Wightlink Ferries to the Isle of Wight review #ad

Ad - We received a complimentary return ferry crossing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne in exchange for this blog post.

We've just returned from a wonderful family holiday on the Isle of Wight. Although we live pretty close, and have often seen the island in the distance, it was our first visit, and we had such a lovely time that I'm certain we'll be back!

There are several different ways that you can reach the island. Our closest port is Portsmouth, and so we chose to travel with Wightlink which offers three different routes from the mainland. You can travel with your car from either Portsmouth Gunwharf to Fishbourne or Lymington to Yarmouth, or as a foot passenger you can travel by FastCat from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier. We were taking our car and so we used the Portsmouth Gunwharf to Fishbourne route. The route to the port in Portsmouth was very well signposted, and as we'd made sure to arrive at the earliest recommended time we ended up making an earlier ferry which was a big bonus! This crossing over the Solent takes just 45 minutes.

Loading the cars onto the ferry was simple and speedy in both directions. While you are waiting to board, both Portsmouth and Fishbourne have facilities for passengers, including toilets with baby change and hot drinks. You need to leave your car once it has been loaded on to the ferry and head to the passenger decks and lounges for the journey. The ferry leaves as soon as the last car is loaded, so if you are among the final passengers to board you'll be underway by the time you reach the deck!

Sailing from Portsmouth you have a beautiful view of the city, the skyline dominated by the Spinnaker Tower. We were lucky that the weather was lovely for both our crossings so we were able to enjoy the sunny decks, and there was barely any motion from the waves. If the weather is more inclement then there are plenty of places to relax inside the ferry, alongside toilets and cafe facilities.

On our ferry there was a small area inside set aside for children with large windows and padded seats, I think Harry could have stayed here all day! It's such a busy stretch of water that there is always something interesting out there to spot.

Up on deck you can see land in both directions so it's easy to see how much of the crossing is remaining. I was really impressed by how smooth and enjoyable our ferry journey was. I'm sure we'll definitely be using Wightlink to make this crossing in the future!

I made a short video of our crossing which you can see below - enjoy!