Seaview also has a nature reserve, and nearby Ryde is a Victorian beach resort whose long pier is the docking point for ferries from Portsmouth. Around the coast are the most popular beach resorts: Sandown with its nature reserve, and Shanklin with its cute Old Village and the most Isle of Wight hotels with indoor pools on. Near the southern tip is Chale, next to Blackgang Chine children’s amusement park, and close to Ventnor, on a hill sloping to the sea. These eroded white cliff formations, one with a lighthouse, extend into the English Channel at the island’s south-western tip. Next door are the Needles which you can’t thread, as the Wonders of the Isle of Wight saying goes.
Neighbouring Freshwater is the closest town to the multi-coloured sands of Alum Bay. Spanning a modest 13 miles north to south and 27 miles from east to west, the Island, recently crowned a. Sky News - First for Breaking News, video, headlines, analysis and top stories from business, politics, entertainment and more in the UK and worldwide. Over the inlet is Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s summer home, while Henry VIII was behind the construction of the castle in Yarmouth. The Isle of Wight is the UKs Island Paradise. Ferries from Southampton cross The Solent to Cowes, a sleepy port which bursts into life during its annual regatta – Cowes Week. With dramatic cliffs and unspoilt countryside, the Isle of Wight sits off England’s south coast.