We discovered that the Isle of Wight is only a 10 minute Hovercraft ride (yes Hovercraft!) from Portsmouth, so decided to spend the day there.
On arrival at the island we caught a train to Smallbrook Junction, to connect with a steam train.
A cute little station!
This was a lovely trip of about 30 minutes through lush countryside and, at £22 per person we didn’t think this was too bad for a unique experience.
We disembarked at Wootton and encountered a friendly local (we have come across many of these) who informed us which side of the road to stand on to catch our bus to ‘The Needles’ (a major tourist attraction on the island.
We only had a short wait and we were on the bus, taking the one hour journey to our destination. This was an interesting trip – winding our way through quaint villages, and admiring the skill of our driver as he negotiated his way on roads which were extremely narrow at times!
The Needles (named for an interesting rock formation) offers a raft of activities- mini golf, shops, glass blowing, boat trips and chair lift rides down the cliff to the beach!
Our first stop was the chair lifts. A great ride with lovely views and, at £8 return per person, we felt this was good value.
When we got to the bottom, we hopped onto the boat for the short ride out to the Needles lighthouse.
The colours in the cliff faces are striking. Over the course of millions of years, an old river laid down many layers of sediment which was then pushed up 90 degrees. Apparently there are 21 different colours.
Following this we walked the 40 minute round trip along the top of the cliff to the Battery, situated on the point.
This was a full but great day out, finishing once again with the Hovercraft ride back to Portsmouth!
Traveling Further 