5 days in the Isle of Wight

This is a five-day Isle of Wight break with a generous reach: four National Trust properties, three lunch stops all holding a 5/5 food hygiene rating, and days that swing from a 2.7-mile hop between Wilton House and The Rifles Museum to a 59.4-mile run out to Agglestone Rock. The long drives sit in the mornings; afternoons are deliberately short, so you're rarely more than a few miles from the next thing.

Base yourself where the trains and the water suit you. Channel View Hotel is 0.4 miles from Shanklin station — the nearest station to the island — and 0.4 miles from Shanklin beach, rated Excellent for bathing water by the Environment Agency. Willow Barn (sleeps 7) and Oak Barn (sleeps 4) sit 3.1 miles from Ryde Esplanade and 3.5 miles from Ryde beach, rated Good, with EV charging nearby. Thorness Bay Holiday Park adds a pool, hot tub and bar, 2.4 miles from Excellent-rated Gurnard beach.