Cool Place of the Day: The Walk from Ventnor to Steephill Cove, Isle of Wight

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Isle of Wight: An ideal walk

The annual Isle of Wight walking festival is underway and there are on course loads of great and challenging hikes you can do across the length and breadth of the island. But there’s one that is both an easy-peasy stroll for even the most reluctant walker and which brings you to a splendid and relatively inaccessible spot, Steephill Cove – a tiny fishing village hidden below cliffs just west of Ventnor that you can only get to on foot.

It's by no means undiscovered – many of the former fishermen’s houses and shacks are now cool cafés and holiday lets – but it's still an idyllic little spot, and a great target for the walk from Ventnor. Around a mile in all, with a few ups and downs along the way, the footpath skirts low cliffs that are quite eroded in parts, and there are wooden steps to guide you up and round some of the less stable sections.

Once in Steephill Cove, there are plenty of places to get a drink or ice cream – try the fresh crab pasties at The Crab Shed – and the beach is lovely and extremely unspoilt. Those with energy left to spare can climb up the paths alongside to Ventnor's Botanical Gardens.

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