Our Isle of Wight Adventure was drawing to a close and we decided to spend another day oot n aboot on the bikes.
We found what looked to be an interesting circular cycling route on the Wightlink website. It turned out to be very scenic and without many steep hills (just two I think) – result! The route involved a combination of road, off road and cycle track.
9-mile cycle route Yarmouth – Freshwater Bay 🚲
We picked the route up outside the site at the top of Heathfield Road (just up from Colwell Road on the map), turning left and following the road down through Totland and on towards Freshwater Bay. There are old smuggler caves in this bay that can be seen at low tide. Today though, the action seemed to be mostly water sports enthusiasts.
We sat at the bay for a while before carrying on through the hamlet of Afton, after which we turned onto the cycleway which carried us along into Yarmouth. This part was a gentle ride alongside the picturesque River Yar Estuary.
On arrival at Yarmouth we reached ‘Off The Rails’, a cafe/restaurant located within the old Yarmouth Railway Station. It’s furnished very much in keeping with its rail history. We stopped here for a drink and sat at a table outside on the old platform imagining the station back in its day.
https://www.offtherailsyarmouth.co.uk/
Afterwards, we continued into the bustling Yarmouth Harbour which is pretty and lively with plenty of shops, bars, restaurants, etc to keep you occupied.
Basically, our afternoon was spent in the Harbour area wandering and watching boats come and go. Two places we visited and would recommend for food/drink are:-
Salty’s – a quirkily appealing bar with a separate restaurant. We only went into the bar section downstairs which was very welcoming and relaxed with long tables and long bench seating creating a very sociable feel. Visitors can write on the ceiling (so obviously we did!) which is painted over every 2 years so that there’s always space for visitors to leave their mark. Upstairs is the seafood restaurant and we’d love to try this out on a future visit.
Bugle Coaching Inn – 16th century inn in the Market Square. Despite being very busy we somehow managed to find a table and enjoyed a lovely meal there.
https://www.characterinns.co.uk/the-bugle-coaching-inn
Obviously there are loads more places but there’s only so much us two could eat/drink during one afternoon/evening there 😬.
By evening there was another lovely sunset over the boats in the Harbour which we captured before cycling back to site over Bridge Road. There’s quite a steep section after this point where we pushed our bikes up before re-mounting to finish off the short ride back to site.
Sunset over Yarmouth Harbour
All this fresh air and exercise out and about was making us sleep very well! 😴.
On the final day of our holiday we decided to chill out beside Jolly and soak up some of the glorious sunshine 😎 as we’d been on the move pretty much since we arrived. The site wasn’t over busy and so we enjoyed a relaxing, peaceful afternoon. We also started to pack up some things in preparation for leaving the next morning.
By late afternoon, we’d decided that our final meal for this visit had to be back at The Hut in Colwell Bay. So we pre-booked a table online and walked there as the bikes had been loaded back up onto the back of Jolly. It was about a 2 mile walk to The Hut and back.
The Hut was heaving on arrival but again still seemed to retain just the right atmosphere, and soon quietened down a little after the afternoon rush. We ate, had a couple of drinks and stayed just long enough to catch the sunset, before returning for an early night in preparation for our long journey home the next day.
The perfect finish to our hollibobs.
Our drive back up took us through the New Forest which looked stunning and had animals roaming freely through the fields and by the roadside. It’s another place on our lonnnnng ‘To Do’ list.
So, our verdict on the Isle of Wight for a moho adventure ….
FANBLINKINTASTIC! Obviously the perfect summer weather helped, but the place itself is beautiful with so much more to see and do than we had originally expected of this relatively small island. Numerous camping sites/touring parks to allow easy exploration of all areas of the island. The South is considered the more tourist-popular side of the island, but we found the North equally appealing. We came back having fallen in love with the place and knowing that we must return to explore it some more.
Ahhh, I’m all blogged out after this trip and Jolly’s parked up having a rest … but not for long 😉.
ONWARD!>>>> 🚐
Suzie & Bri
THE JOLLY MAJESTIC 