The Isle of Wight caters for everyone. I speak from personal experience; I first visited as a child, then as a lover of wildlife and walking, good food and drink and latterly as a parent of young, then older children.
The island has excellent conventional attractions and does a fantastic job of interpreting its ancient and wartime history, as well as its relationship with the sea. In many ways, though, the great outdoors is the main event, and your best memories may well be of wandering along a beach and stumbling upon a fossil or spotting a red squirrel in a woodland.
All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our destination expert to help you discover the best things to do on the Isle of Wight. Find out more below, or for more Isle of Wight inspiration, see our guides to its best hotels, restaurants, bars and pubs, and beaches.
Find things to do by type:
- Best for royalty and history
- Best for families
- Best for museum lovers
- Best for foodies
- Best for walkers
- Best for nature lovers
- Best for seaside Victoriana
Best for royalty and history
Osborne House
Discover Queen Victoria’s “little paradise”
Osborne House was where Queen Victoria was most amused, describing it as her “little paradise”. Built in Italianate style and set among lawns edged by veteran oaks and yews, sumptuous state rooms and opulently furnished corridors are warmed by personal touches such as marble sculptures cast from moulds of plaster of limbs of the couple’s children.
Insider tip: The attractive shingle beach behind the house is easily missed and on the way you will see the bathing machine – it brings to mind a cowboy’s wagon – where Queen Victoria got changed before she took to the water.
Area: East Cowes
Website: english-heritage.org.uk
Price: ££
Carisbrooke Castle
Tour a 1,000-year-old castle
With a drawbridge, deep moat, forbidding portcullis and superbly crenulated battlements, Carisbrooke is a superb castle in the heart of the island, dating back more than 1,000 years. Charles I was held here before his trial and execution in 1649. There’s a chapel, a museum and a mile of ramparts to explore.
Insider tip: Ask guides to point out the window (not the original) through which Charles got stuck while trying to escape from his bedchamber. The King had earlier checked that his head fitted through and naively assumed his well-proportioned body would follow.
Area: Newport
Website: english-heritage.org.uk
Price: ££
Quarr Abbey
Visit the island’s monks
Set among 200 acres of farmland and orchards and home to a community of Benedictine monks, Quarr Abbey is a surreal spectacle. Its terracotta and biscuit-brown appearance was heavily influenced by the symmetrical brickwork on the mosque at Cordoba, and the striking belfry has an onion dome (visible from the Fishbourne ferry) reminiscent of Eastern Orthodox churches and Moorish architecture.
Insider tip: Part of the wider grounds are open to the public and feature woodland, herb gardens and allotments. If you encounter someone in a beekeeper’s suit, it’s almost certainly a monk.
Area: Ryde
Website: quarrabbey.org
Price: Free
The Needles Old Battery and New Battery
Learn about a secret rocket-testing site
Set in a stunning location at the western edge of the island, the Old Battery was built to defend Portsmouth’s naval ships against French incursions that never materialised, but nevertheless played an important part in both World Wars. The adjacent New Battery was the site of a top-secret UK operation from the Fifties to the Seventies, which tested space rockets, a story related here with some brio.
Insider tip: The railings below the New Battery provide the best unimpeded and free view of the Needles. Inside the battery, for a close-up and dizzying view of the chalk stacks, head along the underground tunnel beneath the perimeter fence.
Area: Alum Bay
Website: nationaltrust.org.uk
Price: ££
Best for families
Isle of Wight Steam Railway
Embark on a nostalgic journey
Few places do vintage as well as the Isle of Wight, and a trip on this restored steam railway represents a glorious step back into the puff-puff days of the early 20th century. Carriages are gloriously restored in their green livery, and the journey trundles through farmland with downland views. Volunteer ticket inspectors and guards play their part and it’s all great fun.
Insider tip: Be sure to visit Train Story, a small museum at the Havenstreet stop and workshop where Edwardian carriages are being brought back to life.
Area: Ryde
Website: iwsteamrailway.co.uk
Price: ££
Godshill Model Village
Step back in time
The village of Godshill, blessed with countless thatched cottages, honey-stoned architecture, tea shops and a general olde-worlde feel, is the quintessential Isle of Wight experience of yesteryear. For children, the charm is to be found in the model village, with its miniature churches, bathing huts and buses amid an ornate garden landscape of topiary.
Insider tip: Parents may find refuge in the Cider Barn. Otherwise, this is the place to simply forget about the new-fangled 21st century and tuck into a cream tea while overlooked by a statuette of a nymph.
