Distance: 38 miles
Difficulty: Medium
The Isle of Wight is a fantastic venue for cycling either for a day ride or stopping over and making a few days out of it.
This bike ride has come in from Anna from the New Forest. It is a 38mile ride or in rounder figures a 60km bike ride.
We prefer to take the ferry from Lymington because it is easily accessible and there is lots of parking. Parking for the day costs about £14 and the return ferry ride with bikes costs about £13. The ferry crossing takes about 20 minutes and there is a regular service through the day.
The Solent
You can circumnavigate the island clockwise or anti-clockwise and both directions are signed with a cyclist on either a blue or white sail. Yarmouth itself is a lovely seaside town with lots of restaurants and coffee shops. From Yarmouth we usually take the bike path along the estuary avoiding the busy road between Yarmouth and Freshwater. From Freshwater you climb up and over the spectacular cliffs along the south coast.
There is a lovley National Trust property at Mottistone which makes a good stop for a coffee and look around. After Brighstone this route cuts away from the round the island route and heads north to Newport. This is a busy industrial town with lots of shops and cafes and makes a good stop.
The Southern tip of the Island
After Newport you can follow the Traffic Free Bike Path into Cowes where again there are lots of cafes and places to stop. There are a few hills between Cowes and Yarmouth but it makes for a great day's riding.
Yarmouth beach
The map
Download the route file(s):
Compatible with Strava - upload here (http://labs.strava.com/gpx-to-route)
