Shanklin
Shanklin is a seaside resort town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on Sandown Bay.
Shanklin is a seaside resort town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on Sandown Bay. Shanklin is the southernmost of three settlements which occupy the bay, and is close to Lake and Sandown. The sandy beach, its Old Village and a wooded ravine, Shanklin Chine, are its main attractions. The esplanade along the beach is occupied by hotels and restaurants for the most part, and is one of the most tourist-oriented parts of the town. The other is the Old Village, at the top of Shanklin Chine.
Together with Lake and Sandown to the north, Shanklin forms a built up area of around 25,000 inhabitants, Shanklin alone contributing around 9,123 of this.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Shanklin
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Amazon World Zoo Park
Amazon World Zoo Park is a medium-sized zoo located in Newchurch, on the outskirts of Sandown, Isle of Wight. It became a charity in 2024, adopting the name Amazon Rainforest Conservation Centre.
4 km · zoo in the United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 02Appuldurcombe House
Appuldurcombe House is the shell of a large 18th-century English Baroque country house of the Worsley family. The house is situated near to Wroxall on the Isle of Wight, England.
4.5 km · Grade I listed English country house on the Isle of Wight, England, UK · Wikipedia - 03Dinosaur Isle
Dinosaur Isle is a purpose-built dinosaur museum located in Sandown on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The museum was designed by Isle of Wight architect Rainey Petrie Johns in the shape of a giant pterosaur.
3.7 km · dinosaur museum on the Isle of Wight · Wikipedia - 04All Saints' Church, Newchurch
All Saints' Church, Newchurch is a parish church in the Church of England located in Newchurch, Isle of Wight, England. The church is medieval dating from the 13th century.
4.3 km · church in Newchurch, Isle of Wight, England, UK · Wikipedia - 05St John the Baptist Church, Yaverland
St John the Baptist Church, Yaverland is a parish church in the Church of England located in Yaverland, Isle of Wight.
5 km · church in Yaverland, Isle of Wight, England, UK · Wikipedia - 06The Wildheart Animal Sanctuary
The Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, previously known as the Isle of Wight Zoo and Sandown Zoo, is a wildlife sanctuary on the coastline of Sandown, Isle of Wight. At 8.5 acres, it is the largest collection of exotic animals on the Island.
4 km · zoo on the Isle of Wight, UK · Wikipedia - 07Sandown Castle
Sandown Castle was a Device Fort built at Sandown on the Isle of Wight by Henry VIII in 1545 to protect against the threat of French attack. Constructed from stone with angular bastions, its design was a hybrid of Italian military architectural thinking with traditional English military design.
3.3 km · Device Fort built at Sandown on the Isle of Wight · Wikipedia - 08Sandown Fort
Sandown Fort is a fort built in Sandown on the Isle of Wight in the middle of Sandown Bay. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts built on the island to protect it in response to a perceived French invasion.
3.9 km · Palmerston Fort on the Isle of Wight · Wikipedia - 09America Wood
America Wood is a 21.4 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight, notified in 1986. Legend has it that the name derives from the use of oak trees grown here to build ships utilised in the American War of Independence.
1.7 km · biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight · Wikipedia - 10Bembridge Down
Bembridge Down is a 56.3-hectare Site of special scientific interest which is north-east of Sandown, Isle of Wight, England. The site was notified in 1951 for both its biological and geological features.
5.9 km · hill on the Isle of Wight, in England, UK · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Dinosaur Isle
Culver Parade, Sandown, fax: +44 1983 407502.
- 02Sandown Castle
A device fort built at Sandown by Henry VIII in April-September 1545.
From Wikivoyage: Shanklin, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
- 01Shanklin Chine
The Isle of Wight's most well-known chine.
- 02Isle of Wight Zoo
A privately-owned sanctuary inside a fort on the coastline of Sandown.
- 03Shanklin Theatre
Isle of Wight Dance Festival, Christmas Pantomime, a professional summer season and local amateur dramatics.
- 04Amazon World Zoo Park
Watery Lane, Nr Arreton, PO36 0LX,.
From Wikivoyage: Shanklin, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
- 01Pavarotti's Italian Restaurant
105 High St, Shanklin, PO37 6NS,.
- 02Pendletons
The Black Cat, 83 High Street, Shanklin, PO37 6NR, bookings@blackcatrestaurant.co.uk.
From Wikivoyage: Shanklin, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Shanklin
- Airports
- London Gatwick (LGW), 90 km · London Heathrow (LHR), 106 km · Bristol (BRS), 136 km
- Stations
- Isle of Wight/Sandown Airport, 2.3 km · Sandown railway station, 2.8 km · Shanklin railway station, 300 m · Lake railway station, 1.6 km · Brading railway station, 5.6 km
- London → Shanklin123 km · quickest by road, 4h 15m · £18–24
- Bristol → Shanklin135 km · quickest by road, 4h 24m · £15–21
- Luton, Luton → Shanklin149 km · quickest by road, 4h 18m · £20–27
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Shanklin
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Shanklin. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inMost visitors will need to rely on ferry service to and from the island.
- Get inAccess is across the Solent, a narrow stretch of sea between the mainland and the island, by regular ferry, hovercraft or fast-cat.
- Get inMany of the ferries carry cars, but this can be expensive; the alternative is to leave the car behind and use buses and trains on the island, but this will limit access to more rural locations and beaches.
- Get inCar tickets are for a car plus four passengers and depending on the size of your party bringing a car may actually work out cheaper than the passenger ferry.
- Get inIf taking a car on a vehicle ferry, it's strongly advised to book in advance, and is essential during the summer holidays.
From Wikivoyage: Isle of Wight, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-08.
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If you know how people move in Shanklin – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Shanklin
- Ventnortown and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, in England, UK4.6 km
- Sandownseaside resort town and civil parish on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England2.8 km
- Bradingtown in Isle of Wight, England, UK5.6 km
- Godshillvillage and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, in England, UK5.6 km
- Wroxallvillage and civil parish in the central south of the Isle of Wight3.9 km
- Newchurchvillage and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, in England4.2 km