Appuldurcombe House is a roofless Baroque mansion in the valley between Wroxall and Godshill. Appuldurcombe Gardens Holiday Park is on the same lane, about 10 minutes' walk away, with touring pitches, a tent field and statics. It is the obvious place to stay if you want to walk to the house. Godshill's farm glamping and Rusty Meadow are each roughly half an hour's walk away by field paths and lanes.
English Heritage looks after the house, and entry is free. It opens Sunday to Friday, closed on Saturdays, from 10am to 4pm, in the April to October season. A free car park is about 150 metres from the house. There are no toilets or facilities on site: the nearest public toilets are in Godshill. Dogs are welcome on leads. Smoking, barbecues and naked flames are not allowed.
Holiday park · Wroxall · 0.5 miles
The house's neighbour on Appuldurcombe Road: about 10 minutes' walk up the lane, and the route 3 stop 'Wroxall, nr Appuldurcombe' is close by.
Tents, caravans, motorhomes, static caravans, lodges
from £23.65/night
ViewGlamping site · Godshill · 0.9 miles
Godshill Park is on the walk to Freemantle Gate, so the house is about 30 minutes on foot up the track.
Shepherd's huts
from £70/night
ViewPop-up campsite · Godshill · 1.1 miles
Footpaths from this Godshill meadow climb to the Worsley obelisk on Appuldurcombe Down, looking down on the house.
Tents, motorhomes, pre-pitched tents, bell tents, cabins
from £70/night
ViewGlamping site · Godshill · 1.7 miles
About 15 minutes' walk into Godshill, where the Freemantle Gate walk to Appuldurcombe begins.
Yurts
Prices on request
ViewGlamping site · St Lawrence · 2 miles
Yurts
from £71.43/night
ViewSmall certificated site · St Lawrence · 2 miles
Over the downs at St Lawrence. A short drive up through Whitwell, or a long walk over Stenbury Down.
Members only · join the Camping and Caravanning Club to stay
Tents, caravans, motorhomes
from £15/night
ViewGlamping site · Whitwell · 2.2 miles
Safari tents
from £110/night
ViewSmall certificated site · Niton · 2.3 miles
Members only · join the Caravan and Motorhome Club to stay
Caravans, motorhomes
from £28/night
ViewCampsite · Shanklin · 2.4 miles
Tents, caravans, motorhomes
from £10/night
ViewHoliday park · Shanklin · 2.4 miles
Tents, caravans, motorhomes, static caravans, lodges
from £16/night
ViewGlamping site · Whitwell · 2.4 miles
Shepherd's huts
from £75/night
ViewNo campsites match all of those.
Building started in the early 18th century for the Worsley family, and it was once the grandest house on the island. Capability Brown reworked the park in the 1780s. The house is best known for a scandal: in a 1782 court case, Sir Richard Worsley's wife Seymour said she had had 27 lovers. Today it is a shell, but much of the carved stonework survives. A dirt path through the site is mostly fine for wheelchairs and buggies.
A well-used circular walk starts in Godshill, about 5.5 miles (8.9km) with roughly 270 metres of climbing. Allow about 2 hours 45 minutes. It goes through Godshill Park to the Freemantle Gate, an old estate gateway about 1.2km out, then past Appuldurcombe Farm to the house at about 2.6km. From there it climbs Stenbury Down past the radio station to the Worsley obelisk on Appuldurcombe Down, and drops back to Godshill church.
If you only want the house, walk out to Freemantle Gate and back down the same track. Godshill has pubs and tearooms for the end of the walk.
Southern Vectis route 3 runs about every 30 minutes between Newport and Ventnor via Godshill and Wroxall. It has a stop called 'Wroxall, nr Appuldurcombe'. That means you can do the walk without a car: get off in Godshill, walk over to the house and Wroxall, and catch the bus back from there.
Not at the house itself, which is an English Heritage ruin. Appuldurcombe Gardens Holiday Park next door on Appuldurcombe Road has tent and touring pitches, statics and lodges, about 10 minutes' walk from the house.
Yes. Appuldurcombe Gardens Holiday Park near Wroxall has touring pitches with hook-up, some fully serviced, plus a tent field and static caravans in an old walled orchard. Fire pits are not allowed, but raised barbecues are.
Yes. Entry to Appuldurcombe House is free and so is the car park, about 150 metres away. It opens Sunday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, in the April to October season.
Yes, dogs are welcome on leads at Appuldurcombe House. There are no toilets or other facilities on site, so plan to use Godshill.
Yes. Southern Vectis route 3 between Newport and Ventnor runs about every 30 minutes via Godshill and Wroxall, with a stop called 'Wroxall, nr Appuldurcombe'.
Appuldurcombe Gardens Holiday Park, about 0.5 miles away as the crow flies.
Ninham Country Holidays, from £10 a night for two adults, is the lowest price we can find over the next year. Prices change with the season and the day of the week, so put your dates into the calculator on this page.
9 of the 11: Appuldurcombe Gardens Holiday Park, Rusty Meadow, Moor Farm Yurt, New Bank End Farm CS, Sibbecks Farm Glamping, Downsview CL, Ninham Country Holidays and Lower Hyde Holiday Park.
Yes: Moor Farm Yurt and New Bank End Farm CS.
Yes, at Moor Farm Yurt, Sibbecks Farm Glamping and Kingates Farm Shepherd's Hut. Most want fires in a raised pit, not on the ground.
