Isle of Wight Guided Tours (2024)

09/10/2024

Beautiful Bonchurch Village on Saturday October 5th, which was masquerading as a midsummer's day! An ancient Isle of Wight village where time has almost stood still, it's easy to understand how captivated by it Charles Dickens was during the long summer he spent here in 1849.

09/08/2024

Our local Alum Bay Glass.... Amazing glass creations using sand in the age-old manner. Our 25 Swedish visitors certainly appreciated the demonstration they had booked and then made purchases. Who wouldn't!

20/05/2024

Having an insanely busy time with IOW tours throughout May. These are just a few pictures of Cowes, both East and West. Think Queen Victoria - the house she bought (built) versus the house she could have bought had she chosen to. Afternoon tea at The Terrace, Osborne House and in the cellars and the Egyptian corner of Northwood House (this part of the tour wonderfully led by its trustee and director Tim Wander).Two great groups of Americans to show round. Today's tour was with a well-established author and her husband. She was researching for her next novel which will be based on the Isle of Wight in around 1900. Definitely one to look out for!

06/05/2024

Wonderful tour recently with repeat visitors from Canada after a good few years. We did the whole tour on public transport which was real fun as well as considerably reducing transport costs. We travelled from Cowes to Newport and then on to Freshwater Bay where we visited Dimbola Museum & Galleries We also collected a lovely takeaway lunch from their wonderful tearoom. From there it was on to The Needles for a chairlift ride and then on to Yarmouth in readiness for the return journey back to Cowes. A really enjoyable day for one and all!

29/03/2024

Happy Easter to all of our clients! We started the unofficial opening of the Island's tourist season with a wonderful highly personalised tour. The sun came out on command to greet our lovely guest from Holland, whose husband is participating in the Easter sailing at Cowes. Her tour request was for a combination of gastronomy and books. We talked a lot about authors connected to the Isle of Wight and visited one of my all time favourite bookshops. But not before a quick visit to Quarr Abbey, The Mermaid Bar (IOW Distillery) for a spirit tasting session after coffees and hot cross buns, it being Good Friday after all. Then another tasting, this time wine at Adgestone Vineyard, after a self-guided audio tour around the vineyard itself. Next it was on to the Ventnor Exchange to devote our attention to an Island cheese platter and my client to an Island Yachtsman beer. The whole 8 hours were simply glorious, even though we still didn't make it to either the Garlic Farm for garlic bread or the Crab Shed for a crab pasty as we had originally hoped to. But - our tours are simply as individual, flexible and full of fun as you are and we enjoy them every bit as much as you do. Look forward to seeing you soon!

30/01/2024

Wonderful start to the New Year with an early January tour. Three delightful guests from the USA made the most of a family occasion in London by also making a beeline for the delights of the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth. Staying at the elegant Royal Hotel in Ventnor which was familiar to Queen Victoria, it's hardly surprising that their first port of call was Osborne House. They were on top form that day at Queen Victoria's former home and laid on some extra in-house magic to delight their visitors. My tour was rounded off by a scenic ride across the Island to experience the natural West coast wonders that are The Needles and the coloured cliffs of Alum Bay.

02/01/2024

A very Happy New Year to all our clients past, future and present. We had a fantastic year in 2023 and it promises to be just as busy and fascinating in the months ahead. We so look forward to sharing some highlights with you again, both meeting up with old 'friends' and making new.

03/10/2023

A brand new element to our Cowes Walking Tour which features Isle of Wight Classic Boat Museum . Yesterday we gave it a trial run with a group of passengers from the German cruise ship 'Hanseatic Nature' and they were delighted. We included both The Boat Shed on the West side of the river and The Gallery in East Cowes, going over and back on the floating bridge, which is fun in itself! Victoria Preston, its Vice President, guided out guests round in immaculate German, ably assisted by some Museum volunteers. If you would like to sample this tour for yourself, (whether in English, German or French), simply get in touch with us. Special Museum opening times can be arranged for groups. Obviously our tour still includes the normal gems of the quaint and fascinating town of Cowes, Northwood House and Park, The Royal Yacht Squadron and its stylish and unique High Street etc. And as ever, we have a fair few tales to tell you along the way.

