Cheap travel to the Isle of Wight

JennyP

I'd like to go to the Isle of Wight for a weekend in February but I'm amazed at how expensive it is! I'd be travelling from Yorkshire.
I could get the train from home but that's about £150 which seems a lot. Other option is to drive and get the ferry but I think that's going to be expensive too as the ferry costs to get me and the car across are quite a lot!
Any thoughts? Suggestions?

andygb

You would be better off driving down to Kent and going for a nice weekend in France Jenny, it will be quicker and much cheaper, and probably more enjoyable.

maman

andygb wrote: »

You would be better off driving down to Kent and going for a nice weekend in France Jenny, it will be quicker and much cheaper, and probably more enjoyable.

I tend to agree, lovely things to do in Normandy or drive on to Bruges.

If you're determined on the IOW, try googling for accommodation that includes car ferry. It might be cheaper that way.

JennyP

I don't want to go to France. There's a specific reason why it needs to be the Isle of Wight! So ... any suggestions about getting to the IOW please? I don't need accommodation whilst there so that won't work!

maman

JennyP wrote: »

I don't want to go to France. There's a specific reason why it needs to be the Isle of Wight! So ... any suggestions about getting to the IOW please? I don't need accommodation whilst there so that won't work!

Sorry, only trying to help.

All I can think of is try all routes (Portsmouth, Southampton and Lymington) and see if the day/time you arrive makes any difference. May be worth phoning the various companies to ask. Be polite when you speak to them though.;)

peachyprice

There is no cheap way to get a car to IOW. How about driving down to Portsmouth/Lymington/Southampton and crossing as a foot passenger.

Dunroamin

All ferry routes to the IOW are expensive - it's supposed to be the dearest stretch of water in the world!

Your cheapest way would be to take a coach to Southampton or Portsmouth and go across as a foot passenger; the coach depot in Portsmouth is adjacent to the Wightlink catamaran terminal, so that would be the easier option.

ETA

Fares for this route would be around £125 for the two of you, including the crossing to Ryde.

mgdavid

we went to IOW for the day a few weeks ago with the car - cost about 40 quid IIRC. It's about an hour each way out of So'ton so not hugely expensive at all.
If you have a specific reason for going to the IOW (as we did) then surely you've factored it in as necessary?

daveyjp

The train is expensive because it is too early for the cheap tickets. They aren't released until 90 days before date of travel.

maman

peachyprice wrote: »

There is no cheap way to get a car to IOW. How about driving down to Portsmouth/Lymington/Southampton and crossing as a foot passenger.

Going on the Red Jet (hydrofoil) from Southampton as a foot passenger only takes about 30 minutes. It's easy to get around the island by bus so if you don't desperately need your car when you're there that's a possible.

Shelldean

we found red funnel cheaper than Wightlink.
We also found that fiddling with the times of sailing varied the cost quite a bit.
We was booked on a campsite, so we also couldn't look for accom with free travel. But we found going Friday evening and coming home Sunday morning was much MUCH cheaper than any Sat to Sat sailings. And even after paying for the extra two nights on site we saved money.

So try different combinations of sailings is my advice.