The Isle of Wight’s historical treats

The Isle of Wight is just a short ferry crossing from Southampton. Famous for Cowes Week, the Isle of Wight Festival, Bestival and The Needles, the island is also home to historical attractions, Carisbrooke Castle and Osborne House.

Southampton Airport’s Head of Business Performance, Ian Fry spent a day exploring the island with his family…

A common resident

It might not be apparent at first glance but the two excellent attractions on the Isle of Wight visited by my family (my wife, Kate and boys, Andrew & Jonathan) have an interesting connection. Both Osborne House, the palatial summer home of Queen Victoria, and Carisbrooke Castle, a small but entirely intact 12th century castle, shared a common resident, but it was not Queen Victoria.

All will be revealed if you read on…

Osborne House

After an efficient and smooth sailing from Southampton to Cowes with Red Funnel ferries we were surprised to arrive at the main entrance to Osborne House just minutes after driving off the ferry; it’s that close.

Osborne House, Isle of Wight (c) English Heritage

After parking up, we entered the Visitor Centre (a wonderful conversion of the former Petty Officers’ Quarters) and joined our group to tour the house.

Osborne House on the Isle of Wight

Knowledgeable and child-friendly guides
We were met at the entrance by our guide, John, who proceeded over the next hour to take us through each room of the ground floor of the house explaining at each point what we were seeing. He was an excellent guide, immensely knowledgeable and very good humoured who engaged well with all the children on the tour (and thus prevented them from getting restless and bored and unintentionally destroying some irreplaceable statue!).

John informed us that 90% of the exhibits were in the house when Queen Victoria had lived there and with the help of photographs taken at the time, the guides were confident that the exhibits were located in the rooms exactly as they were then.

What is truly amazing is that the walls painted to look like marble and the beautifully ornate and painted ceilings are 100% original and have never been redecorated. This might be due in part to Queen Victoria’s “no smoking in the house” policy – well ahead of its time and probably only enforceable because she was, after all, the Queen.

Ornate interiors at Osborne House, (c) English Heritage

During the winter only the ground floor is open so if you visit in the warmer months you will also be able to see the rooms on the other floors.

The extensive grounds complete with private beach with outlooks to Portsmouth, and the Swiss Cottage “playhouse” are available for visitors to explore, but for us on the day we visited it was just too cold to contemplate.

Carisbrooke Castle

After a quick lunch stop we headed off to Carisbrooke Castle atop a hill near Cowes with commanding views all around, just as a castle should have.

Carisbrooke Castle

The very welcoming English Heritage team gave us a quick overview of where we would find things around the castle on a guide map and then we set off, the boys with wooden swords (recently acquired from the gift shop) in hand.

Carisbrooke Castle and wooden swords

Donkeys and hamsters

Scattered around the castle grounds were wooden donkey cut-outs, each with a letter on it which the boys needed to write down to make a code, and it wasn’t long before they had the code deciphered.

Carisbrooke Wooden Donkey

Why donkeys?

Donkeys were long employed at Carisbrooke to power a large “hamster” wheel to draw buckets of water from the very deep well at the castle, the only source of fresh water when you are besieged and a trip to Tesco is out of the question. We were fortunate enough to see Jill, one of the four current resident donkeys do a few turns of the wheel for us. Jill’s brother Jack is another of the donkeys – get the joke?

After a visit to the museum and a bracing walk around the tops of the castle walls (amazing views), we and the two young knights returned to the reception centre to claim the prize for deciphering the code, chocolate doubloons!

And thus ended a brilliant day on the Isle of Wight as we headed back to Southampton on the ferry late in the afternoon.

The Isle of Wight is easy to get to by car

And the person to have lived both at Osborne House and Carisbrooke Castle? It was Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria’s youngest child who lived at Osborne House as her mother’s companion until her death in 1901 and then at Carisbrooke Castle, in her capacity as Governor of the Isle of Wight until her own death in 1944.

We thoroughly recommend you take in the two attractions we visited on the Isle of Wight.

Getting there

Getting to the Isle of Wight, Osborne House and Carisbrooke Castle from Southampton Airport is easy. You can hop on the train right outside the airport terminal and catch the Red Funnel ferry over as a foot passenger, or take the car as Ian and his family did (hire cars available at the airport).

For more fun things to do on the Isle of Wight, the official Isle of Wight tourism website is packed with information and top tips.

