We first visited the Isle of Wight twice as a family and both times we took a trip to one of the island's most famous attractions - Blackgang Chine. Blackgang Chine is a unique place, built along a crumbling cliff top, set firmly in the past and combining lots of different and unrelated zones, I have spent a lot of time wondering who came up with some of the ideas! The moment you walk in you feel like you have gone back in time, but it is a fun day out for all the family and if we visit the island again we will definitely go back!
It cost us £80 to enter as a family of four (under 4s are free so we didn't have to pay for the little two ) and we spent a whole day there (11am-4:30pm) and got to see the whole park.
Our favourite 'zone' is the Cowboy area which is set up as a mini street with different shops and buildings to play in as well as things to climb on, sit in and a cafe. All four loved running around and exploring and the nachos were delicious. There is a bin that talks to you when you put rubbish in, coffins to 'try out for size' and lots of little quirky things to discover.
In the centre of the park is a play area that consists of two pirate ships, both with guns that shoot water across at each other. They are connected by a walkway and there are some swings on the side. The boys loved battling with the water guns and Cora loved exploring.
Since our last visit about two years ago, they have added an underwater kingdom which was fun to walk through with a singing crab, coloured lights and a giant whale at the exit. We also visited Rumpus' mansion (a mansion that has been taken over by naughty gremlins), the crooked house, a fairy castle, land of the Dodo's and a dinosaur walkway.
We got lost in a maze and all four children were spun around many times on the pirate barrells ride. The day we visited was overcast and chilly but dry and the park was really empty so they could go on as many times as they wanted. There was a bouncy walkway which I thought was really entertaining and the park is set with a backdrop of beautiful sea.
Blackgang Chine is the UKs oldest theme park which first opened in 1843 but the attractions have been moved several times as more of the coastline (including the original chine) has fallen into the sea. Some of the attractions remain unchanged since as early as the 1960s and it all adds to Blackgang's eccentric charm. If you visit, make sure you explore fully. We almost missed some of the strangest sights like the little pet shop next to the pirate ships which was entertaining for us all and the talking bins never fail to raise a laugh. Make sure you sit on the bench with gnomes at both ends and listen to their conversations too!
We loved our visit and seeing the new attraction, even though the Weather Wizard from our last visit is no longer there . I think we will definitely return because really, there is no place quite like it! Unfortunately my camera battery died very early on in the day so I have very few photos but there are plenty more on my post about our last visit to Blackgang Chine
look at that green frog, it's cute
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