Walking
Walking the Isle of Wight Coastal Path, camping each night
How many days, which way round, where the campsites are and where the gaps are, plus kit and bag-carrying tips.
The basics: the Isle of Wight Coastal Path is about 70 miles (113 km) and mostly well signed. Most walkers take five to seven days. 59 of the campsites we list are within a mile and a half of the path, so you can camp every night, but there are stretches where you need to plan.
How many days?
- 4 days (about 17 miles a day): fit walkers with light packs.
- 5–6 days (12–14 miles a day): the usual choice, with time for the pub.
- 7+ days: a relaxed pace, or shorter days with children.
The route planner works out where you'll be each night for any daily distance, checks the campsite is open that night and takes your party, and adds up the cost.
Which way round?
Most people start at Yarmouth, Cowes or Ryde, where the ferries arrive. Going anticlockwise from Yarmouth you tackle the big chalk section (the Needles, Tennyson Down, Compton) on the first day with fresh legs, then follow the wild south-west coast round to Ventnor. Going clockwise saves the drama for the end.
Where the campsites are
The south and west coasts have plenty of campsites close to the path: Brook and Compton, Brighstone, Atherfield and Chale, St Lawrence and Niton, then Sandown Bay. The north coast between Yarmouth and Cowes has fewer, because the path runs inland around Newtown Creek and Thorness; that is usually the day to plan carefully. See every campsite in order along the path.
Ask about walk-up pitches. Several campsites have a cheap rate for hikers and cyclists, and some will take a one-night walker even when they ask cars for two. We show hiker pitches where campsites list them.
Kit and practicalities
- The chalk downs are exposed: there is little shade on a hot day and real wind on a wild one.
- Water: refill at campsites, pubs and cafés; there are few taps on the open sections.
- Cliff paths on the south-west coast move with erosion: follow the diversion signs.
- The Floating Bridge crosses the Medina between Cowes and East Cowes.
- The Walking Festival in May is a busy and sociable time to walk.