Staycationing with Wight a difference

There is a story about a former soldier who claimed he was stationed "overseas" in the war. When asked where exactly, he replied: "The Isle of Wight".

Naturally enough, the response was "That's not overseas," to which he countered: "Well, you should try walking it!"

This apparent anomaly may, however, be considered relevant when planning a holiday this year. Freelance travel writer Linsey McNeill has suggested that staycationing - the new term for taking a holiday in Britain instead of abroad to save money - could remain popular this year, not least because of the high cost of flying.

She said: "Flying will become unaffordable for a lot of families I think. It's [due to] taxes as much as the fact that people are earning less. We've had Air Passenger Duty (APD) for a long time - it was frozen for a year, and now it's going to have a double inflationary increase from April of this year."

Although Ms McNeill's own personal opinion was that people would prefer to stay in the UK rather than use ferries to travel, many people could do just that, not least if the journey is a short one.

For people happy to take a short ferry ride, the Isle of Wight may be a great staycation option. Wightlink ferries serve the island's ports of Ryde, Yarmouth and Fishbourne, crossing over from Lymington or Portsmouth. In the latter case, the British mainland is left behind anyway as Portsea is, of course, an island in its own right - albeit one separated by a shallow creek crossed by a bridge.

Either way, the crossing of the Solent is not a long journey and there is much to enjoy once there. Sailing fans, for instance, could attend the annual Cowes Regatta in August, see Queen Victoria's island residence of Osbourne House, or enjoy two music festivals; The Isle of Wight Festival in June and Bestival in September.

So while there may not be much walking involved in the journey across to the Isle of Wight, there will be plenty to keep people on their feet once they get there.

Posted by Mark Robinson

Lymington - Yarmouth

1 x Foot Passenger(s) Return

Travelling on:

20/06/2012 - 25/06/2012

£5

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Lymington - Yarmouth

Car + 2 Return

Travelling on:

30/06/2012 - 08/07/2012

£39

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Lymington - Yarmouth

Car + 4 Return

Travelling on:

06/06/2012 - 06/06/2012

£41

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* Prices are "from prices" and are indicative only

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