At the southern tip of the island lies an incredible collection of subtropical plants growing outdoors in the Mediterranean ‘microclimate’ found here. With temperatures an average of 5°C warmer than the rest of the UK, many plants are grown here that just wouldn’t grow anywhere else in the country. The climate is so unique that in Victorian times this site used to be a hospital treating patients with 'consumption' (tuberculosis).

There’s a tropical house which emulates a Victorian-era curvilinear conservatory with Amazonian giant waterlilies among others. The gardens also has it's own fantastic restaurant which serves food made from the unusual plants and herbs grown in the gardens. But if you fancy a bit of seafood it’s definitely worth following the path at the back of the site down to the glorious Steephill Cove for a crab sandwich.

Blackgang Chine

Permaculture Island

Yet another Isle of Wight destination with a Mediterranean vibe. What once was a farmhouse was transformed into a fabulous garden with a Sicilian influence in the 1960s, a feat made possible by the warm and sheltered climate of the village. The existing manor house, which is closed to visitors except for special occasions, dates back to the 14th century, although there was a manor house mentioned here in the Doomsday Book.

As from the 19th century Mottistone Manor became home to a famous Isle of Wight family: the Seelys. The name might be familiar to you as soldier Jack Seely's horse Warrior survived the WW1 battles of Ypres, the Somme, and Passchendaele, and was the inspiration for Michael Morpurgo novel War Horse which became a West End play and later a Steven Spielberg film.

The property is now owned by the National Trust property, and the gardens have been restored and maintained by the trust since the 1960s. There are some neolithic monuments a very short and worthwhile walk away, including the Longstone.

🌐 https://tapnellfarm.com/play/tapnell-farm-park

Open 7 days a week

Compton Beach

Chessel Pottery Café

If your idea of the perfect garden is an array of heavily manicured flower beds bursting with colourful non-native species, then this garden may be too left-field for your tastes. But we love it, for the achievements, the ingenuity and the passion of its creators Gavin and Lucy.

Featured recently on Ben Fogle's TV series about wild living, Permaculture Island is one family's attempt to live completely off-grid, and to be totally self-sufficient in food and energy (the engineering behind the solar powered large walk-in refrigerator is seriously impressive). At the same time the family is researching and testing methods to combat land-slippage, a major problem on this part of the island.

The project is also about education, and the couple run various courses on food preservation, permaculture and other sustainable living practices. The site is open to all visitors on Sundays, and private tours can also be arranged at other times. 

Blackgang Chine

Ventnor Botanic Garden

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is. - Alfred Lord Tennyson (1963)

The walled garden at Farringford, the home of Victorian-era poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson is definitely worth a visit, if only to admire the incredibly diligent and painstaking restoration that has taken place here as well as in the main house. Until the mid-2010s this garden housed a bunch of seriously ugly holiday bungalows. These were demolished to make way for the restoration of a traditional Victorian walled garden based on Tennyson's flowery verse and the planting diaries of his wife.

The gardens are open in the summer months from Tuesday to Saturday.

Dimbola Lodge

Piano Café