North South Loop
This route is 77km long with 1121m of climbing and mostly off road. To the east of the island, the going is sandy compared to the chalk and flint of the western half. Many bivvying options. http://www.farawayvisions.com/isle-of-w ... outh-loop/

Tennyson Trail
An 80km route with 1077m of climbing. The terrain is mainly flint and chalk when off-road. There are stunning views of gleaming white cliffs from the ridge towards the coast. Some of this route passes along woodland paths and near ancient burial grounds of archaeological interest.
http://www.farawayvisions.com/isle-of-w ... route-map/

Been looking for a route for my easter trip with my daughter, this looks ideal.

Couple of questions if i may.

What ferry did you get, do they take bikes on the fast cat too couldn't find it on their site?

Any ideas for safe parking for a few days, the recommended car park is more expensive than the ferry :(

Found the ferry info now. Only folders are allowed on the cat, normal bikes have to go on the vehicle ferry.

Nevis, you can park at ours which would add about 6 miles each way to your trip if that would help. We live east of Southampton. Pm me for details if you like.
There is a link to the full trip report on the route pages to give an idea of what you might encounter and places to eat etc.

Hi

Thank you, that's really kind of you.

Completely forgot about the Lymington Yarmouth crossing so that's another option.

Will pm once I've worked out the details if that's ok.

What's the road/traffic like coming off the Itchen bridge on the Soton side? My daughter is only 8 so it's very uncomfortable in traffic and if it's heavy we'll be walking unless she can ride on the pavement.

Many adults ride the pavement on the Itchen Bridge and there is a cycle lane across the bridge, After the bridge and going towards Soton, there is a couple of hundred metres of road (and a footpath) until you reach the T-junction and turn right at the lights. From there she can ride along a wide footpath which officially becomes a shared footpath cycle lane (after another couple of hundred metres) all the way to the ferry.

Give me a shout any time. I'll have the kettle on.

Perfect

Does look good, loads to do. We normally do an end to end route so have to get to the destination in time, it will nice to be able to bumble around at a more leisurely pace.

They even have a bike bus service http://islandbreezers.islandbuses.info/island-coaster/

I you're thinking of bringing bikes on the bus, read this first
Bicycles

As a general rule, bicycles are not permitted to be carried on our services where they are likely to soil the bus or coach or cause a nuisance or potential injury to our customers. Bicycles will only be permitted to be brought on board at the sole discretion of the driver. Where you are permitted to bring a bicycle on board, it is carried at your risk and we do not accept any responsibility for any damage caused to it at any time.

Folding bicycles, which are safely and securely stowed in the designated luggage area in a suitable bag or box, are generally permitted onto our buses if the driver believes that there is sufficient luggage space available.

I had to dig to find that on their site!

I assume that 's a general t&c applied across all their services. I was looking at the Coaster service that has been specially adapted to carry bikes. http://cycleseven.org/wight-bike-bus Guess there is no reason why a grumpy driver couldn't use it to refuse you but it would seem odd on a service specifically adapted for bikes.