer from Southampton to Heathrow.

My question: would spending the day on the Isle of Wight be a worthwhile day trip. I've read about a hop on hop off bus system that traverses the island. Anyone have any experience? Thoughts and ideas? Thanks so much.

Tim

 

[Tim W]

The IOW is pretty enough, and is easily navigable by bus. Get the fast ferry across from Southampton to Cowes - although it might shock you how much the relatively short trip costs.

If you've not visited already, could I suggest Winchester - it's only 15 miles from Southampton, and is a lovely historical city.

 

[TimH]

The IOW is pretty enough, and is easily navigable by bus. Get the fast ferry across from Southampton to Cowes - although it might shock you how much the relatively short trip costs.

If you've not visited already, could I suggest Winchester - it's only 15 miles from Southampton, and is a lovely historical city.

Thanks for your reply, Tim. I'll check out Winchester as a possibility, but without a car, we might just stick with the ferry to IoW. Your comment that IoW is "pretty enough" makes me wonder, though, if we might be disappointed. Did I read too much into your comment?

Tim

 

[Eleanor]

Winchester is lovely and has a wonderful cathedral.

It is years and years since I went to the Isle of Wight although daughter and family went a few years go and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I remember visiting the ruined Carisbrooke Castle which made a tremendous impression on me at the time. It is easily reached from Cowes by taking a bus to Newport and changing there for a bus to Carisbrooke.

The three Hop on Hop Off bus routes all seem to run from Ryde and miss out on Cowes, although it is easy enough to get to Ryde from Cowes.

 

[Tim W]

"Did I read too much into your comment?" - difficult

As the crow flies, I live 15 miles from the IOW, and have done for many years. In all that time, I've never had any great urge to revisit the island. The countryside is pretty in a tame, English, rolling hills sort of way. As with Eleanor, I enjoyed Carisbrooke Castle as a schoolchild. Many people really like Osborne House - favourite residence of Queen Victoria)

Winchester is a 15 minute train journey from Southampton, and an easy city to walk around. Other easy train journeys include Salisbury (another beautiful cathedral town) and Portsmouth (a bit grim in places, but the seafront at Southsea is very pleasant - walking along the fortifications put in place by Henry VIII - and the Royal Navy museum is great (it is expensive, but the Mary Rose Museum within the complex is one o the best museums I've ever visited)

 

[TimH]

"Did I read too much into your comment?" - difficult

As the crow flies, I live 15 miles from the IOW, and have done for many years. In all that time, I've never had any great urge to revisit the island. The countryside is pretty in a tame, English, rolling hills sort of way. As with Eleanor, I enjoyed Carisbrooke Castle as a schoolchild. Many people really like Osborne House - favourite residence of Queen Victoria)

Winchester is a 15 minute train journey from Southampton, and an easy city to walk around. Other easy train journeys include Salisbury (another beautiful cathedral town) and Portsmouth (a bit grim in places, but the seafront at Southsea is very pleasant - walking along the fortifications put in place by Henry VIII - and the Royal Navy museum is great (it is expensive, but the Mary Rose Museum within the complex is one o the best museums I've ever visited)

Thank you Elenore and Tim. I've got some more thinking to do and very much appreciate the feedback and insights.

Tim

 

[Colo]

I have been to Portsmouth three or four times on business; once staying for almost a month. Recommend if you are considering Portsmouth look to stay down in the harbor area. There is a Holiday Inn Express right in Gunwharf Quays. Great location to spend a day or two. The hotel is nothing special but are clean. The museums, the ferries to IoW, and the train station to London are all right there just steps away. The surrounding buildings have been converted to stores, pubs and restaurants.

We used the trains for London excursions, but when we left to go to the airport for our return we used a charter from City Wide Taxis. They too are located right there at the Gunwharf. Great service – no complaints.

We did a day trip over the IoW mainly because I really wanted to see the Needles. I work in electronics industry, and the Needles was a very important location in early radio. A must see for me. Our group to IoW consisted of three people - Myself at 55 at the time (who needed to lose weight) and two young ladies in their mid-20s who were both tri-athletes. They thought it would be great to rent bikes and ride out to the Needles. We did use the hop on bus and rode about halfway to where we picked up our bikes. Great experience… HOWEVER, recommend you skip the bikes. It was uphill both ways… I swear, but very beautiful.

Do some research on Gunwharf Quays of Portsmouth. Definitely enough to keep you busy for a day or two. Not sure when you are going but I would also check it does not coincide with Isle of Wight Festival, which is one of the largest concerts in Europe. Safe Travels