Isle of Wight with Tweens: A 3-day Itinerary

We recently spent three days exploring the Isle of Wight. We travelled with our two children, aged 10 and 12, and our two springer spaniel dogs. We took a Wightlink ferry crossing from Lymington in the New Forest to Yarmouth, on the west side of the Isle of Wight. The journey time is around 40 minutes and is as stressless as it could possibly be (the dogs didn’t have to stay in the car).

Our accommodation was only a few short miles from the Yarmouth ferry port, taking 15 minutes to drive. We stayed at Tom’s Eco Lodge, in a luxury cabin with hot tub. This is within the grounds of Tapnell Farm Park – a great children’s farm to keep young ones entertained.

Here’s our top attractions, that we visited during our stay.

Day 1 – morning: Tapnell Farm Park

Being ‘on-site’ so to speak, we dipped in and out of Tapnell Farm Park throughout our stay. However, on our first morning we explored it fully. There’s lots of animals to see, from goats, wallabies, meerkats, pigs, donkeys, guinea pigs, chicks, alpacas and creepy crawly bugs. As well as the animals there are lots of fun activities including a brilliant go-kart track, zipwire, climbing frames, slides, jumping mats … as well as traditional play parks.

For refreshments there is a café serving lots of lovely homemade cakes and meals. For rainy days there are also indoor play areas.

Day 1 – afternoon: West Wight Alpacas

If you’ve never walked an alpaca, you must arrange to do this. We booked onto the long walk (don’t worry, it’s all flat and not remotely challenging) at West Wight Alpacas. WEAR WELLIES! You meet your alpaca guide and you’re talked through a few simple do’s and don’ts before you meet the alpaca you are walking. You then walk around the ground of their farm, learning lots of interesting facts about the alpacas – and of the other animals in the fields you pass.

Afterwards you are free to look at all the other animals they have, including miniature donkeys, Herdwick sheep, llamas, pygmy goats and Indian runner ducks. Finally, thoroughly recommend a coffee and cake in their café (their wood-fired pizzas come highly recommended too).

Day 2 – morning: Isle of Wight Steam Railway

This morning, we had an early breakfast as we’d planned to arrive at Havenstreet station for the first ride of the day. On the day we visited we were part of a ‘Santa Special’ – a steam ride first to Smallbrook Junction and then all the way back through Havenstreet to Wootton (then back to Havenstreet). We then had a date with Santa! On a ‘normal’ running day you can alight at Smallbrook Junction and pick up the Island Line to Shanklin and Ryde.

At Havenstreet there is a café, gift shop, and museum and workshops to visit. Next door is the Haven Falconry Bird of Prey centre too.

Day 2 – afternoon: Monkey Haven

Monkey Haven is located quite close to Havenstreet station. It is a well-kept, small, ‘zoo’ consisting of rescue monkeys, owls, meerkats and more. There’s a lovely café on site, along with a nice gift shop full of tempting treats for the little ones. Throughout the day, on an hourly basis, there are different keeper activities/talks and there’s a quiz you can do as you walk around.

All the animals at Monkey Haven have been gifted to them – as a result of the illegal pet trade, injuries and deformities that mean they wouldn’t survive in the wild, etc. So even more than a zoo, this is actually a sanctuary for the animals who needed a safe and proper home. And you can see they are really well looked after.

Day 3 – morning: The Wight Military and Heritage Museum

Located towards Cowes, you can easily lose track of time at the Wight Military and Heritage Museum. There is so much to see and do – lots to learn as well. We were given a guided tour and it was fascinating. On display are lots of weapons, armoured vehicles, and military transport.

Also, there’s a large space dedicated to the war effort, with a replica street scene, details of rationing etc.

You can even have a go on the rifle range … and during the high season they even offer tank rides. Our children loved visiting, and want to go back.

Day 3 – afternoon: Dinosaur Isle

You can’t visit the Isle of Wight and not indulge in a little palaeontology. The island is, after all, one of the richest dinosaur fossil locations in Europe – and the UK’s dinosaur capital! So, our final visit to Dinosaur Isle was a ‘must do’, especially as we have two young dinosaur experts in the family …

If you are fascinated by dinosaurs, you’ll love this visit. There’s so much to see and do – from learning about the local geology, to witnessing life-size replicas of some of the island’s previous residents. Upstairs there’s a discovery centre for meetings, school groups etc, and a children’s colouring/dressing up/play area. There’s also room upon room of fossil collections. There’s a very well stocked dinosaur-themed gift shop too …

Of course, if you wanted to, you could spend a lot longer at each attraction. We were on a short trip and just wanted to experience as much as we could during the time we had available. And there’s so much that we didn’t have time to do – you could visit for a month and still not see everything that the Isle of Wight has to offer. But I hope this action-packed itinerary gives you some ideas for when you visit the island.

Disclaimer

We visited the Isle of Wight as guests of Wightlink Ferry and Tom’s Eco Lodge, who offered us discounted accommodation. Visit Isle of Wight helped up plan our days. Our opinions are our own, and haven’t been influenced in any way.