Thinking of having a short break on the Isle Of Wight in June (but not festival weekend), with Mrs & the dog in an Air B&B.
Any recommendations as never been before for a place/village/town to stay…near to nice chill out bars or decent craft beer style micro pubs near the sea if poss or in countryside, places to eat etc.
Thanks, Sean
Look, i know it may not be the most exciting place, whos knows, thats why asking 
…ive helped or asked about much more exotic places before, but would love some help on this one, please.
I’ve been for a weekend a couple of times. A friend has a house in Ryde and there are some nice bars and restaurants in the town. The town itself probbaly has more going on than anywhere else on the island. I’m afraid my terrible memory has let me down again and I can only recall Michaelangelo’s restaurant being good. It’s close to the entrance to the pier.
There’s also a good pub called The Boathouse about a 25-30 min walk down the coast path to Puckpool. Nice place to while away a few hours and you can nip in the solent for a swim after a few pints. I havent stayed anywhere else on the island though but there’s apparently some great swimming in some small coves on the south side of the island. You’re right though, it’s not the most exotic place in the world, it’s like 1950s (or maybe 70s) England has been preserved while the rest of the country has moved on. YOu probably want a car to explore the island, but if not then choose Ryde or Cowes to stay.
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A nice IOW bar featured in one of the chillout tent videos during lockdown. Can’t remember name @Nearestfaraway ?
My own memories don’t really extend beyond bestival or blackgang chine in an even earlier life, but the erosion was bad so that might now be in sea
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I mean, it’s England’s Ibiza when you think about it
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Raggle taggle rabble rousers The Levellers would do an annual (?) fan club weekend in Ryde on the IOW.
In the 2000 it coincided with the Ryde Millennium Festival. Attractions included Face painting and Jacket potatoes.
I drove the support band, The legendary Fish Brothers, from Brighton to the island and my wife tagged along.
We all stayed in the YHA on a diet of homemade Cheese Pasties.
The Levs played at Ryde ice rink 
on the saturday night, followed by a “Drunk in Public” acoustic event at a very small old theatre, with a lot of interaction with fans etc. It was a lot of drunken fun.
There was definitely a sense of “don’t leave” from the locals at the end of the weekend.
We’ve been back a couple of times for short stays when the kids were little. I sank into one of the worst depressions
I’ve ever had on one visit but i think that was due to the company of my parents more than the location 
The description of Britain in the 70’s sounds about right.
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My last IoW experience involved a lot of acid and a long walk on the beach with the coloured sand cliffs (Blackgang Chine?). There was a naked man on the deserted beach and a huge bumblebee landed on me, probably after getting lost in France. So I’m not sure how helpful a tipster I can be in this instance. Enjoy your trip though. I did.
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Was there for a week a year or two ago with my eldest.
If you’re around the Ryde area, The Solent Inn is a nice little pub.
Shanklin Old Village is a pretty little place
That’s all I’ve got, I’m afraid. As someone else has said, it’s a bit of a throwback place.
I had an ex from there so got a slight ‘insiders’ view at times. Yes it’s a bit parochial/70s throwback but you know that before going. ‘They’ refer to us as ‘Overners’ because we’re from ’over the water’!
Some nice ‘southern England’ landscape (I’ve ridden around most of it), with good beaches/nice weather.
Have been 2/3 times since with son and stayed in Shanklin twice cos it’s on the train. Good long beach, aforementioned ‘chine’. I don’t drive so short hop ‘overn the water’. Hovercraft last trip which was fun for the full throwback vibe (I think it’s the only commercial one in the world?)
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Ventnor is good, it has some nice bars and restaurants. Also Reggie’s Records is in Ventnor and it’s well worth setting aside a few hours to dig. I spent about £80 in there and brought home many fine records all 2nd hand 
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Now we are talking, have read elsewhere that Ventnor is very nice.
Much appreciated Muttonhernia & all others for your input 
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You’re right we were there in June '21 at a very smart / yachty place on the west of the island; The Hut at Colwell Bay with a friend who lives on the island who was the resident DJ there at the time ; JeSuisAnglais he’s a great DJ and did this mix for the Chill Out Tent livestream thing… Mixcloud - he’ll know what’s going down on the island 
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Ventnor gets my vote. I’ve got a soft spot for the IOW having spent many childhood holidays there. I’ve been a few times in the last three years and the back end of the island is my favourite bit. The crab and lobster tap is a nice spot for food and a drink. There were a few other nice places in town that looked great but weren’t dog friendly and as we had our woofers in tow we had to swerve. Enjoy your time there, it’s like time travelling. 
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Last time I was there was for the Isle of Wight Randonnée 2013. Anyone tells you it’s flat can GTF, I hadn’t done nearly enough training I nearly died 
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