Best of Bergerac

Rolling hills, vineyards, chateaux, beautiful markets and fabulous French food. Bergerac is just 1 hour and 40 minutes flying time from Southampton Airport, so it’s easy to get to, and the climate is much warmer than the UK.

Bergerac is in the South West of France, inland from Bordeaux, in a region known as ‘The Dordogne’.

Jan Halliday, Southampton Airport’s Director of Marketing & Communications recently paid a visit to Bergerac. These are her tried and tested tips for a trip to the region – with a few snapshots to give you a flavour of her favourite places to go.

Tried and tested – what to see, do, eat and drink in Bergerac

1. Knights in shining armour

The Dordogne is full of chateaux, or castles, many dating back to medieval times. The Chateau De Beynac is a wonderful place for little boys and big boys alike, who can check out the turrets, drawbridges, swords, secret spiral staircases and suits of armour.

Swords at the Chateau de Beynac

Just over one hour’s drive to the east of Bergerac, in the direction of Sarlat, it is perched high on a hill with amazing views over the River Dordogne below.

2. Messing about on the river

The River ‘Dordogne’ means fast flowing river and heads down to the Atlantic Ocean. It is a wide river with ‘Gabares’ on it. These are wooden barges which were originally used to transport goods, but today act as tourist boats.

Barge on the Dordogne at Roque Gageac

You can see these in Bergerac, and other places along the river but I would recommend having a trip on one at the lovely village of La Roque Gageac. This is close to the Chateau De Beynac, so would combine to make a good day trip.

3. Time for some wine

Bergerac is the centre of the wine growing region of the Dordogne. The region produces a range of white, red, rose, dry and sweet wines, so my top tip would be to start with a wine tasting visit to ‘La Maison des Vins’ next to the river in Bergerac.

Le Maison des Vins

Here you can decide which sort of wine you like best, and then pick up a free map called ‘carte touristique du vingnoble’ – which is the ‘wine route’. This map lists all the vineyards, colour-coded to the type of wine to take out the guess-work and shows which ones do wine tasting tours, which languages the owners speak, and what sort of wine they produce.

4. Pretty Périgueux

Périgueux is to the north east of Bergerac, and another place worthy of a day trip. It’s an ancient town with lovely cobbled streets, markets, street cafes and shops.

Cobbled streets in Perigeux

The cathedral is worth a visit with incredibly high ceilings inside. At the side of the main square is an ancient tower which you can climb using a spiral staircase, and gives a great view over the rooftops of this pretty town.

5. Brântome – off the beaten track

This little place is not as well known as Périgeaux or Bergerac, but is very beautiful.

Pretty Brântome

Brântome is on an island surrounded by rivers which are ideal for kayaking and is known as ‘La Venise du Périgord’. There are also trips around the town by motorised pleasure boat with commentary in English. The Abbey is worth visiting at Brântome with its troglodyte caves where the monks originally worshipped.

www.perigord-dronne-belle.fr

6. My hidden gem for delicious food

‘Le Bristrot du Presbytere’ at Le Bourg Queyssac is about 30 minutes from Bergerac.

Le Bistrot du Presbytere

This restaurant is next to a cobbled square and a church, and the presbytery has been converted into a bistro. The food is great, it’s like eating in a family home, but the bistro is very difficult to find.

Address: Le Bourg, 24140 Queyssac.

Lunch is a fixed price set menu. It’s great quality and really good value.

7. Where to Stay in Bergerac

Chateau Des Vigiers, 20 minutes from Bergerac, a lovely 4 star chateau and golf/spa resort.

Lots of other accommodation at: www.bergerac-tourisme.com

Tempted?

Book now and fly to Bergerac from Southampton Airport with Flybe year round.

Last thoughts…

Finally, if you’re a window-seat person and love to look at the view outside the aircraft, you’ll enjoy the return flight view of La Rochelle, Ile De Re, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney.

Enjoy your trip to Bergerac!

1 Comment

by souairport on April 24, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Destinations from Southampton Airport, Uncategorized

Tagged Bergerac, Chateaux, Dordogne, France, Holidays from Southampton Airport, southampton airport, Southampton to Bergerac

Posted by souairport on April 24, 2013

http://souairportblog.com/2013/04/24/best-of-bergerac/

Isle of Wight Festivals

The Isle of Wight is perhaps an unlikely focus for the UK festival scene, but it boasts two of the liveliest, and is only a rock god’s guitar throw from Southampton Airport.

