Isle of Wight

We had a lovely day today visiting the Isle of Wight a good-sized island about 45-minutes by ferry from Portsmouth Harbor.

On the ferry leaving Portsmouth.

We arrived at the Isle of Wight ferry terminal just after 10AM and headed straight for Osbourne House, the summer home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. They thought their other 3 homes (Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and Royal Pavilion in Brighton) were too small to raise their 9 children so they bought this place.

Front of Osborne House. The door in the middle was where the Royal family entered the building. Everyone else had to go through a side door.
We saw the entwined A/V monogram all over the home.
Queen Victoria’s Sitting Room.
The piano in the background was gorgeous.
Prince Albert’s Study
Grand staircase to the 2nd floor.
This room was incredible. Every inch of wall and ceiling were these amazing carvings. This room was used for large banquets.
Close up of the ceiling.

Once Albert died in 1861, Victoria went into permanent mourning and moved to Osborne House full time. Her youngest daughter, Beatrice, stayed with her for the rest of her (Victoria) life.

Queen Victoria died in this bed on 22 Jan 1901. She had reigned for 63 years and 7 months.

The back grounds/gardens were beautiful. There was a shuttle to take us down to the beach but since we were going to a local beach for lunch we decided to take a pass.

Back garden
Back of the house with the garden.
Expansive back lawn with the English Channel in the background. If you look closely you can see the buildings in the Portsmouth Harbor in the backround.

After a couple hours at Osborne House, we headed to Shanklin Beach about 30 minutes away. We got lucky finding a spot to park in the very small lot and, because of the handicap placard, we didn’t have to pay.

Shanklin Beach

We found a place to have our picnic lunch then Peter headed for the water.

The beach was so pretty with the colorful umbrellas and sun screens. We could have rented kayaks but neither one of us was dressed to get wet.

We planned to head to the southernmost end of the island and visit the Needles Lighthouse on the cliffs but decided it was too far to drive. We would have only been able to stay about an hour before having to turn back around to get to the ferry on time. So instead, we visited Carisbrooke Castle in the center of the island. It was only about 20 minutes from the beach so it was very convenient. Since it was later in the day, there was plenty of disabled parking immediately outside the entrance of the castle. Otherwise, I don’t think we would have been able to go since the other parking lots were a very long walk.

Gates to the Castle.

The site has been occupied since pre-Roman times and the first building went up in late Roman times. Most recently, Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Beatrice lived there until her death in 1938.

One of the side buildings.

One of it’s more famous occupants was when it was a prison. After the Civil War, King Charles I was imprisoned there for 14 months before his execution in 1649.

Nightcap probably worn by Charles I.
Charles I bedroom. The bed is a 19th century reproduction.
Pretty little chapel.

A few musicians entertain us with some music.

The grounds held Princess Beatrice’s walled garden and a bowling green (built for Charles I) but both were down a hill and Peter didn’t want to walk all the way down and back. We’d been doing a lot of walking and we were getting tired.

Since we didn’t have time to do anything else, we headed back to the ferry. Our reservation was for the 6:20pm but we got there in time for the 5pm sailing. Luckily we were able to get on so we were in the flat before our original ferry even left.

It was a beautiful day and while there was still more to see, we felt like we had a full day. We especially loved hanging at the beach for a while. Tomorrow we off on another day trip….this one to Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. It should be another great day. See you there.

4 thoughts on “Isle of Wight”

  1. Love watching Peter dip his toes in the Channel! Always wanted to visit the Isle of Wight; will definitely make it there next time!

    1. I wish we had time to make it to Needles but it was too long of a drive to get back for our ferry. The drives always take longer than GPS says it will but that’s because I won’t do 60mph on those tiny country roads.

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