Camping for the Isle of Wight Walking Festival

In short: the Isle of Wight Walking Festival runs twice a year: a spring festival in May and an autumn festival in October, each lasting about nine days. Volunteer leaders guide walks of every length all over the Island, and most are free. Camping makes a cheap, flexible base: pick a site near the walks you want, or near a bus route, and you won't need the car. 82 of the campsites we list are good for walkers.

What the festival is

The festival is a programme of guided walks led by local volunteers who know their patch, from short, flat strolls with a pub at the end to long days over the downs. There are themed walks too, on local history, wildlife and the writers and artists who lived on the Island. In 2026 the spring festival ran for nine days in mid-May and the autumn festival for nine days in early October.

Most walks are free. Some ask for a small charge or a donation to charity, and some have a limited number of places and must be booked through the festival website. The programme is published on the festival's own site ahead of each festival, usually in phases, so check there for the dates and walks of the year you're going.

The Island has more than 500 miles of public footpaths and bridleways, so even outside the festival weeks there's no shortage of walking. The festival is a good way to find the routes you wouldn't spot on a map, and to walk with people who know the stories behind them.

Which part of the Island to stay in

The walks start all over the Island, so look at the programme before you choose a campsite. As a rough guide:

• West Wight for chalk downland and cliffs: Tennyson Down, the Needles, Headon Warren and Compton. West Wight campsites.
• Back of the Wight for the long downland ridge and the wild south-west coast, with quiet farm sites. Back of the Wight campsites.
• Ventnor and the Undercliff for steep, wooded paths and the town walks around Ventnor and Bonchurch. Ventnor and the Undercliff campsites.
• Newport and the centre if you want to reach walks anywhere by bus, as Newport is the hub of the bus network. North and Central Wight campsites.
• Sandown Bay and the east for Culver Down, Bembridge and easy walks with the train to hand. Sandown Bay and Ryde and the East.

May is a good time to camp: the sites are open but quiet, the downs are covered in flowers, and pitches are much cheaper than in August. October is quieter still, but fewer campsites are open, so check that yours is: see campsites open in May and campsites open in October, or the sites open all year.

The trails to know

Besides the 70-mile Coastal Path, the Island has a network of waymarked inland trails, most linking the coast with Newport or Carisbrooke. Many festival walks follow parts of them, and they're the easiest way to plan your own days between guided walks. Each trail page lists the campsites along it.

• Tennyson Trail: Carisbrooke to Alum Bay over the high chalk downs, finishing on Tennyson Down. Stoats Farm, Compton Farm and Windmill Campersite at Carisbrooke are all close to it.
• Worsley Trail: Brighstone to Shanklin along the southern downs. Rusty Meadow at Godshill is almost on it.
• Shepherds Trail: Carisbrooke to the coast at Atherfield. Kingston Smallholding and Chine Farm are near it.
• Stenbury Trail: Newport to Ventnor via Godshill, with Moor Farm and Godshill Park Farm right by it.
• Hamstead Trail: the north coast at Hamstead to Brook on the south coast, across the West Wight. Camp Wight and Silver Glades are on it.
• Bembridge Trail: Newport to Bembridge across the eastern half of the Island, passing near Sunrise Hill at Brading.
• Nunwell Trail (Ryde to Sandown), Culver Trail, Freshwater Way and Tapnell Trail are shorter routes, good for half days.

Getting to walk starts without a car

A lot of festival walks are linear, or start in a village some way from where you're staying, and the buses make that easy. Southern Vectis runs the Island's buses, with routes radiating out from Newport to the towns and most of the villages, and it sells day and multi-day tickets. The Island Line train runs between Ryde Pier Head, Brading, Sandown and Shanklin, which suits walks in the east.

• Pick a campsite near a bus stop. We mark these on each campsite page, and 35 campsites are both good for walkers and close to a bus route.
• For a linear walk, take the bus out in the morning and walk back to your tent, rather than walking out and hoping to catch the last bus.
• Country services can be hourly or less in the evenings and on Sundays. Check the timetable for the day you're walking.
• Many walk leaders publish a start point with a bus stop or a car park nearby. If a start looks hard to reach, ask the leader.

Our guide to camping without a car covers the foot ferries, buses and train in more detail.

Choosing a campsite for a walking week

Walkers want different things from a campsite than families do. A few things worth looking for:

• Small and quiet. Small sites and farm campsites are usually peaceful by nine, which matters before an early start.
• A pub you can walk to. After a long day, it's good to leave the car where it is. See campsites near a pub and our guide to campsite pubs.
• A drying space. In spring and autumn your boots and waterproofs will get wet. A porch, a tarp or a glamping unit with a wood burner helps.
• Somewhere on the path. If you'd like to walk part of the Coastal Path between guided walks, there are 59 campsites near it. See our Coastal Path guide, and the route planner for a multi-day walk.