Here is the cycle ride from Newport to Godshill (for a drink or lunch in the sun) and then on to Shanklin. Alternatively, you may prefer to walk the same route.
If you need to rent a bike on the Isle of Wight you may wish to talk to Wight Cycle Hire (http://www.wightcyclehire.co.uk/).
If you are going on holiday to one of our holiday cottages you can arrange for bike hire to be delivered to your door for when you arrive. www.islandcottageholidays.com/isleofwight/cycle/hire/
Isle of Wight Cycling
We have launched our Isle of Wight Cycling Festival Accommodation page with self catering holiday cottages available for the cycling festival at the end of September. This years event promises to be the best yet with a good lineup of cycle routes planned.
The Isle of Wight cycling festival is an excellent opportunity to visit the Isle of Wight and cycle the hundreds of miles of cycle track and bridal paths which extend all over the Island. The organised routes allow you to explore new areas and enjoy the fellowship of the other riders.
For more information about self catering accommodation for the Isle of Wight Cycling Festival visit Isle of Wight Cycling Festival Accommodation
We have stated a “Great Cycle Rides on the Isle of Wight” discussion on our Facebook site.
If you have some good bike rides or want to read what others say are great bike rides on the Isle of Wight go to our Facebook page.
There is also more information about cycling on the Isle of Wight as well as information about hiring bikes on our Isle of Wight cycling pages. Visit www.islandcottageholidays.com/isleofwight/cycle/ for more information.
October has been a wonderful month on the Isle of Wight with a ‘heat wave’ and many sunny days ideal for walking, cycling and even sun bathing and swimming. Here are some of the many photos we took on the Isle of Wight this month.
Many of these photos now also appear in our Isle of Wight cottage pages which you can find at www.islandcottageholidays.com
Isle of Wight Grapes
Spring Cottage Garden
New Inn Cottage garden
Monks Path Isle of Wight
Holiday Cottage Garden
White Cliffs Isle of Wight
Hayloft Cottage Isle of Wight
Combe View's View
The sunny weather is still continuing here on the Isle of Wight which is ideal if you want to get out into nature to walk or cycle. Oliver, one of the Island Cottage Holidays team, did just that and has submitted these photographs of a ride along the cycle paths from Lake (nr Shanklin) to Wroxall, across to Godshill through the Freemantle Gate, along the bridal way to Merstone and then back along the main cycle route to Shanklin and Lake via Newchurch.
Near Godshill Isle of Wight
The countryside is still as beautiful as ever at this time of year and the orangey late afternoon sun gives a warm glow to everything. Wildlife, especially rabbits and foxes, can be seen from the path and a keen eye will spot much more.
Newport to Shanklin Cycle Route
It is important to take enough water when you walk or cycle but if you need extra refreshment along this route there are a choice of public houses. In Godshill there is The Taverners (www.thetavernersgodshill.co.uk) and in Newchurch there is The Pointers Inn (www.islandcottageholidays.com/news/pointers-inn ). Both also do excellent food and you may wish to stop for more than a quick drink.
This is an image of the West Isle of Wight Coastline taken from the Tennyson Trail. The photo shows Brighstone in the middle, Shorwell and Chale to the Left and The Needles to the right of the photo. Click on the image to show at full size.
The West of the Isle of Wight is well know for natural beauty and fantastic views of the sea and surrounding countryside. The walk from Alum Bay to Carisbrooke along the Tennyson Trail give great opportunities to enjoy this special part of the Isle of Wight. Alternatively, walking the coastal path is a great way to see the dramatic coastal formations of the Western side of the Island.
Biking on Isle of Wight
We have updated the cycle and bike hire information to help you plan a cycle holiday on the Isle of Wight. We will be putting on new cycle routes every week for the next few weeks and adding new routes whenever we find them. - www.islandcottageholidays.com/isleofwight/cycle/
The cycle routes are in two sections. The first group are signposted cycle routes around the Isle of Wight (www.islandcottageholidays.com/isleofwight/cycle/routes/signs/) . The second group are bridal way routes and cycle path routes around the Isle of Wight (www.islandcottageholidays.com/isleofwight/cycle/routes/tracks/ )
Oliver from Island Cottage Holidays has left the car at home and has been traveling around the Island, making visits to holiday cottage owners and taking photographs on his bike. After two weeks he would like to say thank you to some people.
Oliver writes:
I have had a very enjoyable two weeks going car-free on the Isle of Wight and have been surprised about how easy it has been. Many of the places i’ve cycled to have been accessible by cycle track and bridal way, which means I haven’t had to worry about traffic at all, and along the way I have been able to enjoy parts of the Isle of Wight I didn’t even know existed.
There have been times when cycling hasn’t been as convenient or enjoyable as it might be but this has been outweighed by the help and support I have received from people along the way. I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of them.
A big thank you to Wight Cycle Hire (www.wightcyclehire.co.uk/) with whom we have has a long relationship with hiring out bikes to our holiday guests. They lent me their own Ordinance Survey Map from the shop in Yarmouth when I left mine at home thus saving the day when I was trying to navigate the bridal ways from Yarmouth to Newport.
Thank you to White Mountain Bike Shop in Newport (www.wightmountain.co.uk)
who fixed my bike so quickly when it completely fell apart while I was riding up onto Appuldurcombe Down. They got me back on the road in under an hour.Thanks also go to the young lady at Farmer Jacks Farm Shop who stopped to help me get all my shopping in my tiny biking rucksack after I had shopped without any thought for how I would get it all home. The lemon marmalade, which I thought I would have to leave behind, was very good.
Help just when I needed it came from a man walking along the cycle path to Newchurch. He held my bike while I untangled some foliage from the front gear. It took much longer than I thought and he waited patiently while I finished. We had a nice chat about the Island Games while I was grappling with the problem. Thank you to him and i’m sorry I didn’t catch his name.
An especially big thanks to all those who stopped and helped me when I took a big fall near Alverstone one evening while trying to avoid colliding with a badger. I braked much too hard and ended up in a contorted heap on the ground. They checked all my arms and legs still worked and got me to my feet. Sympathy and smiles are amazingly effective medicine in these situations.
Finally, a general thanks to the places I visited with somewhere to lock up a bike, to pubs which didn’t mind me being muddy, to road users who passed me with plenty of space and not on blind corners, to our cottage owners who didn’t mind me smelling of sweat, and to the taxi driver who let me put my muddy bike in his car when I broke it far from anywhere.
Thank you to them all.
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