Join us on a 5-day trip to the Isle of Wight. We will be staying at the Trouville Hotel in Sandown, which is on the golden beach with panoramic views of Sandown Bay. The hotel’s en suite bedrooms have an uninterrupted sea view over stunning Sandown Bay. There is live entertainment most evenings, with two large dance floors overlooking the water. The hotel also has four short mat bowls lanes.

Day 1:  We depart the Blackmore Vale and head to Lymington to catch the ferry to the Isle of Wight.  We aim to arrive mid-afternoon, so there is plenty of time to settle in before dinner.

Day 2: After breakfast, we will visit Carisbrooke Castle, where we will experience almost 1000 years of royal history. Explore the 14th-century remains of the spectacular motte and keep. See the iconic gatehouse entrance. When Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, succeeded her husband as governor of the Isle of Wight, she moved into Carisbrooke Castle in 1913. The gardens have been used for both pleasure and kitchen purposes, and today, you’ll see clipped hedges, fruit trees and decorative shrubs and flowers. We will leave the castle at approx 2.00 pm for a leisurely drive back to the hotel.

Day 3: Today, we will visit the Isle of Wight Steam Railway – We will start our journey on Locomotives and Carriages that have been painstakingly restored from the central station at Havenstreet. You’ll travel first to Smallbrook Junction and then non-stop to Wootton, before returning to Havenstreet. The journey will last approx 1 hour. A guided station tour and a tour of the workshops will follow the journey.

Day 4: After breakfast, we will visit Osborne House, which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought in 1845. Victoria used Osborne House for over 50 years, entertaining foreign royalty and visiting ministers, finding solace after Albert died in 1861.  Today many of the rooms are filled with original furniture and art, while the planting in the grounds is to Albert’s designs.  After Queen Victoria’s death, Prince Edward gave the house to the nation on his coronation day in 1902. We will return to the hotel at approximately 4 pm.

Day 5:  After breakfast, we depart our hotel and begin our journey home, with a comfort stop & lunch Break via the South Coast back to Yarmouth, in time for the ferry back to Lymington.

Included:

• 4-night hotel, dinner & B&B at the Trouville Hotel, Sandown, Isle of Wight (There are currently only four single rooms available; please contact us if more are required)
• All attractions and visits included
• Complimentary drinks on the coach when feasible

Depart Stalbridge: 08:00 approx   –   Return Stalbridge: 19:00 approx  – All itineraries are approximate and subject to change.