Back in 2013, way back before we had children, Stu and I had holidayed in Mexico! We staying in a beautiful resort, although we didn’t think that Cancun lived up to the amazing Mexico everyone speaks of. Anyway, we met some amazing people whilst chilling pool side, a family of three different generations that we’ve kept in contact with who are just beautiful and also a northern lass who was ‘a right old crack’, we’ve kept in contact all these years, stalked each other over social media, although over the last year we’ve had more and more contact, turns out we’re pretty close friends now, I love that EVERY TIME I speak to Claire I develop a northern accent. So we’ve gone up and stayed with Claire and her partner who also has a beautiful little boy ❤️ But now was their chance to come and stay with us for a weekend, we wanted to make sure we gave them the best experience!
We have a huge list of things that we can do living on the south coast of England, but luckily the sun was due to appear so we booked our car ferry tickets to the Isle of Wight with wightlink. Ideally to see the Isle of Wight properly you want to spend a long weekend or more there, so here’s our list of TOP 10 Favourite things to do and see on the Isle of Wight. (Mainly with kids!)
Oh how we love a bit of originality, we’re actually becoming a little obsessed with old steam trains so this place is high on our list.
The steam train is such an incredible experience for young and old! With all the original features to the stations and the train, you go up and down the track giving you an incredible experience in your own carriage. The driver even invited Indiana in to show her how they heat the coal in the boiler – she LOVED this!
Don’t forget to visit their museum which is full of old train carriages that the children (and adults) can explore, all new and interesting facts! Just fantastic!
On their ground they also have a falconry and prey centre which is £5 for adults and free for children under 4! Try and time this so you make it for one of their shows too, we just missed out on this!
] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
They also have a bunch of other time like the children’s play area and one of favourite little walks was the woodland walk which they have all these weird and cute little memes and messages throughout the walk. Throughout this walk they also have a children’s entertainment stage which they often hold events, so would be cool to see one of them!
So this place is my favourite ever park to take the kids, I fricken love it here. It’s great for I would say kids between 2/3 – teenagers! It has a few huge adventure woodland parks which are fantastic and like no other!
It also has an Asian botanical garden which at nighttime they have a light festival going through! They also hold regular children’s festivals during the summer months so try and incorporate that! They have owl shows, a little train ride and a banana boat 🤮.
Not forgetting our most favourite part, the toboggan ride! Although it’s an extra £1.50 per person, it’s so worth it – if actually go just for this ride! So much fun, children 2 and above can go on this with an adult.
Also there is a train that goes around the whole park, the actually park has some beautiful spots for picnicking too. This place is a must with kids!
Well this place is just weird 😂 AND wonderful! So wonderful I’m struggling to explain it. As we walked around this place we just laughed, it’s so odd that it’s fantastic, they have real life sized dinosaurs, an aquarium that isn’t an aquarium but almost just as good (they have a life sized whale there 😱), 
there is western town which is just fantastic! A little fairy village, a hill which has tons of amazing slides going down in every direction! There are little woodland parks throughout. It’s just wonderful!
OH and not forgetting the theme park area, with rides and slides and a mirror house! Also, whilst your there make sure to ask the staff on how the place originated, it’s so fascinating that I would only ruin the story! 🙂
Ps. You can buy a joint ticket for robin hill and black Gang chine for a huge discounted price, these tickets last 7 days in which you can go in and out of each of the parks as much as you like!
This place is great, there is actually a whole little amusement park here which we’ve never actually spent time at, there’s a mini golf which looks cute. But the main attraction is getting a cable lift down on to Alum Bay where you have a clear view of the Needles – which if you don’t know are little islands at the end of the the Isle of Wight that have chalk cliffs on them (they look nothing like needles incase that’s what your expecting 😂).
But actually the history of Alum Bay is what I find most interesting, the rock formation and the different colours you find in the chalk is fascinating. Also the chair lift down and up is great! That cost £9 for two adults and I believe it was children under 5 go free. OR you can just walk down…which we have done before 🤷🏼♀️ the chair lift was fun though! 
Also TOP TIP, parking is £5 all day there, the site closes at 5pm so when we arrived at 4pm there was no one there taking money for parking so we go that free!
Beaches
There are some really sweet seaside towns and beaches on the Isle of Wight, because we live right near a seaside town anyway we wouldn’t tend to visit there with so much else going on BUT if you don’t spend a lot of time at one, then grab a fish and chips and head down to the following;
Also, the marina walk along Cowes is lovely too!
For any dinosaur loving child you NEED to go to this place, it’s a purpose built interactive museum, it gives you the most amazing experience great for all ages! They also do regular guided fossil walks which sound amazing and great for any explorers! Only £5 per adult and under 3’s go free! There is a lovely garden area to picnic on too! 🙌🏽
Ahh we STILL haven’t made it here yet but we hear so many good reviews on it that I couldn’t not share it with you all! It looks like the best farm adventure land you will ever go to! With straw bale slides, jumping pillows, pedal go karts, and a ton of interesting animals – some of which you can interact with! I’ll have to update this with a personal review when we finally get the chance to visit ❤️
This is a personal favourite of ours, we always make time to drive to this spot, on a clear day you’ll be able to see Southsea, Portsmouth. It’s a beautiful place to walk and just breath in the fresh air and see the beautiful sights! (Also a go to move when the kids are napping in the car and we want to go for a drive!). We’ve never eaten in The Culver Haven Inn, although we hear good things and it’s always busy! If you fancy a walk head along the Circumnavigate Culver Trail
Such a stunning Castle and a must see! This dates back to over 800 years ago, it holds huge amounts of history, allows for interaction with children, they allow them to dress up in the gatehouse. They also have their friendly castle donkeys which are so sweet! TIP, to get to a beautiful view point head towards the top of the hill, beautiful! 👌🏼
The Adventurous Mum 