Located in Ventnor’s former Victorian Post Office building,  Ventnor Exchange is a pioneering arts organisation - a social enterprise with profits used to fund projects on the island.  They run the annual summer Ventnor Fringe Festival and support young people in the arts and creative industries.  The Exchange building in Church Street is a multi use space combining coffee shop, record store and beer & cocktail bar with regular music and creative events in the evenings.

Ingrams Yard, also in Ventnor is a new venture for the Exchange.  A former builders yard and offices, it will eventually provide artists studios and an event space. The yard is already up and running as a Saturday market with stalls and a coffee shop.  

So,  is it possible to holiday on the Isle of Wight without a car ?  The answer is yes but there are some things to take note of.

There are two high speed passenger ferries to the island - Portsmouth to Ryde Pier and Southampton to West Cowes as well as the ten minute hovercraft service from Southsea to Ryde. Once on the island at Ryde you can take a train ( it starts on the pier ) to Shanklin but that’s as far as it goes, the rest of the rail network disappeared in the 1960’s.  So public transport across the island is now only by bus, operated by Southern Vectis.  Their routes cover the whole of the island and there are special scenic journeys along the south coast to the Needles and Alum Bay.  

As an alternative there are plenty of excellent cycle routes across the island so bringing your own bike or hiring one on arrival is a good option. 

Visiting the Isle of Wight without your car

Quay Arts,  the island’s main arts venue, was established in 1987 and today houses three galleries, a cafe / bar, theatre space and craft shop, all housed in a group of converted Victorian riverside brewery warehouses in Newport.     www.quayarts.org 


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