Isle of Wight Coastal Path

Circular from Ryde 105km/65 miles

Attractive island circuit, via chines, saltmarshes, cliffs and holiday resorts. Plenty of accommodation and good public transport links. Short sections of the path form part European Path E9. Forms a network with numerous other shorter promoted routes on the island: see below.

Connects with Bembridge Trail (E9), Freshwater Way (see below), Hamstead Trail (see below), Nunwell Trail (see below), Pilgrim's Trail (via ferry Ryde- Portsmouth: see North Downs Way), Shepherd's Trail (see below), Solent Way (E9, via ferry Ryde-Portsmouth and Yarmouth-Lymington), Stenbury Trail (see below), Tennyson Trail (E9), Worsley Trail (see below).

Highway Authority Isle of Wight

Click here to find bed & breakfast accommodation on this path.

Tourist Information for the whole island from Isle of Wight Tourism.

Luggage transfer BAG TAG (also cover other signed trails, as listed below).

Holiday providers include Celtic Trails, Contours, Step by Step, Walking Holidays Britain

Public Transport

Stagecoach Island Line links Shanklin, Lake, Sandown, Brading, St Johns Road and Ryde Esplanade to Ryde Pier Head with regular services, connecting with the coast path and some other walking routes in the east of the island. At the pier head trains connect with Wightlink catamarans to Portsmouth Harbour (www.wightlink.co.uk), for onward rail connections to Brighton, Guildford, London, Reading, Oxford and Birmingham. Alternatively alight at Ryde Esplanade for Hovertravel hovercraft to Southsea (www.hovertravel.co.uk), with similar onward rail connections from nearby Portsmouth & Southsea station.
A regular Southern Vectis bus service from Newport connects with Red Funnel Hi-Speed ferries from Cowes to Southampton (www.redfunnel.co.uk), with onward rail connections to to Poole, London, Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Winchester, Reading, Oxford and Birmingham.
Other ferry services run from Yarmouth - Lymington (Wightlink, with trains to Brockenhurst for connections to Southampton, London and Poole); East Cowes - Southampton (Red Funnel) and Fishbourne to Portsmouth Harbour (Wightlink).
The independent Isle of Wight Steam Railway runs seasonal services from Wootton, Havenstreet and Ashey, connecting with Island Line at Smallbrook Junction. See www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk.
There is a good bus network, mainly operated by Southern Vectis, including some open top buses in summer and other services especially useful for leisure visitors. Most services are centred on Ryde and Newport. The Island Explorer route provides a circular service in both directions via Yarmouth, Newport, Ryde, Sandown and the coast, particularly useful for coastal walkers.
Southern Vectis Rovers give unlimited travel throughout the island on almost all Southern Vectis buses, Island Line trains and some other operators' services. Example fares: one day adult £7, 7 day adult £29, one day family (up to five people travelling together) £18. West Wight Rovers offer unlimited travel on buses between Yarmouth, Alum Bay and Freshwater Bay, including some open-top buses for £4.50 adult.
For more information see Getting Around the Isle of Wight, an indispensable timetable booklet at 50p from Southern Vectis, tel 01982 532373, www.svoc.co.uk

See also our Public Transport for Walkers page.

Explorer map OL29
Landranger map 196
The route is marked on these maps.

Publications

The Coastal Path and Inland Trails on the Isle of Wight, ISBN 0 906 32855 1. Isle of Wight Tourism, £3 + p&p. Order here!
Complete guide to the island's promoted routes, with attractive route maps and descriptions, including coastal path divided into six sections. Route maps and descriptions can also be downloaded as a series of PDF files from Isle of Wight Tourism website.
Wightlink Walking. Free pack of route cards including the coastal route (although in less detail than the guide above) and an east-west route from Fishboune to Yarmouth via Brading and Newport and using the Tennyson Trail. Produced by Wightlink and available from them (see Public Transport above).
The Complete Isle of Wight Coastal Footpath by Brian Smailes, ISBN 0 9526900 6 3. Challenge £3.75
Straightforward book dividing the coastal path into five sections, with route descriptions, lists of attractions, campsites and pubs en route, background notes but no maps other than a general overview
Isle of Wight: North to South ~ East to West by Brian Smailes, ISBN 1 903568 07 2. Challenge £3.75
Describes a 29km/18-mile north-south route from Cowes to St Catherine's Point and a 44.5km/28-mile east-west route from Bembridge to the Needles, using some sections of the promoted routes below. Route descriptions, lists of attractions, campsites, B&Bs and pubs en route, background notes but no maps other than a general overview.
The Isle of Wight Coast Path by John Merrill. Walk & Write £4.95

Contacts

Isle of Wight Tourism

Other paths and routes on the Isle of Wight

Bembridge Trail Shide - Bembridge 18km/11 miles

E9 Newport link: see E9.

Freshwater Way Norton - Freshwater 8km/5 miles

Hamstead Trail Hamstead - Brook 12km/7 miles

Nunwell Trail Sandown - Ryde 11km/7 miles

Shepherd's Trail Carlsbrook - Athersfield 12km/7 miles

Stenbury Trail Shide - Ventnor 16km/10 miles

Tennyson Trail Carisbrooke - Alum Bay 22km/14 miles
Worsley Trail Brightstone Forest - Shanklin 20km/13 miles

Details of all these routes except the E9 Newport link are available from Isle of Wight Tourism (see above), with guides downloadable from their website, and are also included in the first book listed above.

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