New Forest information (near Southampton)

[TenneSea]

@ziggyuk @John Bull To make a long story short, our visit to the UK in August abruptly changed when a double decker NE coach hit our rental car.  The car was substantially damaged but thankfully, we didn't even get a scratch on us. This happened in Birmingham.  We got to London where we hoped to regroup and continue on our way but then Covid hit both of us.  We spent the next 5 days self-quarantining there and recovered just in time to fly back to the US.

 

We hope to return again next fall (2024). I will plan some time (2 days ?) in New Forest and a few days on the Isle of Wight.  My question is, are Ubers plentiful throughout New Forest  and Isle of Wight ?  I don't think we'll be so brave the next trip to rent a car so will have to rely mostly on public transportation, uber and taxis.

[ziggyuk]

7 hours ago, TenneSea said:

@ziggyuk @John Bull To make a long story short, our visit to the UK in August abruptly changed when a double decker NE coach hit our rental car.  The car was substantially damaged but thankfully, we didn't even get a scratch on us. This happened in Birmingham.  We got to London where we hoped to regroup and continue on our way but then Covid hit both of us.  We spent the next 5 days self-quarantining there and recovered just in time to fly back to the US.

 

We hope to return again next fall (2024). I will plan some time (2 days ?) in New Forest and a few days on the Isle of Wight.  My question is, are Ubers plentiful throughout New Forest  and Isle of Wight ?  I don't think we'll be so brave the next trip to rent a car so will have to rely mostly on public transportation, uber and taxis.

 

That sounds terrible, what a time of it.

 

Uber does not operate everywhere in the UK, in Southampton it does so you would be able to get taxis to and from there but not locally when on the New Forest where it is not licensed by the local authority.

[John Bull]

Whilst Uber is very much the norm. in cities and densely-populated areas in the UK, they're rarely available in rural areas.

That's because Uber relies on a large pool of both vehicles and customers.

It also relies on a good signal for cell-phones - for booking, locating & charging..

So, like many sparsely-populated parts of the UK, neither the New Forest nor the Isle of Wight have Uber.

 

It's easy to access the Isle of Wight from Southampton - the fast-jet ferry to the attractive and vibrant yachting & tourist town of (west) Cowes, or - for Queen Victoria's  Osborne House - the traditional ferry to East Cowes. Both sail from Southampton's Town Quay.

The island has an excellent local bus service, and a few "Breezer" routes specifically for visitors.

 https://images-islandbuses.passenger-website.com/2023-09/ISLAND MAP.pdf

https://www.islandbuses.info/services

https://www.visitisleofwight.co.uk/things-to-do/southern-vectis-days-out-and-open-tops-p1881791

There's just one train line - between Ryde and Shanklin.

 

It's easy to access the New Forest from Southampton by frequent trains to Brockenhurst (my recommendation) or an hourly bus service to Lyndhurst.

Local bus services in the New Forest are limited and infrequent, but it has three excellent "New Forest Tour" ho-ho routes.

https://www.morebus.co.uk/about-NFT

 

There are taxi ranks in the main towns of the New Forest (eg Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst) and on the Isle of Wight (including  Cowes & East Cowes). 

But if you plan to take a taxi to spend time at someplace where there are no taxis on-spec.(eg https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/attractions/ ) it's back to the old routine of agreeing with the driver a time to be picked up for the return, or swap phone numbers, or both. 

 

Good news about both the Forest and the Island.

No NE coaches on the Forest lanes or on the Isle of Wight. 😏

 

JB 🙂

[ziggyuk]

Just to add to this, you will find even a lot of big towns and cities in the UK will not allow Uber, Bournemouth for example do not allow Uber to operate. Even London stopped Uber from operating for a short time a few years ago.

You can only travel within or to & from the licences areas (ie Southampton)

[TenneSea]

7 hours ago, John Bull said:

[Good news about both the Forest and the Island.

No NE coaches on the Forest lanes or on the Isle of Wight.] 😏

 

JB 🙂

HA !  We actually spent a day on IOW and toured the amazing Osborne House.  When we left, we both agreed that if we ever returned to the UK, we would spend a few days on the Isle.  It was truly beautiful.  We took the Red Funnel over and back from Southampton - our cruise to Norway started the next day.

 

Thank you both for the information ( @ziggyuk & @John Bull ). Still working on the details to make this trip happen.

[Harters]

17 hours ago, TenneSea said:

We actually spent a day on IOW

My wife's cousin and family lived happily on the island for several years but became tired of the commute to the mainland, five days a week. They're now back in Sussex.