Isle of Wight Ferries

[Joanne]

So I'm going on a camping trip along the south coast in a couple of weeks and I wanted to visit the Isle of Wight. I'm just looking at ferries and they are expensive! Best I've found is £44 with Red Funnel.

 

Anyone got any intel on where to get the best prices?

 

Thanks

[HarryMonkey]

I looked around last year and found Red Funnel to be the cheapest.

 

Ferries to Isle of Wight - Compare ferry routes and prices

[Joanne]

Yeah same... like half the price. Maybe I was dreaming thinking the ferry would be £20 return! Hahahah! We took a couple of ferries last year up in Scotland and they were cheap in comparison

[HarryMonkey]

IOW have always been pricey.

[FN-GM]

Used them loads, there is only Red Funnel and Wight Link running it. Out of the 2 Red Funnel was better in my opinion.

[Joanne]

I've never been, so feel that I should go while I'm down there...

[HarryMonkey]

You should. I love it over there, There are some great beaches, fantastic scenery and some great attractions to visit, we spent a week there last summer and it's just not long enough. I can almost guarantee that if you do go, you'll want to go back

[Joanne]

I'll be there for a day

 

Burnley - Lands End - Kent and back in a week.

[simonw]

Hovercraft are slightly cheaper if you are going by foot. https://www.hovertravel.co.uk/pages/standard-fares/index.php

 

You can also get rover tickets that include hovercraft and hop-on-off bus services. https://www.hovertravel.co.uk/through-tickets-bus-rail/index.php

[Joanne]

Was gonna camp overnight... things could change though!! Just writing down a bit of an itinary now.

[Michael]

The price of fuel is a bit eye watering on the Isle of Wight - typically 15p more per litre (if you're driving)!

 

Other than that, it's a lovely place to visit and feels typically British!

[rad]

It all depends what you want to do when you are there.

They all dock in different locations too.

[Joanne]

Drive around, bit of a walk and camping over night is the usual thing to do. We have the dog... so lots of walking.

[HarryMonkey]

Shanklin is stunning. There's a great pub on the beach at the bottom of Shanklin Chine. Edited July 11, 2017 by HarryMonkey

[Joanne]

I reckon we'll end up driving all the way around it.

[crc-ict]

If you felt like going as foot passengers, it can be quite cheap to buy through tickets on the train to an IoW destination - that then includes the fastcat from Portsmouth Harbour as part of the rail fare. For example, it's about £15 for an adult from Havant to Ryde Esplanade.

 

Car ferry is always expensive unfortunately!

Edited July 11, 2017 by crc-ict

[MatthewL]

I have been from Portsmouth/Southsea, Southampton and Lymington, last time was Southampton on fastcat as passenger for about £15 return. No need to take car just jump on the bus the other end keep costs down.

 

The hovercraft is cool but what I did was part at Gosport, got the ferry over and then jumped onto the hovercraft, was easier than trying to drive imto Pompey.

[NotSoFast]

Reminds me of the old joke... "What's brown and comes out of the bottom of Cowes?" :-)

[Matt_Renato]

The price of fuel is a bit eye watering on the Isle of Wight - typically 15p more per litre (if you're driving)!

 

Other than that, it's a lovely place to visit and feels typically British!

 

There wasn't much difference when I was over there last week. We filled up at the Morrisons in Lake and it was only a couple of pence more expensive per litre than what I pay locally.

[elsiegee40]

There wasn't much difference when I was over there last week. We filled up at the Morrisons in Lake and it was only a couple of pence more expensive per litre than what I pay locally.

 

Depends on where you go.

 

Morrison's in Newport

is comparable with Southampton prices

 

Source: PetrolPrices App

[Matt_Renato]

Ouch! I guess the moral of the story is to make sure you aren't low on fuel at the ports.

[Joanne]

I imagine we'll have to fill up on fuel once we make it down to Cornwall and that should last us along to Kent until we need to dash back home

 

I was contemplating not bothering with this camping trip the other day, because we want to get our bathroom finished (currently just a toilet and a bath we can't really use) but I think a bit of time away will do us good. Plus the dog loves camping! I just need to find a way to transport his frozen food now....

[ChickenDhansak]

The cost of public transport on the Island was crazy when we went there for a day - it made me wish I'd taken the car, it would have been cheaper

[foofighterjim]

I can't find a source for this but I am sure I read somewhere that the car ferries to the IoW are the most expensive ferry journeys per mile in the world. We do occasionally get lucky with this as the in laws live on the island and sometimes get discount codes for Red Funnel, it does make for a nice cheap family holiday.

[witch]

The views from the coast walk are stunning - particularly from the Military Road