Isle of Wight – Family bike trip on ferry

Thought today that it would be a nice thing to do to get the ferry across from Lymington to Yarmouth on the IOW and cycle from Yarmouth to Freshwater on the coast on the other side with the kids one day. The ferry would be exciting, we’d cycle to Freshwater, get a coffee/ pub lunch, mooch about, have a paddle etc or whatever and cycle back and get the ferry back to Lymington, bikes back on the car and drive home.

4 of us on the ferry for a return trip is £70! That’s with a 4 yr old and a 9 yr old and 2 adults. Bikes are free….

It’s no wonder it lags behind the rest of the South East economically. Last time I looked at taking the Motorhome over there for a long weekend a few yrs ago it was cheaper to go from poole to France for the same weekend.

To be fair, time travel has always been expensive.

If you think that’s bad, wait until you find out how much it’s going to be to park the car at the ferry terminal for the day….

That said it’s a nice idea. There is a very child friendly cycle trail from Yarmouth to freshwater that is hard packed gravel for lots of its length. You just need to do a short about of road work at each end. There is also a cafe at the freshwater and another down a slight detour just outside Yarmouth.

Did a pretty similar thing a month back with our family, walking not riding though. I’d say the better option is to go along the Yar estuary as mentioned above rather than the coastal route. The coast path consists of a fair bit of tarmac, and although a lot of this is quiet, it’s a bit of a faff and it’s tricky to get across from colwell/totland to freshwater. The off road parts are quite tight/narrow in places towards the colwell side too and it was busy with walkers. Also a bit swampy here and there.

Edit to add- much of the coast route seems to be footpath, very little if any BW’s according to my OS

Piano cafe in freshwater was nice last time I went, bit pricey mind and probably needs booking but they’re bike friendly.

There is no coastal route for riding, it’s a footpath. The route is up the old railway line and then a bit of road.

Food at the old railway station in Yarmouth is great, however.

It was the old railway line I’d planned. Just fancied taking the kids somewhere a bit different. It just twists my melons a bit when looking at that after booking our ferries to/ from France in the summer with the motorhome. It’s a shame as well prob end up staying in the new forest to ride or going across to Dorset and spending our money there!

Out of interest, and this is a genuine question not an attempt at trolling, what did you think it would cost? I had a similar reaction when I first took my car over a few years back but then got to thinking that all the infrastructure is the same whether you go to France or IoW. It’ll be just be the fuel costs that are different.

Out of interest, and this is a genuine question not an attempt at trolling

Nah, it’s you that’s trolling!  The route the OP wants to use looks like each ferry does 16 return trips per day. I haven’t looked at Dover-Calais timetable but the crossing is nearly 4 times the duration so 4 crossings per ferry a day plus a few extra night sailings.

Even with the higher speed/less efficient running to the iow it’s clear that it’s vastly more profitable simply through the number of tickets they can sell per ferry each day. And no border/security costs to the port either.

The problem is it is a duopoly between wightlink and red funnel, they can do and charge what they like with a captive audience who have no alternative. We looked for a cheap week away in June and ferry cost was over £200 for a car which is way more than it should be. Prices are better out of season or inconvenient times of day.

For the 18th may I’m getting £56.50 for 2 adults 1 infant 1 child. That’s on the car ferry as a foot passenger

Looks’s like kids are free in the school holidays

They also take tesco club card points

https://www.wightlink.co.uk/special-offers/category/wightlink

It does seem expensive. I wonder if it’s subsidising running all those services in the winter

The IoM ferry is the same with exhorbitant pricing. I had to pay £580 return for a motorbike and us two. An Islander said it was a reasonable price, as they had to run all year round. Rubbish, they put their prices up in the Summer, as its a captive market, they can charge what they want. With these 2 ferries, they are taking £125k+ with each ferry, there are 6+ trips a day during TT week,with every ferry fully booked,so they are not struggling for income. A quick look at their accounts show a £14m profit to Dec. 22., with £86m in the bank.

It’s horrendous. Wightlink used to run 2 services an hour, pretty much all year round, that was reliable and whilst expensive it wasn’t extortionate.

Both companies seem to have become increasingly focused on returning profits to shareholders, which isn’t a great surprise but it’s the wrong model for what is essentially an essential service for a lot of people. Timetables have been reduced, Red Funnel routinely cancel crossings on the pretext of maintenance and prices go through the roof during busy times.

I grew up in Yarmouth and my family are still there. Costs best part of £200 to go and see my Mum if we want to take the car over so that we can take her out.

Go to the NF; more child friendly routes (although the Island is brilliant for riding), plenty of nice cafes and cheaper.

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone decided to invest in a tunnel with a £10 toll.  Got to be better for the island economy too

Got to be better for the island economy too

I suspect some Skye residents will warn of the downsides of over tourism.

I suspect some Skye residents will warn of the downsides of over tourism.

I meant IoW 🙂 But agreed in principle.

IoW ferries have always felt pricey (my mum was born there and we went back most holidays as kids) but just like the railways an essential service has become a shareholder’s cash machine.

“ but just like the railways an essential service has become a shareholder’s cash machine. “

Contrary to popular opinion, and the Labour Party, the Railways are now Nationalised in all but name. There are private Companies supplying trains to the TOCs etc, and there are private Companies running trains (the Open Access Operators, who are, generally, the cheapest for fares), but all of the Train Operating Companies are now Government controlled, and have been for nearly 4 years.

4 of us on the ferry for a return trip is £70! That’s with a 4 yr old and a 9 yr old and 2 adults. Bikes are free….

You can get a family day return on the Redjet for £44.90…

To be honest, whilst that sounds expensive compared to the RET subsidised Scottish routes (same people on the main Arran ferry would be £23 return) it doesn’t seem crazy to me.  You are essentially going to a theme park – people pay far more for less!    How much are tickets into the centre of London on the train for you to go do some touristy stuff?  2 adults 1 child (and 1 feee) on the train Glasgow – Edinburgh return will cost you £40 and they will probably tell you there isn’t room for 4 bikes on the same cariage!  Again that’s a government-subsidised service.

It’s no wonder it lags behind the rest of the South East economically.

If there was a fast, efficient, low-cost service to the island such that it could be economically comparable to the rest of SE England – the island would be so shit and overriden you wouldn’t want to take your kids there for a day out!