Hovercraft
When you think of the Isle of Wight many often associate this with the Isle of Wight Festival, synonymous with huge crowds of festival goers leaping about in wellies for an entire weekend. Only four miles down the coast, a mere 10 minutes away from the bustle of the festival you can find some of the sandiest beaches on the South of the Isle.
Loretta Lale, Head of Marketing at Hovertravel, explains," The IOW Festival is a busy weekend for the Island, but we still have capacity on our craft and the beaches of Sandown and Shanklin offer a tranquil haven with a traditional seaside setting. Best of all we offer the quickest crossing of the Solent and easy connection to the Island railway which will avoid all the traffic and take you to seaside in just half an hour from Southsea. All our customers buying the combined tickets will also be able to take advantage of priority boarding during the Festival weekend."
Launched in 1965, the Hover Rover Rail ticket not only allows a fast Hovertravel crossing, but also an unlimited use of the Island Line trains. These are electric trains that will take you to the East Coast to Shanklin's historic pier, Pirates Cove Adventure Golf and Go-Karting or to simply walk along the beaches. The trains run from Ryde to Shanklin stopping at Smallbrook Junction, Brading, Sandown and Lake. So why not take advantage of the only scheduled hovercraft operator in Europe? With the fastest Isle of Wight ferry service across the Solent and the journey only taking ten minutes with a frequency of every half an hour you cannot say no!
The Hover Rover Rail costs £18.50 adult and £9.45 per child. For more details please visit www.hovertravel.co.uk