The mild winters of this
southerly facing resort helped turn this pretty,
hillside fishing village into a fashionable health
spa during the Victorian hey-day. Today it is one
of the Isle of Wight’s most popular destinations,
offering rugged scenery, steep, cliff-side
terraces and an undercliff which boasts a
Mediterranean-style micro-climate.
Just out of the town are
botanic gardens containing numerous sub-tropical
plants, while also nearby is St Boniface Down, the
highest point on the island at 787ft, which has
Bronze Age burial mounds in the form of earthen or
rubble mounds.