We are thinking of going on hols for a week to Isle of Wight in school summer holidays. Can anyone recommend best place to stay, nice beaches, etc. Family holiday two +2 kids age 10 and 12. Thanks in advance

we stayed here many years ago - was great..............

http://www.whitecliff-bay.com/

After much research (by visiting), we decided that the best resort for families is definitely Sandown. The beach is lovely sand and the pier offers indoor crazy golf and bowling plus a soft play area for small children, as well as the usual amusement arcade. So you have something under cover for bad weather. Also a good dinosaur museum and zoo. Go-karts and trampolines.

The IOW is a great place for a family holiday, there are so many attractions and places to visit and nowhere is very far away since it is not a big island. Particularly recommend a day at Robin Hill adventure park for your age children.

thank you for the feedback everyone. now booked into whitecliffs for end of August.

Im slowly building up my own site to the Isle of Wight here - http://www.iow.co.uk

It really is a wonderful place to visit. Godshill is another recommendation, the miniature village is certainly worth a trip to.

Hi, my sister and I (middle aged and fit and healthy!) will be visiting Shanklin for 4 days in September. Can anyone recommend things to see and do while we are there. We will not have transport with us. We both like walking and would also like recommendations for places to go in the evening for a drink.

We are now back from our 4 day trip which we thoroughly enjoyed. We travelled from Yorkshire on a National Holidays break. Our journey down was uneventful and we had a film to watch on the way down which passed the time. We left home at approx 8:00 a.m. and arrived at our hotel after 2 stops at approx 5:30 p.m. We stayed in a lovely hotel - Shanklin Beach Hotel - on the front. Review in process of being done. We had a full tour around the island the next day on the coach and visited all the well known spots. Somewhere I would thoroughly recommend for a cream tea is Warren Farm at Alum Bay. This is recommended by The Guardian in their Top 10 places for cream teas. Their website is farmhousecreamteas.co.uk. The second day we met up with a friend who came over from the mainland and spent the day in Shanklin visiting the old village and various parks not to mention a few pubs including The Fishermans Cottage and also another cream tea on the way round. The next day we left for home at 8:00 a.m. and arrived home at approx 6:00 p.m. It is over 40 years since I visited the IOW and I couldn't remember very much. Alum Bay has definately changed though, it was very unspoilt and uncommercialised when we first visited but we enjoyed our walk up to The Needles. We will definately go back again, hopefully next year, and do it as a walking holiday as there are so many fantastic walks and a very good bus service.

HI thinking of going to IOW in august with an 11 year old and a 16 year old, any ideas on where to stay, pref caravan park , near beach,thanks

There`s a caravan park at Whitecliff Bay, haven`t actually stayed there, it`s not on the beach, it`s at the top of the cliffs, but it looked very nice when we went past it. We stayed at a site near Chale, along the bottom part of the island, but it was several years ago, and I can`t remember the name, it was next door to Atherton Bay holiday camp, if that`s still there. I can highly recommend the Isle of Wight, loads to do, for all ages, lovely model village at Godshill, another at Shanklin. For sheer prettiness, Freshwater Bay takes some beating, but it`s a pebble beach, not sand.

If you want a busy seaside resort, I'd choose Shanklin. Sandown and Ryde are also good options, Ventnor is pretty but quieter. If you want to avoid big crowds, the West Wight is quieter, or parts of the East Wight (Bembridge, Seaview). Newport is convenient for getting around but is an average town, rather than feeling like a holiday resort.

There are about 20 holiday parks to choose from. The busy ones with indoor pools and near to beaches include Lower Hyde, Thorness Bay, Landguard, Nodes Point and Whitecliff. There are several that have fewer facilities but which are more rural and peaceful, and there a couple which are more expensive and are more like spa resorts (see this holiday park guide)

Most accommodation providers will book the ferry for you, which is a lot cheaper than booking it yourself, but there are frequently discount codes and deals which make it more affordable.

My favourite beaches include Compton Bay (surfing), Bembridge (roockpooling), Shanklin (bucket and spade), Whitecliff Bay (sandy swimming) and St Helen's (kayaking).