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Cowes's stony beach offers captivating views across the Solent

© Creative Commons / ronsaunders47

Beaches in Cowes, Isle of Wight

Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, is famous for Cowes Week (www.skandaicowesweek.co.uk), a huge summer sailing jamboree. However, the town attracts yachters all year round, and there are always hundreds of boats bobbing in the harbour of this pretty Georgian town.

Beach

Cowes beach is stony, and thus rarely busy, but has wonderful views across the Solent. Most people head to the resort to sail, or watch people sail, and the great thing about the coast around here is that there's always plenty of action, with billowing sails everywhere you look. The area is also packed with sailing clubs.

Beyond the beach

The two towns of Cowes and East Cowes are linked by a chain ferry - a boat pulled by a chain. You can take a trip over to East Cowes to visit Queen Victoria's old stomping ground: the opulent, Italianate Osborne House. You can't get more virulently Victorian than the house of the Queen herself, and Osborne House doesn't disappoint. It's complete with an Indian-style Durbar room and a wooden Swiss cottage in the garden for the royal children.

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