Lonely Planet singles out Isle of Wight in the top 10 global cycling destinations

With the Wessex combined League Cyclocross champion on our staff line-up, Wightstay know how good the Isle of Wight is for cycling.  Turns out Lonely Planet have been exploring the Island, too.  This is from the Isle of Wight Council's recent press release:

The Isle of Wight has been named as one of the top 10 destinations in the world for cycling.

Looking down into one of the Island's deep and mysterious green gullies

The Lonely Planet Guide describes the Isle of Wight as a 'cycling paradise that is home to some of the UK's most varied terrain'


It goes on to describe 'lush velvet hills rolling into the sea, narrow lanes through tidy hedgerows, deep and mysterious green gullies, and the Island's most striking feature, the ridge of white chalk cliffs stretching across its breadth.'

The Isle of Wight is listed alongside destinations including the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand, San Juan Islands in Washington in the USA and the West Coast in Tasmania, Australia.

David Pugh, IW Council Leader said "This is very good news for the Isle of Wight, especially ahead of the annual Isle of Wight Cycling Festival which is organised by the council.

"We are blessed with stunning views and areas of outstanding natural beauty and, as a keen cyclist myself, I am not surprised the Island has made it into the top 10 destinations of the world."

It is not the first time cycling on the Island has been highlighted by national publications. The Good Mountain Biking Guide described the Tennyson Trail as 'possibly the best chalk trail in the UK' while the IW Cycling Festival regularly features in national and international media.

This year the festival is held between 17 - 25 September and features over 60 rides, including the popular Hills Killer and Cycle the Wight.

More information on the Cycling Festival can be found at www.sunseaandcycling.com 

We'll see you out on the trails this autumn!

Warming up for the Isle of Wight Festival

This weekend it's the Isle of Wight Festival!  As ever there's a huge range of acts who must be making their way to the Island right now, most of whom must be checking the weather forecasts hoping it stays dry.  The headliners include Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, Pulp, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian and a huge slew of other artists.

I can see one of my Wightstay co-workers already has their Messenger status set as 'FESTIVALLLLLL' so I suspect they're possibly going this weekend.  Isle of Wight Festival is now a huge event, with a 20,000 people increase from last year to 90,000 attendees.

Obviously this means Newport will be frantic during this weekend, but places like the West Wight will still provide quiet and tranquility for those wanting to get away from the hurly-burly of the Festival traffic.

We took a drive down the Military Road, the South Western coastal road, last night.  It was bathed in beautiful light as the sun went down.  Although it took us rather longer to drive, we've condensed it down for you, so why not have a watch:

This is the sort of reason (aside from the Isle of Wight Festival!) people come to the Island.  The coastal areas are largely unspoilt and have great, safe, clean water to swim in. Check out the list of beaches here.  There are three Blue Flag certified beaches at Ventnor, Shanklin and Sandown, as well as the more rural areas.

So, if you're here for the FESTIVALLLLLL (or the Bestival in September) don't forget to have a look around the rest of the Island - it is a stunner!