Isle of Wight
Pack up the family and embark on your own voyage of discovery by taking a short hop across the Solent - you’ll be amazed at what is waiting on the other side.
The Isle of Wight has everything offered by the mainland but smaller. High downs and soaring cliffs; long sandy beaches fringed by farms and forestland, fishing villages and resorts. It’s no wonder that this almost fairy-tale like island was the inspiration of Lewis Carroll to write his magical story Alice in Wonderland. You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to entertaining the family: places to roam, water-sport opportunities and great fun-filled attractions.
Things to do on the Isle of Wight for kids
Dinosaur Isle
In a spectacular pterosaur shaped building just over the sea wall in Sandown is Britain’s first purpose built dinosaur museum. Here you walk back through fossilised time to the period of the dinosaurs with recreated sights, sounds and smells of the era. In amongst a thousand of the best fossils from the collection you can meet the Island famous five fully fleshed out dinosaurs including the animatronic Neovenator.
Isle of Wight Steam Railway
A visit to the award-winning Isle of Wight Steam Railway will engage, inspire and excite young visitors. Step back to a bygone era when steam power was the order of the day, and marvel at the puffing and hissing of the steam engines. 2011 is the Railway’s 40th Anniversary year, so ther e will be a number of special events throughout the year – From ‘The 1940s Experience’ to ‘A Day Out With Thomas’, there’s also a Jazz Festival, steam galas and a Steam and Country Show.
Isle of Wight Zoo
The Isle of Wight Zoo is a superb day out for animal loving families. The zoo is home to one of Britain's largest collection of tigers, many of whom are rescue animals. With a number of superb new enclosures modelled on natural habitats, the zoo is a fantastic place to see these wonderful animals relaxing. From big cats such as tigers, jaguars and lions, to some of the smaller residents at ‘Zoo at Home’ such as rabbits and guinea pigs, there are lots of furry friends to visit.
Robin Hill Country Adventure Park & Gardens
With free unlimited return visits over a seven day period, award-winning Robin Hill definitely qualifies as one of the Island’s favourite country attractions. The park boasts a fantastic array of rides and adventure play for fun loving families & children and relaxing woodland gardens, ponds and sculpture walks to enjoy. Twice daily falconry displays at 11.30am and 2.45pm are renowned to be some of the best in the UK.
Wightlink
Not only does Wightlink offer visitors to the Isle of Wight a fast and reliable ferry service from Portsmouth or Lymington into Fishbourne, Ryde or Yarmouth, but it also offers great value packages with some of the islands top attractions, events and accommodations. Make the most of your visit by picking up one of Wightlink’s special guides - 'Secret Wight' for adventurous families or 'Wight History Trail' for families interested in the history of the island.
