The best walks and hikes in the Isle of Wight

A wide range of landscapes

At 148 square miles (384 km2) and quite rural, there’s a lot to explore on your Isle of Wight walks. In the west, you can head up to Tennyson Down, named after one of the island’s most famous residents, the poet Lord Tennyson. You can continue to the western end of the island and look out to the Needles, a set of bright white, chalk sea stacks. Nearby, you can explore the River Yar, which begins at Freshwater Bay in the south west and flows a few miles north, to Yarmouth. 

Some of the best hiking trails on the Isle of Wight lie in its undulating middle. A web of footpaths covers the downland, leading you from woodland to viewpoint and from viewpoint to river valley. In the south east, you can admire the long sandy beach stretching from Shanklin to Sandown and, in the north east, Ryde’s beach utterly changes from low to high tides. 

Wildlife spotting

You’re rarely alone on your hikes on the Isle of Wight. Thanks to its separation from the mainland, the island is one of the UK’s few strongholds of red squirrels. They live throughout the island, but Newton River woodlands in the north west and Borthwood Copse in the south east are two of the best places to spy on them. 

Newton River is also an excellent place to spot wading birds with its bird hides, as is Brading Marshes Nature Reserve just inland from Bembridge. If you’re very lucky, you might spot a white-tailed eagle or an osprey. 

Visit year-round

The Isle of Wight is a fantastic place to explore throughout the year thanks to its mild climate. You can watch the boats in the Channel from the south or in the Solent to the north, one of the busiest waterways in the world. 

The only way to access the island is by boat so unless you have your own vessel (in which case Yarmouth and Cowes have lovely marinas), you can catch the ferry from Keyhaven (summer), Lymington, Southampton or Portsmouth. You can choose between car ferries or foot passenger-only catamarans and journey times take between 30 minutes and an hour. For a shorter and rather exciting journey, foot passengers can take the hovercraft from Portsmouth to Ryde in just 10 minutes.