Unfortunately, all fun holidays must come to an end. During our five days on the Isle, we’ve been to all parts of the Isle of Wight. From East Cowes, Blackgang Chine and Ventnor, to Needles and Tapnell Farm. On our final full day before heading back to reality, we visit Robin Hill, and Sandown.
Date Visited: 13th July 2021
Location: Robin Hill, Downend and Sandown Beach, Sandown
Getting There: Easiest by car.
More fun, more bouncing
What better way to finish off a holiday than some more family fun at Robin Hill. Owned by the same family as Blackgang Chine, it has a tonne of play areas, animals, gardens galore and a toboggan. Although we enjoyed Blackgang Chine, we definitely enjoyed Robin Hill more. It’s aimed more at Cara’s age and above compared to Blackgang Chine and the equipment was newer and better maintained. Cara especially loved the jungle heights area. It’s great fun for adults as well, although there are some squishy sections to squeeze through.
There’s so much space and choice of activity here, Cara had a field day. She loves climbing so had her adventures on the jungle heights, squirrel climb, and outdoor play area. We paid a few pounds extra to go on the toboggan ride and Cara tried the commando activity course before making our way down to another playground in the Africa section. Pretty sure she played and climbed for hours!
There’s plenty of areas where you can relax, sit down and have a picnic. There’s also a myriad of toilets which is good for the kids. They come in handy on warmer days with all the water they drink after climbing! On our way to the African playground, we took a stroll through the ponds and Chinese gate.
Taking a break from the climbing, we ventured up to the falconry area where they have regular shows. On this occasion, we missed a time slot but loitered around to see the birds and bumped into a couple of free range peacocks. We thought there were only a couple, but on the way back there were loads near the entrance! Not only are there a lot of peacocks, there are playgrounds everywhere. Near the falconry, there’s more climbing frames, duck village and a maze.
We didn’t test the 4D cinema, but there’s one near the entrance/exit. If you’re staying at Robin Hill for the day, there’s options for food and drink. We had a great time here and from all the activities we went to, Cara said she had the most fun here.
Ratings for Robin Hill:
Burn Time: 5 out of 5 – Spent the entire morning here and could’ve spent more but Cara wanted to go to a beach as it was very hot!
Value: 4 out of 5 – Tickets aren’t the cheapest, but compared to a day out in London, it’s great value! There’s extras such as the toboggan ride, and if you choose to eat or drink there.
Overall: 5 out of 5 – Thoroughly enjoyed this place, there’s something fun to do in every corner.
Down to Sandown
Almost time for lunch, so we headed towards Sandown for some beach action. If you’re after some fresh garlic produce, there’s the famous Garlic Farm. We stopped by on our first day but is only around the corner from Robin Hill so makes more sense to pop by at the same time. There’s garlic everything here, butter, beer and a great smelling restaurant. For a few pounds, you can also book a slot on the tractor that takes you around the farm.
For lunch on this day, we ate along Sandown promenade. There’s plenty of options and Cara enjoyed her meal, although by now, we were getting too familiar with fish and chips, burgers and pizzas! Also, why do most places on the Isle of Wight have lasagna on their menu? It was a terribly hot day and we couldn’t wait to get to the beach. We decided to hire some deck chairs and relax for the rest of the day on the beach. Cara loved floating in the water, but I found it was super cold but refreshing. We switched between playing in the water and making sand castles on the beach.
As the sun went down, we grabbed a final ice cream near the pier and people watched. Robin Hill and Sandown was a great way to finish off a fabulous UK staycation.
Till next time…
For the evening, we drove down to Shanklin for dinner and some playtime at the amusement arcade. We stayed at the friendly Chaston Manor Hotel in Sandown which had a nice family room with a bunk bed and hearty breakfast. We took the scenic way to the ferry terminal in East Cowes via Ryde and walked around to burn off the breakfast. It was sad to call time on the holiday, we shared lots of laughs, memories and cuddles. We’ll definitely be back again soon…
We’d love to hear from you if you have any other recommendations or tips for the Isle of Wight so we can remember for next time!
Other ideas…
Be sure to check out the other posts of our 2021 summer holidays below:
And some other summer holidays ideas from previous years:
Summer Holidays 2018 – 5 tips to plan for it, it’s not too late
Ideas for Summer Holidays 2019
Things to do; Summer Holidays 2020
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