Isle of Wight....

quaveriw

I agree with all the other posters, I lived down there when I was a student and miss it now I'm living in landlocked Buckinghamshire. :mad:

We visited the garlic farm last time and had garlic ice-cream care of the Minghella Family. Used to spend a lot of time in Compton Bay just watching the waves and getting inspiration for my assignments. Bembridge is lovely, going there on Easter Sunday - 2for1 deal on Wightlink for footpassengers until the 24 May - called and checked that I can use it on Easter Sunday, they said yes so that saves £10.40! :T

Out at Staplers, Newport there's a Lavender Farm, they do nice tea and cakes. There are some good pub/restaurants down there as well, used to love going to the Chequers (can't remember where, but it was on the way to Godshill in the middle of nowhere) and the Griffin in Godshill.

Alikay

English Heritage membership will pay for itself on an IOW holiday. You can visit Osborne House, Carisbrook Castle, Appledurcombe house and Yarmouth Castle.
Osborne House is beautiful -Queen Victoria lived here as a young mother, and you get to go in the Swiss chalet which was a playhouse for the little princes and princesses - it's lovely. Carisbrook Castle often has jousting and re-enactment type things.

I love the Isle of Wight -if I was an incoming tour operator, this is where I'd take the Japanese tourists to see somewhere beautiful and traditionally English!