Isle of Wight, UK – 2026

Just over a week ago we thought we’d take advantage of some good weather and head off over to the Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. It didn’t take long to find a caravan on Air BnB so I booked on the Thursday and we headed off four days later. The island is only accessible via a car and passenger ferry. Late booking prices for us were high at £260 return but our Air BnB host was able to organise our crossing at a significant discount price of £77 for the return trip.

We caught the ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne and that went without a hitch. We arrived at the ferry terminal two hours early but the staff put us on an earlier crossing so we were on the island about an hour before our original booking was due to leave. We were returning to a campsite we’ve previously stayed at near Bembridge. We like this side of the island and it gives access to some nice coastal walks, either heading west towards Sandown and Shanklin or east towards St Helens and Ryde.

We’d decided we were going to use our time on the island for some long walks. Our first hike was on day two and we made our way over the headland from the campsite down into Sandown and then on to Shanklin. A beach side causeway links the two towns and there’s an alternative route along the top of the cliffs which overlook the beach. We walked the causeway on our way out Shanklin and returned using the cliff top path. It’s a really nice, there and back again walk, about 11 miles long with a few good climbs but on good paths.

Day three we decided to walk into Ryde via Bembridge. This really is a long walk at about 14 miles there and back. We were quite willing to take it on but before long we ran into problems with coast path closures, because of landslips, forcing us into some lengthy diversions. One of these took us into the centre of Bembridge where we saw a bus for Ryde. We made a snap decision to catch the bus into Ryde and then walk back once we were finished there.

Our new plan worked out well although we got lucky with a low tide which allowed us to walk around the headland at St Helens and avoid another long coast path diversion. It was still a longish walk of about 11 miles but it was mostly flat on firm sand and good coast paths. Ryde itself is worth a visit. It has a busy High Street with some nice cafes and the usual collection of Charity Shops.

Day three we decided to walk back into the Sandown as I wanted to get down onto Yaverland Beach which is one of the best fossil hunting beaches in the UK. The beach is located on the edge of Sandown and was on our route into town. As it happened a high tide kept us off the beach on our way out, so we walked on into town and then onto Shanklin but taking the cliff top route on the way out.

On our return along the causeway I got side-tracked by the fantastic deckchairs pictured below. The owner had put them out to dry before planning to put them away for the winter. We had a chat with him whilst I was busy with the camera. He told us the little hoods on the deckchairs are a feature unique to the Isle of Wight. We got further side-tracked in Sandown looking in shops, so our Yaverland Beach walk was put off for another day.

We had planned a walk into Ventnor from Shanklin on day four, but when I checked my walking app it had closed down all the routes as the coastal path was completely closed. The only walking alternative was an inland route which wasn’t that well marked so we changed our plans for the day. We spent the morning in Bembridge, picking up a miso sourdough loaf from an artisan bakery there.

We spent our afternoon in Shanklin. We’ve never been to the top half of the town and explored the High Street so we drove in and walked back to explore the shops and cafes. It’s quite a quaint High Street with some really nice thatched roof properties. It was busy with tourists, especially around the pink pub and green Christmas shop pictured below.

Day five was set aside for Yaverland Beach. We made it there for the afternoon and spent some time walking out and photographing an abandoned sailing boat, before searching along the base of the beachside cliffs to try and find some fossils. We found plenty of limestone packed with ancient shells but no dinosaur bones, although I probably wouldn’t know one if I saw it.

Day six was our travel home day so we stayed local to the caravan site before catching the ferry back to the mainland and making our way back to Portishead from there. We had another good week on the island. I’m not sure if we’ll go back for a while but the Isle of Wight is a great place to visit if you’ve never been.

Photography Notes

I took my Sony A7 with me for this trip and I planned to use it with my Nikon vintage lenses and my Vivitar 55mm macro lens. I also took my Sony 24mm-105mm zoom. I’ve had this lens for about nine months now and not used it a lot so I decided I’d try and use it whilst we were away.

Because of the length of our walks (we averaged over ten miles every day), I had to use a rucksack rather than my over the shoulder camera bag. Even so, those Nikon lens still weighed me down heavily. I did use them for the first three days but then carried the A7 with the Sony zoom for the last two days of the break. Slightly less weight on my shoulder.

I haven’t used a modern zoom for some time now and it was nice having that zoom option with auto focus. That said, I also enjoyed using my vintage lenses during the week and it’s worked out quite well having both options available to me. The quality of the Sony zoom is amazing. It’s a fantastic lens. If I was shooting a wedding it would be my chosen workhorse. It’s big though and heavy. We’re off to Kos, Greece soon and I plan on taking the same camera lens combination for our visit there.

All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2026 – All rights reserved.