Dog Friendly Isle of Wight
As any regular readers
of my blog will know we have a series of animals in our house which makes going
out and about fairly difficult. Despite being an island of dog lovers don’t
many places are very welcoming to our pets for day trips. However, Wightlink
asked us to explore the Isle of Wight for a dog friendly trip and so last
weekend we headed off just at the start of a rather windy and wet storm! I’d
heard mention that Wightlink can boast of being the most dog friendly ferry
company and after our trip can clearly state this is no ideal boast!
We only live an hour
from the ferry terminal at Portsmouth but we arrived nice and early expecting
to have to wait in the car with the dog till the ferry arrived. I braved the
wet and popped in to grab a coffee only to discover a seating are full of other
gorgeous pups, drinking water and dog biscuits!
As we tumbled out the car in a
flurry of arms, legs and dog leads the sun burst out! Good Omens all round.
Once we were on the ferry we whisked Gus upstairs and noted that not only could
he go out on the deck but there was a place inside for us all to sit in case
the weather broke. It was lovely chatting to other like minded owners and
discovering that many did day trips over to the island because of how easy it
is to go out.
The trip was just over
the half hour and very quick and efficient and as we drove straight off we
headed to somewhere I’ve been desperate to see for ages! Osborne House – the
holiday home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert which was given shortly after
her death to the English Heritage.
While we couldn’t explore the rooms inside
with Gus we spent nearly 3 hours here going around the grounds and heading down
to their private beach for a cuppa and ice cream. The boys adored seeing the
play area and the fort built for the children that the youngest royal locked
their governess in!
After exploring the
beach and Queen Victorias bathing cart which my husband was absolutely
fascinated in we decided to head around the island. There are a couple of
English Heritages no least Carisbrooke castle which all allow dogs in but we
headed with hot fish and chips to the stunning Compton Bay home to the
footprints of the Iguanodon and many dinosaur fossils.
From the bay we
decided to head away from the wind and over to Ryde again – one thing about the
Isle of Wight; if the weathers bad on one side of the island you can easily
head to the other side and find it totally different! – We decided to head over
to the marshes at Newtown, an incredibly place reserve for bird watching. On
the way we came across The Green Barn – a goat farm which has the best goats
fudge I’ve ever tasted! The owners were a delight and seeing Gus trying to
befriend a goat was rather fun! Having filled up on treats and coffee here we
headed down to Newton and the boys were delighted by the marshes and seeing the
old buildings disappearing under the marshes.
At
the end of a rather long and exciting day we drove up an hour and half early to
the ferry and were delighted by being waved straight on as there were places
and in 5 minutes we were on our way home! So why not head over now! Remember use
LUCINDA for 30% off Wightlink travel with your dog. Code valid until 31 March 2019, for 10 bookings – first
come, first served. Dogs must travel with booking or discount will be forfeited
and an upgrade charged at the port.
Full T&Cs: www.wightlink.co.uk/dog30
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