3-Day Isle of Wight and the Southern Coast Small-Group Tour from London
Description
*Osborne House entrance included in tour price. Queen Victoria loved her holidays. She travelled to Scotland, France, and Italy and stayed at lavish palaces and princely courts in lush locations, but there’s nowhere she loved more than the Isle of Wight, a diamond-shaped pearl in the English Channel. It’s not far from London and boasts beautiful beaches, epic white sea-cliffs, a warm climate and remnants from the Romans, Normans, and two World Wars. On this tour, you visit Queen Victoria’s Italian-inspired holiday home, Osborne House*. You venture to the sea-shores and see gorgeous cliffs, barren bunkers and stunning white rock structures. And on the mainland, you even get a chance to celebrate your journey with a drink at the home of Bombay Sapphire Gin. Join this trip, follow in the footsteps of royalty and let your guide lead you through England’s favourite holiday island.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- We apologise, but we cannot accommodate children under 5 years old on our tours. Children under 18 need to be accompanied by an adult. Please note that if this policy is not followed, we will have to refuse travel without issuing a refund. Thank you for understanding
- Please note: you will be required to choose between either a 3-star bed and breakfast or 3-star hotel at time of booking
- Booking three or more people? We can accommodate up to 8 guests in a group, please add each required room to your basket separately
- Luggage Allowance: You're restricted to 20kg (44lbs) of luggage per person. This should be one piece of luggage similar to an airline carry-on bag (approximately 55cm x 45cm x 25cm / 22in x 17in x 10in) plus one small bag for onboard personal items.
- Portsmouth - You have free time in Portsmouth between 11am-1pm. If you'd like to visit the Mary Rose or HMS Victory, reserve your tickets in advance to avoid disappointment.
- Quarr Abbey - We reserve tickets for you. If you want to visit this attraction, please purchase your ticket whilst on tour.
- Osborne House - Included in tour price.
- B&Bs tend to be located on the outskirts of towns and you should be prepared for a 20-30 minute walk to local facilities like pubs and restaurants. If you have difficulty with stairs, please mention it to us as lifts will not be available in this type of property.
- Hotels usually have a relatively central location but may be up to a 20-30 minute walk from local facilities. If you have difficulty with stairs, please let us know so that we can either book a ground floor room or a hotel with lift access, if available.
- In order to retain the integrity of the tour and try to ensure that all our customers have the best possible experience, we do cap bookings from any one party to 8 passengers.
Reviews(9)
This was my 2nd visit to the Isle of Wight. The first time was for one day to see Osborne House and even though I loved Osborne House, my overall impression of the Island wasn't great. I'm so glad I went back because clearly I hadn't given the Island a fair shake. As a solo traveler I've found that Rabbies is the way to go. In fact, this was my 5th Rabbies tour in a little over a year. Our driver was Carl and he was knowledgeable, fun and funny. We took a 45 minute ferry from Portsmouth (including the bus) and our first stop on the Island was Quarr Abbey. I would like to add (and warn unsuspecting people such as myself) of an innocent looking plant called "stinging nettle." I stuck my arm in it to pick something up and came away with a bumpy rash and pain that took 3 days to fully go away. Day 2 was the most fun. The morning was spent at Osborne House. We had 3 hours and that was enough time to see the house, grounds and beach. After that we went to the Needles and I had a blast. You have to get to the beach from a cliff and your choices are walking (down fine, up yuck) or take a chairlift. The chairlift won out and the views were incredible. We then took a boat to get a better look at the Needles and the boat crew spoke to us about what we were seeing. On the last day we stopped at Winchester before heading back to London. Winchester is a beautiful town and I love the Cathedral. Jane Austen is buried in the Cathedral and they had an exhibition celebrating the 250th anniversary of her birth. After this we stopped at Runnymede where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215 and where there is also a memorial to JFK (kind of a random location, but nice).
Wonderful trip. Filled with great sights and places. Mark, our tour guide was engaging, amusing, interesting and professional. I would recommend this trip.
We only had 5 guests and driver/guide. Jack made the group experience excellent and even modified the tour to meet our preferences.
My niece and I had a really marvelous time touring the Isle of Wight with Rabbie's. Our guide was Amir, who was terrific. He kept us informed, entertained, and comfortable, and took excellent care of us. We particularly loved seeing Osborne House, and spending 2 nights exploring Shanklin. Pat's guest house, the St. Leonard, was marvelous too. Many thanks Rabbie's for a great experience.
This was a great trip! Thanks to David, our guide and driver for 5 days who made our tour of Southern England and Stonehenge so fantastic. We saw so much including Dartmoor, Portsmouth, and beautiful coastlines of Cornwell. David was knowledgeable about the history and places we visited and shared so many stories with us that were informative and entertaining. And the driving was awesome! You navigated difficult parking and roads with such skill! Thank you!
A wonderful trip with just enough time to see everything. Graham kept us entertained along the way. We were very well looked after. Thank you Graham 😀😀. It’s good to have a small group to travel with.
We had such a wonderful time! Neil was gracious, knowledgeable, and very friendly. We saw some wonderful sites and found out about some great places. We would never use any other tour company!
Our 3-day trip to Isle of Wight provided an easy and informative way to navigate a road trip through Portsmouth and a ferry ride to the Isle of Wight. Its seaside villages and countryside are lovely and seem “far from the madding crowd”. Our driver-guide, June, lives on the Isle and knows the area well. On our last afternoon together, she provided tea and biscuits at her home. Thanks, Rabbies for sharing June with us.
This is our second trip with Rabbie's and both have been outstanding. Our guide for this trip was Stuart Bowden. The bus can take up to sixteen passengers but there were only four on this trip including us. Just like they say if you book the trip it will go on. No cancelations. This is a wonderful way to see the area. Rabbie's sets up a great intinerary, has a knowledgeable guide/driver and they set the B&Bs for us. Our guide Stuart even got us a box of proper tea (Yorkshire) to remember England by.
