One of my favourite holiday destinations in the U.K. is Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. This Victorian beach resort is the perfect place to relax, enjoy fresh air (with or without sunshine) and delicious, no-fuss, locally sourced food.
Ventnor has a lovely beach, but if that’s not your thing, there are other things you can do. As the town is built on a steep hill leading to the beach, whatever you do, you will get plenty of exercise walking up and down the streets and stairs…
There are nice walks around the town, too: for example the 20-30 minutes’ walk to Steephill Cove along the beautiful coastal path. This little bay is only accessible by walking (parking is available in the nearby Botanic Gardens), and there are a few self-catering holiday lets, beach huts, and a few small restaurants. What a perfect place to go swimming and sunbathing, or just relax for the afternoon.
If you’re hungry after your walk, you can stop by the Crab Shed for a delicious sandwich or fish pie.
And after lunch you can check out the Botanic Gardens just a short walk away. And if you don’t feel like walking all the way back to Ventnor, there is a bus back from the Botanic Gardens…
And you’re back just on time for dinner at the legendary Spyglass Inn, right where the coastal path leading to Steephill Cove started.
So, it’s a pub… Now, let’s make something clear: I don’t go to pubs (just not my thing, and I don’t mind if you call me a snob; I am a snob…). But this place is no ordinary pub. They specialise in locally sourced fish and seafood, and there is live music on most evenings.
The perfect evening includes a portion of their fabulous Greenlip Mussels…
…watching the sun set and night fall over Ventnor…
Yes, Ventnor is the perfect place to relax, enjoy good food and beautiful scenery.
Tiina
Linking up with Bonnie, Kaelene, Sammy and Van for
Reminds me a bit of Llandudno in Wales! Would love to visit the Isle of Wight some day….
It is a lovely place, and there's a lot to see.
Beautiful…I've always wanted to visit the Isle of Wight….I read about it a long time ago…
The scenery is really beautiful, and varies depending where you are on the island.
I had no idea what the Isle of Wight looks like, but I've always wanted to visit since I heard Paul sing about it in that one Beatles song ("When I'm 64"). Looks like a great place to holiday!
I had no idea there was a connection to that song… I'll have to listen to it. It is a great place to spend a few days.
I had heard about the Isle of Wight, but knew nothing of it or what it looked like. Thanks so much for sharing your pictures, it looks wonderful!
The thing is, it looks completely different on the other side of the island… Ventnor looks like it could be in Italy, with the hills and the zig-zag streets.
Looks great! Crab Shed sounds so good. I had fish for dinner so am in a real seafood mood!
I always eat lots of fish when I visit the Isle of Wight, there are some great restaurants.
This place looks so pretty! I've only been to Isle of Wight for the festival, but after seeing a small part of it have wanted to go back ever since. Will have to add this place to the list.
It is really worth visiting, and there are lots of nice little towns to explore.
This is great! I must admit that I know little of England than the usual cities. I have 2 sisters living in the UK in Ipswich and Worthing.. I should get them to take me around more!
Well, next time you visit your sisters you can tour a little. Worthing is very close to lots of nice places (Brighton, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight). But the problem is always time: there are the people and places to see, and there's often no time to explore new places…