Isle of Wight

[lovenancy]

Any suggestions for fun things to do with children whatever the weather? Also, are any of the beaches surfy for kids body boards? Thanks in advance!

[LIZS]

Osborne House and Carisbrooke castle (join English Heritage for best value). Sandown has ten pin bowling iirc

[lovenancy]

Thanks LIZS, will check them out, am already a member of English Heritage. Any idea about the beaches?

[Olympicpark]

We have been here for all of two days and are in Yarmouth so no idea about beaches but we went to The Needles today and that was good! We are also thinking of the castle, Blackgang Chine, Amazon Zoo World (I think it's called that) and the Steam Railway. Let me know what you find too

[LIZS]

They've just opened the Osborne beach but think any decent tide would further south. Didn't venture that far last time but iirc the sandier ones are to the west (Alum bay). Roman villa at Brading might be worth it if weather dodgy.

[MrsTrellisOfSouthWales]

Compton Bay is great for body boards (park at the car park with the toilets and ice cream van). Or Yaverland, by the IOW Zoo.

How old are the kids? Blackgang is for older (i,e, over 1.1 metres tall), Robin Hill for younger but both do weekly entry. Godshill Model Village is worth an hour or two.
When it's raining, Yarmouth has Fort Victoria, again worth a couple of hours. And the Steam Railway - you can get a combined ticket with the electric trains and even go onto a road train to get you to the beach at Sandown or Shanklin.

There's a great (free) playground outside Osborne House, which also has a new bit open this year.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

The Roman Villa is supposed to be good, it is on our to do list for next time.

There are all sorts of beaches, those along the SW coast are much quieter than those on the east side, not too sure about surf though.

My two (8 and 6) love both Robin Hill and Blackgang Chine, we were over there a couple of weeks ago, got the joint ticket and used it twice for each place, all outdoor though so not great if it rains. What about Dinosaur Isle in Sandown, I think that's indoor.

What I would say if it rains, avoid going to the cinema in Newport, we tried that on a wet day last year and got stuck in horrendous traffic, had to park miles away etc. There is an old fashioned, much cheaper cinema in Ryde, go to that one instead.

[MrsTrellisOfSouthWales]

I am not a fan of Dinosaur Isle, it was ££ for a quick whizz round.

The Roman Villa looked like it had a cracking cafe, and the kids could dress up in Roman outfits to go round, there was plenty inside for them to do (mosaic making and brass rubbing, puzzles) while the adults actually looked at the ruins.

I like Ventnor beach, but it's a bit shingly. Yaverland is great for parking, toilets, ice cream, sand and lots of kite surfers to look at. Bonchurch is great for rock pools.

Tuesday at 7pm is when they practice launching the lifeboat at Bembridge - that's fantastic to watch.

[lovenancy]

Thanks to you all, loads of great suggestions here. We are going next week so hoping the weather picks up a bit. Can't wait to go now!

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

If you do want to go fossil/dinosaur hunting, google the Island Gems website, their fossil walks are supposed to be very good but you have to book ahead.

This looks good too Tree Climbing

I'm listing all the things we didn't get round to this year and are going back for next year.

Useful eating out guide MattandCat

[wheredidiputit]

Lovenancy

Glad you started this as we going to Isle of Wight next week too.

Does any one know of good family restaurants near Nodes point.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Nodes Point is very near St Helens beach, which has a nice restaurant right on the beach (between the NT and public car parks) called Baywatch on the Beach

[TheSydenhamSet]

Many happy memories as a kid playing in the paddling pool at Ventnor which contains a giant map of the isle of wight.

[lovenancy]

Thanks for the links WhoKnows, great guide to eating out. I'm proper excited about our holiday now! We're staying in Yarmouth but looking forward to exploring all around the island.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

We discovered that paddling pool this time too Sydenham, the DCs loved it, we liked being able to have a cold beer and fish and chips from the Haven Fish bar while they splashed.

Definitely going back again next year (that will be 4 in a row).

[Olympicpark]

We went to Amazon zoo World yesterday which was really nice, huge play park for the children, a few random chickens scared them senseless when we we eating our picnic! The lemur walk was a bit terrifying!!!

[NetskiTwinsmum]

Some really good ideas for activities and attractions for the children whatever the weather can be found at www.iowtouristcard.com. You can also save lots of money with this tourist card - we saved over £125 on our trip this year.