Super Deluxe Isle of Wight Literary Tour
Organised by Jane Richter, Isle of Wight Guided Tours
Step into the literary world of the Isle of Wight — an exclusive 3-day all-inclusive escape featuring the worlds of Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Algernon Swinburne, Ivan Turgenev and Count A.K. Tolstoy, alongside historic homes, private talks, fine dining, coastal walks, and fascinating encounters with descendants, authors, publishers, and literary experts. Limited to just 14 guests.
Welcome to something a little different — and genuinely special.
This brand-new tour brings together some of the Island’s most inspiring local movers and shakers in a unique collaborative experience we’re incredibly excited to share. Unlike our usual bespoke adventures, this tour is open to everyone, creating the perfect opportunity to meet fellow curious travellers, food lovers, and explorers along the way.
With just 10–14 places available, the experience stays intimate, relaxed, and sociable. You may arrive as strangers, but we’re confident you won’t leave that way. Prefer to keep it private? You’re very welcome to book the entire tour exclusively for your own group.
Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and, once full, the tour is fully booked — so we strongly recommend reserving early to avoid missing out.
Everything has been thoughtfully taken care of for you. Your tour includes:
Accommodation
All on-Island transport
A carefully curated itinerary
Food and drink throughout the experience
(excluding arrival taxis to the hotel)
There are ferries from Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth (where trains meet at the ferry terminal, travelling to Ryde for the train to Shanklin). Full travel options are available on our “Getting Here” page. The nearest ferry to our meeting point at Freshwater Bay is the Lymington crossing to Yarmouth. Trains meet the ferry at Lymington.
Day 1 – Wednesday, September 2nd
Arrival at The Albion Hotel, Freshwater Bay, around 4 p.m. (or later if necessary) with a welcome cocktail and nibbles. (If you require a taxi and want our help, please let us know. N.B. Taxis to the hotel aren’t part of the package. ‘Settling in’ time – you won’t want to miss taking advantage of your wonderful rooms and perfect location whenever possible! (For more information about the hotel, please see both ‘Eat, Drink & Stay’ and ‘Victorian Wight’ pages.)
6.00 – 6.45 p.m. Introduction from Jane Richter on the Isle of Wight and literature, including a 20-minute excerpt from her documentary ‘Cameron, Coffee and Calcutta: A Traveller’s Tales’, which will give you a taste of the literary and artistic importance of Freshwater Bay in particular. Tonight’s welcome briefing is specifically aimed at tomorrow’s programme, but will of course include a general overview.
Dinner – 7.45 p.m. at the hotel’s wonderful restaurant ‘The Rock’. Why the name? Just look out of the window! (See left) (Possibility of a shortened repeat of my overall introduction to the tour for latecomers, either immediately before dinner or later in the evening, if desired).
Day 2 – Thursday, September 3rd
Breakfast
10.15 - 11.30 a.m. Morning tour at Farringford (home of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Queen Victoria’s poet laureate).
11.45 Dimbola Museum and Galleries for tea/coffee at their award-winning teashop, followed by a short tour of the galleries themselves.
1 – 2 p.m. Reconvene in the teashop for a light lunch.
Hereafter follows a choice:
Walk up to Tennyson Monument for those who wish (hilly), a stroll around the local ‘Freshwater Circle’ literary haunts (flat) or for complete relaxation, return to the hotel to maximise use of your wonderful terrace!
4.15 p.m. reconvene at hotel (latest) for tea and biscuits ahead of a 4.30 – 5.30 p.m. talk by Ian Dickens, great-great grandson of Charles Dickens, who will be sharing ‘insider information’ about his famous forebear, as well as letting us in on the secret of the extent to which his illustrious ancestor has impacted his own life.
5.30 – 6.20 p.m. - time to take a breather and relax.
6.20 p.m. Leave the hotel to drive to the Medina Bookshop, Cowes.
7 p.m. pre-dinner drinks and nibbles, and a fascinating short talk by Peter Harrigan, Director of Medina Publishing. Peter will be able to talk you through some themes and examples of current Isle of Wight literature. Here we will be joined by Stephan Roman (author of ‘Isle and Empires’, also published by Medina Publishing). Peter will make the initial introduction to Stephan.
8 p.m. dinner at the Smoking Lobster, Cowes (one of the Island’s top seafood restaurants - also non-seafood options available). Ian Dickens, Peter Harrigan, Stephan, Sue Lowday, and I will all be with you, so you can continue the good conversations and ask any questions you didn’t get to ask earlier!
Drive back to the hotel.
Day 3 Friday, September 4th
Breakfast
Check out – bring luggage with you
Leave the hotel at 9.15 for Bonchurch
10.00 – 12.30 Literary Walk with Sue Lowday (Dickens, Swinburne, Macaulay and more)
Join Bonchurch resident and local literary expert Sue Lowday for a fascinating walk through the village’s remarkable literary past. Discover the writers, poets and artists who made Bonchurch their home, and hear the stories behind its Victorian creative community through Sue’s expert research and local insight.
12.30 depart Bonchurch for neighbouring Ventnor.
12.45 – 2.00 p.m. luxurious light lunch in a stylish setting (on the terrace itself, of course, weather permitting) at ‘The Terrace Rooms with Wine’, Ventnor (formerly known as St. Augustine Villa - where Alexander Herzen, a leading opponent of the Romanovs, used to stay in the 1850’s).
2.00 – 2.45 p.m., a talk by Stephan Roman about the Ventnor Radicals who actively opposed Russia’s Imperial rulers in the middle years of the nineteenth century. The political, literary and social thinking that emerged from Ventnor helped lay the foundations for the Russian Revolution of 1917.
2.45 – 3.15 p.m. guided walk along the Esplanade in Ventnor, passing where many radicals stayed, including Count A.K Tolstoy and the writer, Ivan Turgenev.
3.15 p.m. minibus pick-up from The Spyglass Inn up to the Ventnor Heritage Centre.
3.20 – 4 p.m. visit to Ventnor Heritage Centre.
4.00 p.m. from here, minibus to Cowes to catch the next Red Jet crossing back to Southampton.
Some of you may wish to spend another night or two, and who could honestly blame you! We can help you arrange this if you would like, and even guide you round some more Island highlights – the jewel that is Osborne House, etc. If interested, please mention this when you get in touch with us.
Contact Jane Richter jane.richter@outlook.com
www.isleofwightguidedtours.co.uk