Welcome to the Wightlink web site – your online gateway to the Isle of Wight.

We hope that you will enjoy planning your holiday and day trips and that you will find this web site useful and informative. The Isle of Wight has a lot to offer to the holiday maker and Wightlink is pleased to be able to get you there quickly and with the minimum amount of fuss.

Wightlink is far and away the largest ferry operator between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight. We run a round-the-clock service, operating 365 days of the year, with more than 200 sailings every day. We also offer passengers the choice of three routes to or from the Island. To give you an idea of the scale of our operations, each year we carry more than 5 million passengers, over 1 million cars and some 160,000 coaches and lorries

The Isle of Wight has been attracting visitors since the Romans first landed. During the reign of Queen Victoria the Island became the single most popular resort in Europe. Just five miles off the mainland it is a different world. The pace of life is decidedly slower and parts of the Island have a distinctly Mediterranean feel, helped in part by having one of the best sunshine records in the British Isles. We are close to Europe, (France, Spain and Germany) by way of the Brittany Ferries. LD Lines and P&O Ferries who operate crossings from Europe right on our doorstep!

Nowhere in the country can match the Isle of Wight for its geographical variety. It is as if all the best natural assets of southern England have come together on one 23 mile long and 13 mile wide stretch of land.

There are three ways to reach the Isle of Wight with car ferries and the FastCat;

Portsmouth to Fishbourne & Lymington to Yarmouth Car Ferries
Car ferries operate on these two routes. The largest ships in our fleet run the route between Portsmouth Gunwharf and Fishbourne on the east of the Island. Our Gunwharf terminal, in the heart of historic Portsmouth, is easy to find and well located.

Our other route runs from Lymington in the New Forest to the pretty port of Yarmouth on the west of the Isle of Wight.

Both car ferry journeys make the crossing in around 40 minutes and, like the FastCats, sail every half hour throughout most of the day. On board you’ll find a warm and friendly reception, as well as a fully-licensed, well stocked cafe, serving hot & cold snacks. There’s plenty of room to relax in our passenger lounges.  

Portsmouth to Ryde - FastCat – Foot Passengers only

Between our Portsmouth Harbour terminal, located at the end of the railway station, and Ryde Pier Head we operate a high-speed catamaran service for foot passengers. These super-modern, high-tech FastCats make the crossing to the Island in around 15 minutes, and sail every half hour at peak times.

In order for you to plan your ideal holiday we have divide the island into three areas -

South Wight is the warmest region on the Island with much of its landscape reminiscent of the Mediterranean. The area’s beautiful scenery, with its golden beaches, towering cliffs and an extraordinary range of sub-tropical plant life - made it a haven for poets, artists and writers who flocked to the Island in the Victorian age. The Undercliff, stretching from Ventnor to Luccombe Chine, is the largest area of coastal landslip in Western Europe and has to be seen for its fantastic mix of flora, fauna and landscape. Further east, the uninterrupted sandy beaches of Shanklin and Sandown make this area one of the most popular holiday destinations in southern England. Also in the area, look out for the remarkable steep-sided coastal ravines, including the famous Shanklin Chine. 

East Wight is a mix of stunning scenery: rolling chalk downs, swathes of farmland, coastal flats, rocky shores, golden beaches and magical woodlands, all dotted with many truly beautiful villages. The area greatly rewards personal exploration, but you should make a point of seeing St Boniface Down, the highest point on the Island, which offers spectacular views inland and out to sea. Also see the hauntingly beautiful Culver Down, the start of the chalk spine running across the Island, which forms a breathtaking backdrop to the beaches below. Flora enthusiasts should visit the 40 acres of grassy sand dunes around Bembridge, known as the Duver, home to an incredible array of flowers and vegetation  

West Wight has some of the most diverse landscape of anywhere in the UK. In the south west of the Island - an area known as Tennyson Country - you’ll find undulating flower- covered downs, steep cliffs, deep estuaries and long beaches, as well as the Island’s most famous landmark - the three chalk outcrops of rock running out to sea, known as the Needles. 

Inland, in mid-Wight, the rural landscape is phenomenal. Rolling countryside makes this the perfect place for a quiet walk. Not only does it offer fantastic views, it’s also dotted with pretty pubs!  On top of all this, Parkhurst Forest, home to the red squirrel and situated north-west of Newport, offers miles of woodland walks, while around the low-lying north west coast, river estuaries stretch deep into the Island interior  

So what are you waiting for? Go directly to the web site and start planning your island holiday. 

We shall look forward to seeing you... Tel: 0871 376 4342 (or 00 44 23 9285 5230 from abroad) for enquires.