Sandown and Shanklin
Situated a few miles apart from each other on the south east coast of the island, Sandown and Shanklin have little else in common. Sandown is the much livelier of the two, particularly at night. Shanklin's peace and quiet is best expressed through its beautiful thatched cottages in its old quarter.
Sandown as such did not really exist before 1800. Both Henry VIII and Charles I built fortresses here, but unfortunately, the sea washed their constructions away. The attractions that the town boasts are very much of the 20 th century such as its Aviation Museum, Museum of Geology, the Art Deco cinema and the new Pavilion. Sandown does, however, offer much for a vacation, possessing a long sandy beach, a pier from which boat trips can be taken, a zoo, various nights spots, numerous pubs and inns and many other attractions.
Those visitors interested in a quieter vacation should head for Shanklin. A quiet little fishing village, it did not really develop until the arrival of the railway in 1864, after which houses that were built by newcomers enlarged its old stock of traditional cottages. The town's main attraction is its 200 foot Chine, which also happens to be the island's oldest tourist attraction. A "Chine" on the Isle of Wight is a steep-sided ravine of which there are many.
Famed for its rich variety of flora, Shanklin Chine was primarily attracting Victorians to the area and as such can be credited for turning Shanklin into a significant tourist resort. More recently, the Chine was famous for accommodating a section of the PLUTO pipeline (Pipeline Under The Ocean), which, during the Second World War, carried fuel from Britain to Normandy in France across the English Channel.