Parks and Play Areas on the Isle of Wight
As a parent, it’s likely that you’ll spend a lot of time in parks, playgrounds and green spaces. Access to outdoor spaces is so important to families in getting out for regular fresh air and exercise. Some of our favourite places to go are Ventnor Park and Appley Park, but it’s always great to make new discoveries and a trip to a new park is an extraordinarily, exciting prospect for most kids (and parents) as we all appreciate a change of scenery and a chance to escape daily grind.
In the interests of child happiness (and parent sanity), Isle of Wight Rocks has done all the hard work for you, and researched as many of the children’s play areas as possible on the Island. We’ve also tried and tested all of them, so you know where all those hidden gems are and what facilities they have on offer. We are particularly drawn to parks and playgrounds, which have a nice café nearby and always feature them when we talk about the facilities.
We are listing information and photographs of the Isle of Wight’s parks and children’s play areas on our site and you can find them listed under the Parks & Walks section of the site. If we’ve missed any or if your organisation is holding an event in one of the Island’s parks, do get in touch via the contact form to tell us about it and we’ll try and add it to the site.
Ventnor Park - there is something so beautiful about this park, and it feels very nostalgic with the Swiss Cottage style clubhouse, putting green and the aviary. Sadly, the playground on the cliff is no longer there, but the main park is delightful, with a stream running the full length. We had fun jumping on the stepping stones, spotting the fish, feeding the ducks and rolling down the hills (which are plentiful. After all, this is Ventnor!).
Puckpool Park – sitting just behind the beach, almost at Seaview, Puckpool has a large play area, old barracks to explore, large old trees to climb, and two excellent cafes in very close walking distance (The Old Barracks and the Dell). There is also crazy golf and tennis courts. There's also lots of green space next to the playground for running around and playing ball games.
Totland Recreation Ground – this playground is really a hidden gem and we actually stumbled across it on a cold, wet day in January. It provided some much needed respite from the indoors, with a climbing frame, tunnel and slide built off an interesting little mound. There’s a zip wire, swings, roundabout, two slides and apparatus for younger toddlers. It’s also situated well away from the main road in a field, so there’s lots of green space to run around in too.
Appley Park Playground and Appley Park – this area is probably one of our favourites on the Island. Although the playground is only open during the summer months, we cram as many visits in, as we can during that time. Appley Park itself is a lovely open green space surrounded by big old trees and perfect for a non-sandy picnic or kicking a ball around. As a parent visiting the playground, you can sit down on the grass or sand, and soak in the fabulous sea views and watch the cargo ships sail by, while the little ones play. There are two cafes in either direction of the playground and most importantly, both do lovely ice creams.
Gurnard Village Green – another fabulous playground, situated just by the sea. Although fairly small, it’s gated and all made out of wood, with a big pirate ship in the middle for climbing and sliding. Free parking along the sea front, picnic tables overlooking the Solent, the Woodvale Pub nearby for lunch and a little kiosk selling ice creams near the sailing club, make this a lovely trip out. What more could you need?
Sandham Gardens - a great place for a full day trip with lots to keep the little (and not so little) ones busy. Based just behind the seafront in the lovely Sandown Bay, Sandham Gardens has two playgrounds and a skatepark. If that wasn’t enough there are the bouncy Sky Nets, dinosaur themed crazy golf and go-karting and Dinosaur Isle close by.
Ryde Beach Sand Playground – this playground is situated on Ryde seafront and makes a lovely stop off on a promenade walk or a beach trip. It is fairly small but keeps our 2 year old and 5 year old busy. It’s especially good for early walkers because it’s completely sandy underfoot and so those inevitable bumps and tumbles, will be met with a soft landing. To top it off, there are three ice cream kiosks within a 5 minute walk!
We hope you found this guide useful. Check out our Parks & Walks section for more inspiration and do get in touch if you have any feedback or any that are missing.
