Not just coffee and cakes but also excellent brunches. Wooden floors, leather armchairs, chalkboard menus and an abundance of natural light, the Piano Café feels like a hangout for poets and photographers. Probably because the homes of one of Britains most celebrated poets (Alfred Lord Tennyson) and one of the founders of the art of photography (Julia Margaret Cameron) are nearby. Definitely visit them too. There’s a quaint thatched church opposite the café with its own Tennyson connection.

Orchard Bros

St. Agnes' Church

Rural communities are usually devastated whenever a local post office closed down. Yes it was nice to buy stamps and have a chat, but what replaced Yarmouth's post office is so much more appreciated. PO41 is very popular with the locals here, and the coffee is very very good, as indeed are the cakes and toasties. The staff are great too.

Yarmouth Pier

The Wheatsheaf

This coffee house in Freshwater village is the Isle of Wight's top-rated café on Tripadvisor, and frankly it's not hard to see why. The owners started this business both out of a passion for coffee and a lifestyle change from their former lives in London. The energy that they put into making this a warm and welcoming venue is very noticeable, and it has become a top gathering place for locals. As well as a passion for coffee, the food is great, and the breakfasts are as good as we've had locally.

West Wight Sports Centre

Tescos

This used to be a pottery where you could decorate teapots with your own genius artistic flair, but the home made cakes in the attached café just got more and more amazing, and now that’s all they do. A little further away than our other choices, but if you love cake, it’s well worth the effort. Stop on the way back from Compton Beach, or combined with a trip to Tapnell Farm.

Tapnell Farm Park

Compton Bay