Area: Godshill
Website: modelvillagegodshill.co.uk
Price: £
Fossil hunting tour
Search for dinosaurs
There’s paleontological gold on the island with more than 20 types of dinosaur found along its Cretaceous coastline, including two species of Iguanodon. Good spots for fossils are Yaverland, Hanover Point and the wider Brook Bay. To learn more, visit the outstanding Dinosaur Isle museum.
Insider tip: It’s worth taking a guided fossil tour – the island’s coast is so dynamic, you have a sporting chance of finding something of interest, such as fossilised crocodile teeth or turtle shells. Guided walks are available from Dinosaur Isle and Wight Coast Fossils.
Area: Sandown/south coast
Website: wightcoastfossils.co.uk
Price: £
Brading Roman Villa
Explore a 4th-century home
What did the Romans ever do for the Isle of Wight? Find out at this engaging museum, which houses the substantial remains, artefacts and mosaics of the eponymous 4th-century villa, thought to have been the home of a well-to-do Roman merchant or farmer. Children will especially enjoy the villa as there are opportunities for dressing up and role play.
Insider tip: The mosaics steal the show: look out for the fractured mosaic of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and a curious mosaic of a cockerel-headed gallus, the only one of its kind found in Britain.
Area: Sandown
Website: bradingromanvilla.org.uk
Price: ££
Best for museum lovers
Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum
Dive into the island’s maritime past
Around 4,000 shipwrecks have been identified off the coast of the Isle of Wight. This superb little museum is not only a homage to victims and survivors, but it’s a treasure chest of salvaged ship heads, genuine pieces of eight silver and even a periscope from a German U-boat.
Insider tip: Even though it’s signposted, the museum is well hidden and tucked away at the back of Arreton Village, and, in the opinion of this writer, rather undersold.
Area: Arreton
Website: museum.maritimearchaeologytrust.org
Price: £
Sir Max Aitken Museum
Learn about the debonair island boy
Cowes resident Max Aitken lived life to the full, mainly on the sea, but also in the air and on the motor-racing track and this townhouse, set deep in Cowes’ seafaring heart, is homage to his extraordinary life. Artefacts include the gaff from the royal racing yacht Britannia, which spans the entire length of the museum and a baby’s cradle once used by Napoleon’s son “The Infant King of Rome”.
Insider tip: Seek out the miniature cannon with which Sir Max would announce “gin o’clock” – a pinch of gunpowder was dropped on the cannon and an eyeglass would reflect the sun to heat the powder to exploding point.
Area: Cowes
Website: sirmaxaitkenmuseum.org
Price: Free
Dimbola Museum & Galleries
Stop by the former home of a pioneering Victorian female photographer
Set back from Freshwater Bay, the former home of Julia Margaret Cameron showcases the work of this pioneering Victorian female photographer. Cameron was unconventional, taking pictures of women with their hair down (unheard of in the straight-laced times in which she lived) and notorious for grabbing potential subjects off the street below her balcony.
Insider tip: Buy a slice of cake from the café and sit in the garden under the gaze of a bust of Jimi Hendrix – the rockstar headlined the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival just down the road on Afton Down.
Area: Freshwater
Website: dimbola.co.uk
Price: £
Best for foodies
Harvey Browns farm shop and restaurant
Pick up island-grown supplies
The island is home to several quality farm shops, but the pick is Harvey Browns, a cathedral-like structure that might instil reverence among foodie fans. Packed to the rafters with island-grown vegetables, meat, jams, cheeses and beer, it also produces an excellent range of frozen, healthy ready meals if you are self-catering.
Insider tip: The restaurant gets seriously busy – come early as they serve an excellent breakfast and brunch – try a scrumptious pastry or a traditional or vegan island fry up with local mushrooms and tomatoes.
Area: Newport
Website: harveybrowns.co.uk
Price: ££
Adgestone Vineyard
Tour an award-winning winery
The Romans were thought to produce wine on the Isle of Wight 2,000 years ago, today Adgestone is an award-winning vineyard. The grapes grown here include full-bodied red, vanilla-tinted oaked white and – recently launched – a blue sparkling wine.
Insider tip: The vineyard offers garden and cellar tours, tastings and bistro dining. It’s all too tempting, especially with live music at weekends, so consider leaving the car behind for this one – it’s just a short walk to Brading with train and bus connections.
Area: Brading
Website: adgestonevineyard.co.uk
Price: Free entry; food and drink ££
Best for walkers
Tennyson Down
Enjoy a picnic at the Tennyson Monument
Sir John Betjeman described the landscape of Tennyson Down and its surrounds as “an earthquake poised in mid-explosion.” A walk up the tilting Tennyson Down, sheer cliffs on one side, woodlands where owls hoot on the other, will show why. Your destination is the Tennyson Monument, named for the eponymous poet laureate who took his daily constitutional here.
