Isle of Wight: weekend bikepacking

Bikepacking the Isle of Wight with our toddler.

A hop from London and ripe for exploring by bike.

Thunder is cracking as I unzip the tent and peek out to a night downpour, lightning etching the sky over the Channel. Our tent is staked down two meters from the cliff edge, which leads me to middle-of-the-night questions about how often landslips occur during storms. “Was it irresponsible to drag my toddler and husband camping on a cliffside while six months pregnant?” 

There were no landslips that night. “Statistically, it’s very unlikely”, my husband confirms. The sun warmed the tent at dawn and again it’s a delicious, beachy escape from city life. It’s more difficult than ever to take a far-flung adventure, especially if you’re hulling small children. Adventure is a mindset and the Isle of Wight is ripe and just a few hours from London on public transport.

Brighstone Bay beach below Grange Farm.

We wait for our train on the Clapham Junction platform, urging our toddler Tallulah to stay away from the yellow bumpy line, with our panniers circled around our ankles packed firmly with camping gear for three nights. On the train we go through our list of games “Who can spot the first sheep?” I SPY, and the less know I PIE,  and some colouring before finally giving into the destination of every conversation with a toddler: snacks. Changing at Brockenhurst for Lymington Pier, we queue for the Wightlink ferry as foot passengers with cups of tea from the ferry café. On sunny days, we take seats on the upper deck and watch the sailboats cut back and forth across the sparkly Solent. Tallulah likes to stand at the back of the boat and watch the seagulls chase her.

The Isle of Wight is the total package. It’s small and hilly for cycling, but big enough for exploring – 6 large towns and 22 miles across.  It’s a surprisingly unfussy island for London vicinity with affordable quaint village shops that make their own bread puddings. And miles and miles of inexplicably empty beaches. 

Docking at Yarmouth could be a Mediterranean port except for the 16th century English castle standing above the ferry terminal. We throw our panniers over our shoulders as we shepherd Tallulah through the lanes of pastel painted shops to the once train platform turned café. The old train track is now a bike path. Sit outside on the platform at Off the Rails looking off towards the meadow marshland that surrounds the mouth of the Yar River while enjoying their black-bunned burger, salt beef sandwich big enough for two or a rich seafood chowder. Their breakfast is fantastic as well.

Conveniently, Wright Cycle Hire is located on the same platform. We rent two adult bikes with racks for our panniers and a child’s trailer. Then we set out for the 7 mile ride over Broad Lane, with 365 degree island views, and down to sparkly Brighstone Bay.

Brighstone has thatched-roofed chocolate box cottages, but we pitch our tent at the well-worn Grange Farm with full sea views for £17. Grange Farm rates 11 out of 10 for location, has some lamas and horses scampering around and allows you to pre-order morning croissants. It’s not luxury. There’s a winding lane down a hill to a pebbly beach that opens out into endless sand at low-tide. The toddler alarm clock wakes us up at dawn and we quietly walk across cliff-tops painted in pink clover that stretch out to farmland in one direction and the sea in the other. London morning rush-hour is in a different world.

Door-to-door you could do the London to Grange Farm trip in a morning, but we like to stretch the ferry, cycling and cliff camping across the whole day. When the sun turns golden, we put on an extra layer and ordered a margarita pizza from the food truck to have in front of our tent staring out at the evening light dancing on the deep blue English Channel while Tallulah plays with a ball. 

Tips: 

·       Bikes need to be pre-ordered with racks at Wright Cycle Hire  

·       Grange Farm can book your ferry ticket for a discount when booking your pitch.

·       Take the footpath through the fields at Brighstone to the Three Bishops for a pub meal.