Isle of Wight is England’s smallest county (depending on whether the tide is in or out apparently – when it’s out, the smallest county then becomes Rutland). Known for its annual boating festival, you can find everything here from a donkey sanctuary to a garlic farm. It’s home to the Needles, a set of ancient rocks (though one crashed to the sea in a storm, so now one’s missing!)
Wildlife abounds on Isle of Wight, from water voles and white-tailed eagles to green bush crickets and glanville fritillary butterflies. Also here are red squirrels due to good habitat (grey squirrels are not to blame). Find more ways to help your local wildlife rescue and animal shelter.
Of course, to get to the Isle of Wight you have to take a ferry. Many cabins are also wheelchair-friendly, check before booking. Some ferry operators accept pets, but this must be well-planned to avoid pets becoming stressed (some pets prefer to be looked after by family or friends, rather than go on long trips, you likely know best). Check each operator as what they offer differs. Some ferries now offer pet-friendly cabins with exercise areas, others only offer kennels.
- Southampton to Cowes (1 hour)
- Portsmouth to Fishbourne or Ryde (45 mins)
- Southsea to Ryde (hovercraft – 10 mins)
- Lymington to Yarmouth (40 minutes)
foraged vodkas from Isle of Wight
Tipsy Wight makes quirky flavoured vodkas, infused on this beautiful island. Made from natural ingredients either grown locally or foraged from fields and hedgerows on their Victorian farm, these give a taste of a genteel English summer year-round. All bar their honey vodkas are vegan-friendly, and everything is packaged in attractive glass bottles, in cardboard packaging. Avoid tonic water (quinine) for pregnancy/nursing, abnormal heart rhythm, kidney or liver disease or low blood sugar.
- Elderflower vodka is the flagship product, made from fresh elderflowers, sugar and vodka, sold in a presentation box with two tipsy shot glasses. Delicious ice-cold, and also good with Prosecco to make their ‘Elderbubbles’ cocktail.
- Taste of the Hedgerow is a set containing spiced pear (enjoy with apple juice and sparkling wine), wild plum (enjoy with prosecco and ginger syrup), crabapple (good with crushed ice, lime juice and passion fruit), sloe (combine with mulled apple juice for a winter warmer) or the signature Hedgerow Row (a blend of blackberries, haws, elderberries and soda – good with soda or lemonade on ice, with a garnish of fresh blackberries).
- Old English vodkas are from Isle of Wight orchard fruits. Choose from Apricot, Medlar (tastes of apples, dates and cinnamon, perfect with ice and tonic), Damson (nice with Disaranno and lemon juice over ice), and their award-winning Quince (try with soda, lemon juice and thyme leaves) and Cherry vodka liqueurs (good with prosecco).
- Wild & Hot Set includes Wild Mint & Cucumber (good with soda or tonic, mint and sliced cucumber), Horseradish & Beetroot (good with carrot juice), Wild Garlic, Chilli Vodka and Beech Leaf (made with young tender tree leaves that unfurl in spring over the bluebells).
- There is also a spicy Chilli Vodka that uses very hot Bhut Jolokia chillies, grown from seed in their greenhouses. 400 times hotter than tabasco sauce, these have a rating on the Scoville Scale of over 1 million, so to calm things down, they blend them with Scotch Bonnet peppers and two types of Jalapeno pepper for the ultimate Bloody Mary.
organic outdoor clothing from Isle of Wight
Rapanui Clothing is a sustainable clothing brand founded by two unemployed friends, and now makes a wonderful array of organic cotton clothing for outdoors, and have their own Teemill brand that helps raise money for nonprofits by selling organic tees made with renewable energy.