07/09/2023

Another wonderful 3-day tour with fun-loving author who is researching for a book about interesting women connected with the Isle of Wight. This tour took us on a frantic dash round the Island but had its leisurely moments, including time for some superb Island seafood and the old cocktail or two (as well as local fudge!) Was a pure delight to be involved in this project and I can't wait to read the finished result. Thanks Susanna Hoe! Do look out for her book due to be published next Spring.

14/08/2023

One of our most special tours ever and certainly one of the longest in the making. Canadian descendants of the well-known Island family of Pittis (of local estate agents' fame) darted round the Island with me, tracing their roots! 3 present day generations took part, as the plan was hatched by the absent grandparents of the younger members of the party back home in Canada, but who were still with us every step of the way. Not for the fainthearted, the tour stretched over 3 days and was full on - everyone was pretty exhausted by the end of each day as we (un)covered generation after generation (thanks to the spade work done by 'grandma and grandpa' during the pandemic). The whole thing was enormous fun and highly successful, very much appreciated by the clients and a real honour for me to be a part of. Aside from the participants (including our excellent driver Robert for 2 days and Kurt who led the Newport walk on the middle day), I would like to single out for special praise our fantastic museums and resource centres in Newport. The teams at The Records Office, The Guildhall Museum and Newport Roman Villa were truly amazing. Thanks in particular to Richard Snout and Corina Westwood for setting all this up for us and allowing us to see all the amazing artefacts and ancient records that we were able to view - (the Records Office even opening specially for our party on their day off). We are so lucky on the Island to have you all here, doubtless way more unsung than you should be. Thanks also go to Isle of Wight Holidays, Buddle Place and The Wheatsheaf Hotel, Newport.

11/06/2023

It was another full action day yesterday for Isle of Wight Guided Tours, as was the day before. Some high profile tours are very private and can't be publicised, but yesterday's can be loosely described. I had the great pleasure of escorting an author who is researching for a fascinating and soon to be published book about interesting women connected to the Isle of Wight over the ages. This tour took us to a few somewhat hidden away places such as Gatcombe, Chillerton and Hulverstone. That said, the first two places seem to feature on my ancestry tours fairly regularly! She will be back twice more throughout the summer and we will then continue with this highly enjoyable adventure. I can say that it involved some random door knocking to try to obtain information. We were lucky each time we did so! Hence there are very few photos with this post, but the aim is just to give a little taster of what might be to come!

22/05/2023

East Cowes consists of much more than just Osborne House! A quaint little place where anyone visiting us in a vehicle from Southampton will arrive. If you are good on your feet, it is perfectly easy to walk or bus up the hill to Osborne House. But don't forget to look out for 'Wight Shipyard' which has been at the centre of the IOW shipbuilding industry throughout the ages. But for those more interested in the wider connections of the British Royal family with those of neighbouring countries (and after Germany, none more so than Russia), be sure to stop at the Russian Romanov Memorial, erected in 2018 (exactly 100 years after the brutal murder of the Russian Royal family). It was officially unveiled by Prince Rostislav Romanov, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Cowes a few days ago. If you are interested in learning more about the strong links that the Isle of Wight has had with Russia throughout history since the time of Peter the Great, I can't recommend Stephan Roman 's page-turner of a book 'Isle and Empires' more highly enough. It is available up the road in Osborne House (among other places), and deals in great depth with this fascinating topic. Moreover, IOWGT are delighted to be able to arrange for you to take a walking tour with him during one of his frequent visits to the Island, either in East Cowes or Ventnor. Please contact us for further details.

13/05/2023

Another lovely sunny Isle of Wight day, just perfect for an Isle of Wight Guided Tour. A Canadian lady visiting with her husband to trace her roots as so many clients do. As with a few previous clients, her ancestors were farmers in Chillerton. We had located the farm for her ahead of time and received permission from the current owners to visit it. Her family had left the Island in the 1850s to start a new life in Canada and, as so often, this felt like quite a homecoming for her, even though it was her first visit to the Island. But prior to the day's highlight, they were also given a very informative tour of Carisbrooke Castle and The Military Museum. All in all they had a thoroughly enjoyable day!

