10 Free Things to do on the Isle of Wight - Including Ferry Travel

One of the best views on the Island - From Culver to Luccombe across Sandown Bay

Every year, the Isle of Wight plays host to various events, many of them are free like the Walking Festival in May and October, the Scooter Rally in August or the Cycling Festival and Classic Car event in September.  You may even be there for the Festival or other great music festivals.  Whatever your reason for going to the Isle of Wight, here are 10 free things to do while you are there.

Lost in the Pinnacles

The Pinnacles Desert Western Australia

The darkness brought with it unusual and uncomfortable sounds. A predator approached. It made a successful kill and masticated its prey, crunching on bones or beetle carapace. It was cold now too, a stark and sudden contrast from an hour ago, when we took our seats in the sand to watch the crepuscular light perform its magic on the unusual shapes of the limestone structures.

I shivered and rose to my feet quickly. We’d walked for miles but surely we could find our way back to the car. If only there had been a moon that night. My mind wandered back to the morning, when an excited Sarah enthused, over breakfast, about seeing the Pinnacles at sunset.

The Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park, Western Australia, is an unusual wilderness of limestone towers. These ancient natural sculptures, eroded by sandblasting winds, form monuments of extraordinary shapes and range from a few centimetres to over five metres in height.

Waiting for the Fremantle Doctor

Photo by Alamy

I fanned myself with a leaflet and expelled a sigh of exhaustion as the mid afternoon heat claimed the remaining energy from my body.  “Don’t worry,” said Ulyss, “the doctor will be here soon.” We were 20 degrees south of the equator and I hadn’t quite acclimatised to the heat of Port Hedland in Western Australia. 

10 Free Things to do in Krakow

Wawel River early morning, Krakow

Krakow is an interesting city with a real sense of the old world fighting to embrace the new.  There are plenty of trips and experiences that will part you from your cash from hot air balloon flights to fascinating salt mines. So here are 10 things to do for free when the Zloty is running low.

The Shipbuilding Legacies of Glasgow and the Isle of Wight

As Glasgow prepares for the Commonwealth Games, I take a look at what my birth place and my adopted home on the Isle of Wight have in common. 

Your immediate thought on that might be absolutely nothing or at least very little.  But apart from the fact that I grew up in Glasgow and now live on the Isle of Wight, there is another similarity.

10 Free Things to do in Paris

There’s no getting away from it, Paris is a beautiful, interesting and historic city with some of the world’s best museums, art galleries and architecture. But boy! Is it expensive. So I’ve put together a list of 10 things you can do for free in Paris.

Let me know if you try any of them on your next trip or know of any others that you'd like me to include.

10 Free Things to do in Glasgow

Despite having lived in Glasgow for many years, it was only when I went back as a visitor that I realised what Glasgow had to offer.

Below is my top 10 list of free things to do in Glasgow at any time of year.

1. Gallery of Modern Art

Gallery of Modern Art with Coned Duke of Wellington