Insider tip: Visit Farringford, a turreted neo-Gothic country pile set among sumptuous gardens where Alfred, Lord Tennyson, lived for almost 40 years. Look out for the staircase that Tennyson used when he wished to escape his duller visitors.
Area: Totland Bay
Website: nationaltrust.org.uk
Price: Free; Farringford £
The shores of the Solent
Walk along the esplanade with an ice cream
It’s barely three miles from the town of Ryde to the village of Seaview on the island’s northeast coast. Grab a sandwich from Craft (try the cod goujon toastie), run by professional chef James Gregory, and walk along the esplanade to Seaview, taking in the bustle of yachts and ferries bobbing along the Solent.
Insider tip: Wait until you reach Seaview to buy the ice-cream – Seaview Deli, just back from the shore, has a mouthwatering range.
Area: Ryde/Seaview
Price: Free
Best for nature lovers
Ventnor Botanic Garden
Explore the island’s micro-climate wonderland
South-facing and sheltered from northerly winds by a curtain of high downland, Ventnor enjoys a milder climate, typically 5C warmer than the rest of the UK. The trees and flowers of the beautiful botanical garden reflect this – look out for Mediterranean and sub-tropical jewels such as giant echiums with bell-shaped flowers and tall spires.
Insider tip: To see the garden at its most serene, get here early, before the yellow flowers of two-metre-tall gems such as Verbascum lydium close for the day. Check out the wall lizards sunning themselves on whitewashed walls.
Area: Ventnor
Website: botanic.co.uk
Price: £
Red Squirrel Trail
Cycle the best route for wildlife
The 32-mile Red Squirrel Trail goes to Parkhurst Forest, mission control for the island’s red squirrels. After visiting the hide where food is laid out, take the trail to Sandown on the east coast. While 100 years ago reds were widespread across the east and south-west of England, today the Isle of Wight is among the only places in England where you will find them south of Lancashire. The latest estimate put the island population of reds at 3,500.
Insider tip: Break the journey along the route in the village of Godshill to refuel.
Area: Newport/various
Website: redsquirreltrail.org.uk; routefifty7.com
Price: £
Bird watching at Newtown
Spot heron gulls, even eagles
Overlooking the creeks and mudflats of the Newtown National Nature Reserve, Newtown’s hide and boardwalks overlie former saltpans and oyster farms. There’s wonderful bird spotting here, from herons and curlew to Mediterranean gulls (look out for the white circle around their eyes) and – with luck – white-tailed eagles, which are known to favour the mullet found here.
Insider tip: Don’t miss Newtown’s 17th-century redbrick Old Town Hall, rescued from complete dilapidation by the mysterious Ferguson’s Gang, a group of inter-war philanthropic women who burst into National Trust meetings and planted sacks of cash on table, Robin Hood style.
Area: Newtown
Website: nationaltrust.org.uk
Price: Free
Best for seaside Victoriana
Shanklin Chine
Experience the island’s oldest tourist attraction
The Isle of Wight has dozens of chines – gulleys or valleys that cut down to the sea – and Shanklin Chine is where nature met a sharp eye for a profit thanks to entrepreneur William Colenutt, who excavated a path and demanded an entrance fee for his endeavours. The chine drops steeply 105ft to the beach and oozes with mosses and ferns, softly highlighted by illuminations. Jane Austen was among early admirers.
Insider tip: Lookout for a Victorian brine tub used for heated saltwater baths and the PLUTO pipeline – the undersea oil supply that supported the Allied wartime effort.
Area: Shanklin
Website: shanklinchine.co.uk
Price: £
The Needles Landmark Attraction
Indulge in candy floss, chairlifts and amusement stalls
Don’t miss this confection of amusement stalls and Victorian entertainment, which sits at the top of the cliffs, shoulder to shoulder with the magnificent landscape of Tennyson Down and the Needles. It’s all good fun and a visit to the Sweet Manufactory to learn how the Victorians refined candy floss and wine gums is a must.
Insider tip: Take the open chairlift down to Alum Bay – this may well be the ultimate memory maker of your entire trip. It’s best described as only slightly hair-raising and the colours of the cliff from sea level are extraordinary.
Area: Alum Bay
Website: theneedles.co.uk
Price: £
How we choose
Every attraction and activity in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles, from world-class museums to family-friendly theme parks – to best suit every type of traveller. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations.
About our expert
Mark Rowe is The Telegraph’s Isle of Wight destination expert.
“I first visited the Isle of Wight in short trousers with a fishing net in the Seventies and remain a regular visitor. I’m also the author of the Bradt Slow Travel guide to the Isle of Wight, and Slow Wight, an online guide to car-free routes around the island.”