What should I write about the Isle of Wight? A 3-day itinerary targeting Google crawlers? Nope, that’s not what I want, plus we didn’t do much on the island. ‘Then why do I like Isle of Wight?’ I asked myself and looked at the photos — the genuine and beaming smiles on our faces — that’s why I like it.
Compared to the Rome trip, we encountered a group of pick-pocket on the first day, this island trip was much more relaxing, scenic, and peaceful.
There was not much shopping to do on the island, but we found ourselves surrounded by priceless nature’s colour—wild yellow flowers, young green shoots, fluffy white clouds hanging on a pale blue sky, and the aquamarine ocean reflecting the most gentle touch of warm sunshine.
Although we were with two elderly, my Mom and her partner, we took a slower pace and managed to finish a 4.5 km hike in approximate 5 hours, from Tennyson Down to The Needle, following this National Trust map.
On the way to The Needle, there were so fewer people, which made me once think we might have taken a wrong path. We didn’t worry so much as the beautiful nature kept us busy at taking photos. Countless selfies, jumping and raising hands, doing stupid poses, all you can name — it’s that simple to make us laugh.
We could not ask for more as we were blessed with a lovely sunny day, windy though, ‘we are lucky! Lucky to have each other, too’ is the only sentence I could think of.
Apart from our precious memories, here are a highly recommended B&B to stay and 2 restaurants that received good ratings.
A Lovely B&B in Isle of Wight
Nowadays, a 3,4-star hotel doesn’t guarantee a pleasant stay amid the rising costs. The room can be so tiny that you can barely open a suitcase; shower gel and shampoo combined into one; not even a kettle in the room; or only a few hangers so you struggle with which shirt to hang because you have 10.
But in The Avenue in Shanklin, I found none of those problems. On top of that, we were warmly greeted by a father and son team, Simon and Johnathan, with hot tea served at the conservatory and talked us through the Isle of Wight, plus they wrote a memo about which milk you prefer!
So yes! The breakfast was also unbeatable, as you tailor your own full English breakfast, and it’s made to order! There were also fresh fruits, cereals and juice to help yourself while waiting.
The location is perfect, too! You can reach Shanklin beach in 10 minutes by walking. Why not start the day with a nice jog?
Or try mini-golf if you have never experienced one?
Where to Eat on Isle of Wight
Food on this island tends to be a bit pricey, probably due to its popularity. Yet, I still needed to figure out where to eat good food without costing an arm and a leg. At the end, we tried 2 high-rating restaurants during our stay. Both were great!
The Seaview Hotel—Aquatania
It’s a Michelin recommended white-cloth table restaurant, but I found it’s overall kinda reasonably priced, considering the food quality, ingredients they used and presentation.
They have a Fish & Chips offer at 2 for £23, too!
Pendletons
Another one was a more casual approach — Pendletons, located just a 15-minute walk from our B&B. They offer solid British food with warm and friendly service.
A Few Last Words
Whichever island, the weather is always ever-changing and unpredictable. So I felt particularly grateful for the sunny days and this 2 cute and lovely elderly couple for playing along with our plan. Hopefully, with the photo album I rushed, they will remember these happy moments and have the most placid smile appear on their faces again.
