Isle of Wight, Ferries and Ferry Crossings

Welcome to the Isle of Wight (UK) section of FerryCrossings.org, the site for information about major UK and continental ports and the ferries between them. Our site includes an introduction to a number of ports and feature pages about the various crossing ways, lanes and routes and companies operating between them to help you plan your journey and discover interesting travel destinations along the way. You can even compare prices and save money on your ferry tickets with ads from selected major ferry lines.

Isle of Wight & Island Ports

The Isle of Wight needs very little introduction for most people. Even if you've never visited the island the odds are that you will have heard of the Cowes Regatta, the largest event of its kind in the world. The Isle of Wight is an island that welcomes tourists and, when you look at the calendar of events for any month in the year, you'll find it packed with events, carnivals, festivals, competitions and shows. It's an island that has great natural beauty with stunning beaches and cliffs, rich farmland, unspoiled rivers and marshland and the diversity of creatures and plant life that abound there. It has award winning footpaths, designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and 30 miles of its coastline is Heritage Coast. As if that wasn't enough there are numerous beautiful villages, many still reflecting the old way of life on the island.

Think of Shanklin, so ancient it was mentioned in The Domesday Book; then there's Cowes, home of the Regatta but also home to Osborne House, one of Queen Victoria's favourite homes. Ryde is famous for its wide, golden sands and Sandown has a beautiful sandy bay and promenade. If you visit Bembridge you'll find the restored windmill dating back to 1700 and the Shipwreck museum with its collection of strange artefacts recovered from wrecks. Brading, just along the coast, claims to have archaeological evidence supporting its claim to have been the site of continuous human habitaton from the Stone Age to the present. Ventnor owes a lot to the Victorians who believed that the climate was perfect for recovery and recuperation after many illnesses.Today the Botanic Gardens attract numerous visitors to their 22 acre site containing many specimen plants. Brighstone is a pretty village with thatched cottages and a village church dating back to 1190. Freshwater is a village with several claims to fame including the famous colouredsands of Alum Bay and the Needles Rocks. Alfred Lord Tennyson and the Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron both had homes there. Yarmouth, which is the destination port of the Lymington ferry, was granted a Royal Charter in 1135. It suffered several French attacks and raids until Henry Vlll had a defensive castle built.

Inland villages of note are Colbourne, an unspoiled village of thatched cottages with a watermill and a church dating back to 826. Also inland, but sitting at the head of a creek, is Wootton, which claims links with the Romans and King Canute. Today it is the relaxed haunt of leisure boatmen and the associated trades, services and activities. Central to the island, both geographically and commercially, is Newport. It is easily accessed from any other village on the island and has many interesting shops to browse amongst. It's recorded history dates back to Roman times. The Normans built a stronghold on the site of a Saxon fort at Carisbrooke and the stone castle of that name was built on the site in the reign of King Stephen.

There is so much packed into this one small island that it can become a problem just deciding what to see and what has to be missed during your stay. As if all this isn't enough, the climate is British, but much better than the mainland normally expects! Getting to island couldn't be easier as there are frequent and regular ferries sailing out of Lymington, Portsmouth and Southampton to the Isle of Wight, and high speed hovercraft between Portsmouth and the island.