30/04/2023

Current season going extremely well thanks to the support of our lovely clients. Here a group of 40 Spanish school teachers enjoying a traditional Sunday roast today at the Wight Mouse Inn, Chale, on the Military Road. This is the most spectacular road on the Island which spans the whole length of the south coast from Blackgang Chine to the Needles, where they were heading after their well-deserved pit spot.This followed an enjoyable morning of marvelling at the sights and tales of Queen Victoria's' dear Osborne'. I joined them for lunch just to say hello. They were in the very capable hands of our long-serving guide Kevin and Josh from Wight Coaches for the rest of the day.

16/12/2022

I know New Year's resolutions should be private. But this is by way of a public apology for being so remiss with posting on this page! I intend to do better next year, no excuses! We had a very good and busy year thanks to you all - and next year looks set to be the same. Can't wait to see new faces and those of you who we already know. For now - I wish you ALL - those we know and those we don't, all good wishes for the approaching festive season. The photographs below were taken during a recent visit to India (here Bangalore) - which was possible as it was the end of the season. This is also by way of thanks to all the Indian clients we had this year. As wonderful as my trip was - it also felt great to be on the ferry returning to this dear Island - and I feel sure that you will all adore it too when you come over! Every best wish, both for now and for the New Year ahead. Warmest regards, Jane

08/07/2022

Today was a wonderful day spent with an Australian couple, visiting the Island for the very first time to follow in the footsteps of a grandfather who emigrated to Australia 113 years ago.

It was an emotional 'homecoming' yesterday, meeting them at Ryde Pier, and one in which I felt privileged to be included.

This side of our work is on the increase, and within the last two weeks alone we have hosted three couples on a similar quest - today's plus two separate American couples, one of them digging back as far as the 17th century.

Bizarrely, all three have featured the same handful of beautiful villages including Gatcombe, Chillerton, Arreton, Shorwell and Brighstone. And two of them even had family trees with the same surname in common!

To wander round St. Olave's today was a real pleasure to us all. Named after a Norwegian patron saint, this amazing 13th century church incredibly contains the work of Rossetti, William Morris, Burne-Jones and Madox Brown. Wow! This fact alone is more than enough reason to visit it!

IOWGT is about to expand its ancestry tracing service beyond its current offer of pre-visit preparation followed by accompanying you to places of interest during your visit.

You will now be able to ask for research work and photographs (taken by us) of IOW tombstones, properties etc. even if you are unable to follow up by physically making the journey here yourself.

Why not let US be your researchers, your eyes, your ears, your documenters and photographers! ☺️

26/06/2022

A week of 3 cruise ships for Cowes and my company IOWGT! On Tuesday it was the Europa 2. Wonderfully friendly and fun-loving group of German and Swiss passengers. Friday was the Scenic Eclipse, a very luxurious ship heading for Antarctica and equipped with 2 helicopters and a submarine! Isle of Wight Guided Tours had the honour and pleasure of providing 6 guides for, and helping with, the development of their shore excursions, only the fabulous team from Wight Cycle Hire having been booked direct.

Meanwhile, IOWGT catered for a walking tour from Alum Bay to Freshwater Bay and visits to Carisbrooke Castle + The Needles, Carisbrooke Castle + Shanklin and a tour of Osborne (House & Grounds). Finally, yesterday (Saturday) a group from Seabourn Ovation booked IOWGT's walking tour 'Cowes Past & Present ' - once more, lovely people, North Americans and Europeans.

Two medical emergencies (totally unrelated to our tours!) both requiring trips to St. Mary's Hospital, fortunately both had positive outcomes. In the more serious case, this was very much thanks to the help and prompt intervention of an off-duty local GP and Emma Stevens of Joli Cowes , without whom things might have turned out much worse.

Thanks generally to the people of Cowes for the warm welcome extended to its growing number of cruise ship guests (all of whom are totally smitten with the place!)

Yesterday, the guests had the additional treat of watching the start of the Round the Island Yacht Race before boarding their tender. They simply loved it!

17/06/2022

The Island's scenery, food, drink and accommodation gets a definite thumbs up from these two! 😀

Isle of Wight Guided Tours