Isle of Wight

[sarleo]

I want to visit the Isle of Wight when the Celebrity Apex is docked in Southampton for 12 hours. Has anyone had experience with such a trip on your own?

[John Bull]

Easy enough, though transportation on the Island is slow. So there's a limit on what you can do in a day.

 

It's only a 10 - 15 minute waterfront walk from Celebrity's usual berth (City Cruise Terminal, berth 101) to the pier at Town Quay, where you'll find

- traditional Red Funnel car ferry to East Cowes, crossing takes  one hour. East Cowes is small, industrial, quite depressing. 

-  fast-cat Red-Jet passenger ferry further up the pier on your left , to (West) Cowes - the main yachting & tourist town, very lively. Crossing takes about 25 minutes.

https://goo.gl/maps/GHCvPu7HiVpEFZb2A

 

https://goo.gl/maps/cUQ16TEpmd5ps3e39

You can see a cruise ship head-on at City Cruise Terminal

Foot passenger entrance for the trad ferry is in the red-edged building on the corner

The Fast-cat terminal is halfway up the pier

 

https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/en/isle-of-wight-ferry/route-map/

 

A chain ferry across the Medina River links the two sides of Cowes. The smart new chain-ferry has been troublesome and is frequently out-of-service but that only affects motorists - a motor-launch is used for foot-passengers when the chain-ferry is hors-de-combat.

 

For Osborne House easiest to take the car ferry to East Cowes, cross the road to the bus stop outside Waitrose supermarket. All buses pass Osborne House, just a ten-minute ride, ask the driver to put you off at the entrance gate.

Osborne House was Queen Victoria's favourite residence. Designed by her husband, Prince Consort Albert, in italianate style. Allow a bare minimum of 90 minutes, preferably longer.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/

If you then want to see more of the island, catch a No 5 bus (same direction) to Newport - the Island's capital & bus hub.

 

Carisbrooke Castle, which was Charles 1's prison after the English Civil War, is just outside Newport.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/carisbrooke-castle/history/charles-i-prisoner/

 

Most scenic regular bus route on the Island is probably the No 3 from Newport to Ryde. Consider hopping off at Godshill & Ventnor, and mebbe Shanklin Chine. Ryde is a traditional seaside resort, with ferries & hovercraft to Portsmouth. From Ryde catch the No 4 back to East Cowes then the car ferry back to Southampton or, if you have time, use the chain ferry to explore (West) Cowes and return to Southampton on the Red Jet.

 

Or if you're keen to see The Needles, from Newport take the No 7 or No 12 bus (different routes) which both terminate  at Alum Bay. From there you can walk out to viewpoints by the Old Needles Battery or chairlift down to Alum Bay and view The Needles by boat. Back to Newport and the No 6 to East Cowes or No 1 to (West) Cowes.

 

If you plan to make several trips on buses ask the driver for an All-Day Rover Ticket

https://www.islandbuses.info/fares-and-tickets

https://www.islandbuses.info/services

https://images-islandbuses.passenger-website.com/2022-04/SV_iownetworkmap 287x210_1221_SUMMER_0.pdf

 

The bus company also operate open-top sight-seeing routes.

https://www.islandbuses.info/days-out-bus

If you want to explore the Island by car, the ferry crossing with a car is expensive so book a rental from one of the agencies in (west) Cowes

 

Do check your hours in port.

Few ships use Southampton as a port-of-call.

If this is a back-to-back...........

- disembarkation is normally from about 7.30am

- you may not be subject to a latest check-in time, but back-on-board is likely to be earlier than the usual port-of-call time of 30 minutes before sailing.

- if a change of cabin is involved there'll be more limitations on your time. 

 

JB 🙂

[sarleo]

19 hours ago, John Bull said:

Easy enough, though transportation on the Island is slow. So there's a limit on what you can do in a day.

 

It's only a 10 - 15 minute waterfront walk from Celebrity's usual berth (City Cruise Terminal, berth 101) to the pier at Town Quay, where you'll find

- traditional Red Funnel car ferry to East Cowes, crossing takes  one hour. East Cowes is small, industrial, quite depressing. 

-  fast-cat Red-Jet passenger ferry further up the pier on your left , to (West) Cowes - the main yachting & tourist town, very lively. Crossing takes about 25 minutes.

https://goo.gl/maps/GHCvPu7HiVpEFZb2A

 

https://goo.gl/maps/cUQ16TEpmd5ps3e39

You can see a cruise ship head-on at City Cruise Terminal

Foot passenger entrance for the trad ferry is in the red-edged building on the corner

The Fast-cat terminal is halfway up the pier

 

https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/en/isle-of-wight-ferry/route-map/

 

A chain ferry across the Medina River links the two sides of Cowes. The smart new chain-ferry has been troublesome and is frequently out-of-service but that only affects motorists - a motor-launch is used for foot-passengers when the chain-ferry is hors-de-combat.

 

For Osborne House easiest to take the car ferry to East Cowes, cross the road to the bus stop outside Waitrose supermarket. All buses pass Osborne House, just a ten-minute ride, ask the driver to put you off at the entrance gate.

Osborne House was Queen Victoria's favourite residence. Designed by her husband, Prince Consort Albert, in italianate style. Allow a bare minimum of 90 minutes, preferably longer.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/

If you then want to see more of the island, catch a No 5 bus (same direction) to Newport - the Island's capital & bus hub.

 

Carisbrooke Castle, which was Charles 1's prison after the English Civil War, is just outside Newport.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/carisbrooke-castle/history/charles-i-prisoner/

 

Most scenic regular bus route on the Island is probably the No 3 from Newport to Ryde. Consider hopping off at Godshill & Ventnor, and mebbe Shanklin Chine. Ryde is a traditional seaside resort, with ferries & hovercraft to Portsmouth. From Ryde catch the No 4 back to East Cowes then the car ferry back to Southampton or, if you have time, use the chain ferry to explore (West) Cowes and return to Southampton on the Red Jet.

 

Or if you're keen to see The Needles, from Newport take the No 7 or No 12 bus (different routes) which both terminate  at Alum Bay. From there you can walk out to viewpoints by the Old Needles Battery or chairlift down to Alum Bay and view The Needles by boat. Back to Newport and the No 6 to East Cowes or No 1 to (West) Cowes.

 

If you plan to make several trips on buses ask the driver for an All-Day Rover Ticket

https://www.islandbuses.info/fares-and-tickets

https://www.islandbuses.info/services

https://images-islandbuses.passenger-website.com/2022-04/SV_iownetworkmap 287x210_1221_SUMMER_0.pdf

 

The bus company also operate open-top sight-seeing routes.

https://www.islandbuses.info/days-out-bus

If you want to explore the Island by car, the ferry crossing with a car is expensive so book a rental from one of the agencies in (west) Cowes

 

Do check your hours in port.

Few ships use Southampton as a port-of-call.

If this is a back-to-back...........

- disembarkation is normally from about 7.30am

- you may not be subject to a latest check-in time, but back-on-board is likely to be earlier than the usual port-of-call time of 30 minutes before sailing.

- if a change of cabin is involved there'll be more limitations on your time. 

 

JB 🙂

Thank you very much! This is exactly what I needed!! 😊