If you’re living in Scotland or the North of England and think the Isle of Wight is way too far to go for a festival, then you’re missing out. The ferry crossing can be done in as little as 22 minutes and the ferry terminal is just 15 minutes from Southampton Airport. You’ll be at one of these great festivals before you know it:

Isle of Wight Festival, 13^th – 16^th June, Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight

First held in 1968, and the cause of an Act of Parliament banning gatherings of more than 5,000 people on the Island without a permit, the Isle of Wight Festival is plenty rock and roll. After a break of over 40 years it was revived in 2002 and has been held each year since. The festival itself is ‘modern’ in that the main arena resides behind security barriers and is cleared each evening. The camping ground is close by and split into smaller, fairly level fields, making it easy to navigate your way back at the end of the night.

The site itself is pretty compact and one of its distinguishing features is the array of (terrifying looking) fairground rides, and there’s plenty willing to risk losing their lunch and give them a go. One of the great things about this festival is that’s its very clean in the main area. This is thanks to the bright spark who decided to pay a small amount (10p I think) for the return of paper cups. This means children spend all day collecting them up, and the place is spotless. Within seconds of finishing your beer, you’re likely to find a small(ish) child looking hopefully at you, willing you to drop it.

Known for its rock music, the festival has attracted some very big names over the years, and the main stage they occupy sits in a gently sloping field giving those who want to stand back a bit and take it all in the opportunity to do so. There’s also a large circus tent known as the Big Top that’s a godsend when the weather turns inclement. The Isle of Wight is a must for music lovers, easy to navigate, well organised and well worth the trip.

Isle of Wight Festival Line-up 2013
Friday Main stage: The Stone Roses, Paul Weller, Emeli Sande, Jake Bugg. Saturday Main stage: The Killers, Bloc Party, The Maccabees, Ben Howard. Sunday Main Stage: Bon Jovi, The Script, Paloma Faith, The Boomtown Rats. Also playing: Blondie, Levellers, Little Angles, Ellie Goulding, Ke$ha, Happy Mondays, The Farm, Republica.

Bestival, 5^th – 8^th September, Robin Hill County Park, Isle of Wight

Bestival is like a children’s birthday party crossed with Rio at carnival time, with really good cocktails, and scrabble (you’ll see). It’s the kind of music festival people say ‘you don’t just go for the music’ and they’re right, only the music’s always good too. You only need to look at the website to see what kind of place it is. Imagine if that website came to life and a tiny you were dropped in the middle of it. Welcome to Bestival.

One of the most distinguishing features of Bestival (and its little sister Camp Bestival in Dorset) is that each year it’s themed, and on the Saturday everyone adopts fancy dress. Believe me; you’re going to feel a lot sillier out of it than in it!

Key to any festival experience is the camping, but if you’re worried about flying with your camping equipment, upgrade your experience with some ‘boutique camping’. The Tangerine Fields (available at both festivals) are well worth the investment to book a ready-pitched and fully equipped tent sleeping 2, 4, 6 or 8 people, they’ll even fill it with all the kit you need to camp – from sleeping bags to head torches. The best bit is that it’s located in a secure stewarded field it has lovely loos, private hot showers and the popular pamper parlour, with its hair dryers and straighteners. If you’re looking for even more luxury, there’s also loads more options sleeping in Yurts, Bell Tents, Podpads and even Beryl The Bespoke Bus.

Bestival Line-up 2013
Elton John, Snoop Dog, M.I.A, Franz Ferdinand, The Flaming Lips, Belle & Sebastian, The Knife, Wu-Tang Clan, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Wonder Stuff.

Onward travel

Red Funnel Ferries is offering 15% off ferry travel when purchasing early-bird tickets to this year’s big Isle of Wight’s summer festivals.

Adult weekend camping/ferry packages to the legendary Isle of Wight Festival (13-16 June) start from £211.78 including booking fees. www.redfunnel.co.uk/iwfestival

Adult camping/ferry packages start from £215.23 but thanks to Red Funnel’s FREE payment plan only 20% of the cost is required at the time of purchase. http://redfunnel.co.uk/bestival

Book flights from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds to Southampton with Flybe, and Aberdeen to Southampton with Eastern Airways.

Southampton Airport Blog

The Isle of Wight’s historical treats

Osborne House

Carisbrooke Castle

Getting there

Best of Bergerac