Address: Alum Bay New Rd, Alum Bay, Totland Bay PO39 0JD, United Kingdom
Phone: +441983752401
Rating: 4.3
based on 645 reviews.
Attractions and Activities
Pros:
"The chair lift is great fun and so is the fast speedboat ride around the Needles or take a more leisurely boat ride."
"Great views, nice coastal walks, a chair lift ride down to the beach below."
"The needles area itself has few kids play area like rides, mini golf, 4d experience and more."
"The chairlift was great fun and the beach below fantastic."
"There is a variety of things to do at the attraction, including taking a chairlift, exploring the Old Battery, and shopping and dining."
"The chair lift is cool but you can also walk to the shingle beach for free where you can get a boat trip to see the needles, this was a great experience."
"Really fun day out for the whole family. It has everything from Carousel to 4D cinema, lots of music and food places."
Cons:
"It is expensive for what it is really."
"I personally wouldn't waste ur tickets or money on the 4D cinema. Absolute rubbish every single person I witnessed complained after, and I did too."
"Some of the rides were closed and the sweet shop that they kids wanted to have the demonstration in was not running it all day due to lack of staff."
"The fairground is pretty basic and only seems interesting for the smallest of kids."
"The attraction have slightly ruined the natural beauty of the landmark and cliff face by all the 'over the top' tourist shops."
"I personally think The Needles is an over hyped tourist attraction."
"Definitely a tourist trap."
Accessibility and Convenience
Pros:
"It was easy to park the car."
"Parking was free for us out of season, its quite a long walk from the car park to the needles, perhaps 15minutes."
"Car park is free (wow nice in the UK)."
"No queue to use the chairlift and there was a nice enjoyable ride down to the beach."
"Buses are connected across all the important places."
"Great bus 🚌 services (Needles Breezer)."
"There is an app 'Southern Vectis' which has all the important information about the transport system."
Cons:
"There's a lot of stairs so if with push chairs, wheel chairs or persons who cannot walk easily then some things may be missed."
"The biggest let down the needles are not at this point it's a fair walk to it from the car park no good if you can't walk a distance."
"The only way to get to the beach is via chairlift."
"Stairs out of action at the moment due to a landslide."
"However one word of caution to those with babies and toddlers, there are no seat belts and you are indeed very high."
"Very challenging for old and disabled people to get down to beach."
"Blue badge holders pay full price and you can't drive to the needles point!!"
Value for Money
Pros:
"You can make the iconic sand decorations for a reasonable price."
"The trip to the beach by the chair lift was good and reasonably priced."
"A lovely experience that didn't cost the earth."
"Plenty of attractions that are reasonably priced."
"Boat trip around the needles was very good value."
"There are plenty of shops to visit for some unique trinkets & they aren't ridiculously priced."
"1000% highly recommended. Worth every penny."
Cons:
"Expensive day out and very commercial."
"Swallow the expensive parking (£6!)."
"The prices for attractions are ridiculously high now."
"£6 for parking which took 40 minutes of queuing to get in, because there was just the one booth to pay at."
"Very expensive afternoon for what it is."
"Yes, the coloured sands are a novelty but the Sand Shop is VERY expensive."
"On this occasion it was an absolute rip off."
Food and Refreshments
Pros:
"Tasty food in the cafe that's well presented can get busy but worth the wait."
"The restaurant and cafe offer good quality food and drinks."
"We did go in a couple of the shops and used the loos which were very clean."
Cons:
"No refreshments available on beach."
"Not much to do on the beach, and you'll need to come back up if you need anything, like food or drinks or whatever."
"The downsides are the extremely early closing time 16.30, and that the cafe food is pretty basic."
"The only thing that put a slight downer on our day out was the coffee shop."
Scenery and Environment
Pros:
"Some great walks and views to be had here, a must if you are on the Isle of Wight."
"Great views of Alum bay from the bus top so would advise anyone who does not fancy the long walk from the attractions to go on bus, it was a great day out."
"The Needles are stunning, the beach is very rocky and the coloured sand cliffs and beautiful."
"The views from the Needles are simply stunning."
"Beautiful location with an amazing Beach."
"Amazing scenery and views."
"A beautiful spectacular place to be and visit."
Cons:
"The area itself felt quite dated and weathered."
"The area at the top of the cliff is more aimed at kids and is a bit run down."
"Historical place with nice view but bit over touristy feel."
"The attraction can be quite busy, especially during the peak summer season."
"The beach is interesting with the variety of sands in the cliffs but small."
"Beautiful place but very windy."
"A must visit but dated."
Staff and Service
Pros:
"The staff here are very friendly. My son left his jacket in the arcades; everyone we spoke to was genuinely helpful."
"Can recommend the boat trip to the Needles. Very friendly staff on board."
"Staff around the entire park are absolutely lovely, a good laugh and very welcoming to guests."
"He really is an asset to The National Trust, a very interesting, knowledgeable and thoroughly nice gent, it really was a pleasure to meet him."
Cons:
"Unfortunately as it was early January...most things were closed."
"Wow what a disappointment, everything was closed!"
"Most things were closed, including the chairlift."
"Unfortunately everything was closed on 31st December."