Staycations On The South Coast
The Isle of Wight is one of the favourite locations for many British holiday makers in the UK who want to take a holiday but don’t want to travel too far. Embarking on the Wightlink ferry across the Solent channel really does make it feel like you’re on a proper holiday and the friendly attitude of the islanders makes the island one of the nicest of any of the British isles.
The island is a lovely, sunny beach resort on the one hand and full of iconic and historic landmarks on the other. There are fifteen separate beaches and bays and then there are the cliffs and the Needles, standing stacks of chalk which point out from the furthest westerly point of the island.
getting your Isle of Wight accommodation is easy but book early for the high season as Isle of Wight hotels are expected to fill quickly this year.
Once you get away from the seaside though, you’ll find other attractions such as the Owl and Monkey Haven near Newport. It’s a new, family run project offering a home to birds and monkeys who’ve found themselves out of luck. If you’re looking for something with a little more history then there’s Carisbrooke Castle, King Charles spent the last year of his life incarcerated within the castle walls before being executed. Now you can explore the attractive ruins, the keep and house as well as taking in the views from the battlements.
As if to demonstrate how marvellous the weather is there’s the Ventnor Botanic Gardens which are free to visit, here you can wander between the many sub-tropical and exotic plants and flowers, and continuing the tropical theme there’s also the Amazon World Zoo Park, an award winning, family orientated attraction featuring wildlife from the rainforests. You can also learn about environmental conservation and protection and the flora that makes up the jungles.
If you liked visiting Carisbrooke Castle and now you’re interested in seeing something a little more up to date then there’s Osborne house, bought by Victoria and Albert from Lady Isabella Blachford and rebuilt in 1848 in grand Italian style. Besides the rare and unusual plants the gardens are also one of the few places where you are still able to see the native Red Squirrel, their mainland cousins having been essentially wiped out by disease and pressure from the North American Grey Squirrel.
by harry on April 4th, 2011 Tags: accommodation, hotels, wightlink
Posted in global holidays, global news, global tips, global vacations | Comments Off
