We arrived early which was just as well as the hordes of coach trippers and school children arrived soon after opening. We had a ticket included in our hotel deal, so it was well-worth a visit, especially as rain was forecast and the visit includes much time indoors. Tickets bought on the day are around £23 each but this building deserves preserving. The ceilings in eau de nil and gold were particularly beautiful. Staff and volunteers were well-informed and knowledgeable, and the rooms on display were well-restored giving a flavour of time spent there by the royal family. We were offered a lift to the upper rooms. We thought we were fairly fit, but if offered, take the lift as we were knocked out by the climb. Also the walk to the beach is around a mile and uphill coming back. A courtesy coach was shown to run to the beach and Swiss Cottage, but we saw no evidence of this and had to walk. We never did find the energy to visit the Swiss Cottage. Toilets were difficult to find by the tea room on the lower terrace after the house visit. One teacher looked quite confused, but on the whole a very pleasant morning.

I visited Osborne house with my mum who has a disability badge and is a wheelchair/aid user. We booked tickets online prior to going and on arrival there was plenty of parking and disabled spaces close to the entrance. The house itself was easy to get around thanks to the staff who were excellent at looking after visitors and there were good access routes. Osborne House has a lift so my my mother was able to see the room which mattered to her most, Queen Victoria's bedroom. The dining/banqueting room was very impressive but the children's bedrooms were not open for some reason and some of the corridors and other rooms were very poorly lit and it was tricky to see paintings in detail. I know they have to keep the sun out but paying visitors need to be able to see ! The small flower garden is very pretty but the main grounds is mostly grass and trees. We were told the path down to the sea was accessible and a slight incline but I wish I had checked as it was 1.2km and the path was very stony and not smooth and it was difficult to push the wheelchair and it kept getting stuck. I wished I had got the bus down. It was worth it though as it's right on the sea edge and there were lots of sun chairs and seating and we loved the Victorian sea carriage. You can swim but only at certain access points as the shore is protected. The cafe there is predicably expensive and there were quite long queues. I would suggest taking a picnic and your swim suit and making an afternoon of it if the weather is nice. When we went to get the bus back up though we were dismayed to see a sign saying the driver breaks for lunch until 2pm, so we had to wait nearly an hour to get back. Lots of people joined the queue and no one knew about the break either. There was inadequate seating for those waiting and many were elderly or using aids. It was very frustrating just waiting all that time, especially when it started to lightly rain. By the time the bus arrived there were at least 20 people all waiting to get on. I mentioned the lack of signage to a member of staff but she was very dismissive and said there were signs, yet we didn't spot any and neither did a lot of other people we spoke to. I appreciate the service is included but as it's a major part of the attraction, it needs to be better managed and signed. There is no way I could have pushed my mother back up the stony track and we were pretty much trapped down there until the bus turned up.

What a beautiful place to visit. The house outside is stunning. Inside also well worth it. The grounds are extensive and as a result it is a long walk to Swiss Cottage and the Beach Hut. There is a shuttle bus (which we didn't use) that takes you to Swiss cottage. We felt that the Swiss Cottage was a bit of a let down as only one room (the kitchen) was authentic, and you cannot go upstairs anymore. The Beach hut area was great, there are toilets, cafe and seating down there, it definitely is worth the walk - especially to look back at the house in all its glory. Even though the entry price is rather high, it certainly is a must visit on the island. If you are sure that you are going on a certain day - book online in advance and save £5 per person. Main restaurant food is hoity toity, whereas the cafe at the entrance serves more variety for good value.

We spent an enjoyable few hours here. It really is beautiful and you realise the sheer wealth of the royal family when you walk around the house and grounds. We arrived as it opened, but despite being members there was still a short queue. There really needs to two queues for entry, however when we got to front we were processed quickly and given a trail sheet for our children. We decided to do the trail first which meant we saw the walled garden and other parts of the grounds to start with, these were interesting and well cared for. On completion we decided to do the house, no problem but did feel for parent in front of us with two young children being asked to carry a backpack on front while trying to herd them through the house. Staff were pleasant but feel the back pack wasn’t of a size which would cause damage and there are no signs prior to this to warn you. The house is good, lots to see and all very grand but in reality it’s a house with too much on display as every surface is rammed. There needs to be a few more information boards to explain the items on display, we weren’t offered a guide to purchase but suspect there is one. The house isn’t particularly child friendly and upstairs is quite hot too. We were lucky as due to arriving early the route was moving quite quickly however I can imagine as the day went on there would be lengthy waits to move along. Considering the extreme size of the house you don’t actually ‘see’ much of it and are gently reminded of your commoner status as you are forced through the house following a pre determined route. Staff are quite unpleasant about herding people through and we were shouted at when we wished to wait for our party to catch up as it momentarily looked like we were heading left when we had been ordered to go straight ahead. The walk down to the beach is pleasant and the grounds are pretty. The little beach is nice but it is a shingle beach so beach shoes are a must! We saw the Punch & Judy show, this was fantastic, the chap was brilliant. Beware some parents give up parenting during this and many children were running around the back and wouldn’t stop shouting about being bored! However, the performance was hilarious and maintained the traditional formula with lots of audience interaction, all the traditional characters and sausages too! Afterwards children were able to get a photo with Punch & Crocodile as a memento of the day. We walked back up to the exit and it took us 20 mins walking at a steady pace with two primary aged children. We called it a day here as the weather was beginning to get quite hot and the grounds were incredibly busy but we will definitely return another day. Tip - arrive early, take a picnic, beach shoes and a towel too.

Great event and we hope Osborne House does it again next year. We took our own food to save money but there were plenty of eateries available. The courtesy mini buses for the disabled and less mobile were very welcome. One member of our party had a walking frame but some members of the public did try and jump the queue. Situation was handled well by the bus driver. The house was VERY busy and really needed timed tickets during an event. Staff were great, though the male staff member from Yorkshire did a lot of shouting and telling people off. Obviously having a bad day. Great family day out.

My wife and I, both of us senior citizens, had wanted to visit this house for many a year, but, although we had been on the island quite a few times, we had never managed to do so. This time we were determined that nothing would stop us, so on a quite cold and blustery, but beautiful blue skyed Winter’s Day we set off from Yarmouth for the short drive across, arriving just before it opened, and parked up in the large car park, which is a short distance from the main entrance. The place was opened bang on time, and we were met by a lovely member of staff who gave us lots of information to enhance our visit, but also gave us a short brief on becoming members of English Heritage. Now as we are already members of the National Trust for Scotland, and I had no intentions of joining another historical society, I will freely admit that I was only half listening, wanting to get down to the house before it became too crowded. Luckily, I have a wife that was paying the member of staff more respect than I was, and was taking most of it in, which I’ll discuss a bit later in this review. After this fairly one way chat we headed off quickly down to the house. We were pretty much on our own walking around the house, and in one of the first areas we met another member of the staff who gave us a great amount of information on what we were looking at and what to look out for. Now I’ll say at this juncture that not all of the staff around the house were so forthcoming. Indeed, I thought that some of them were actively avoiding any direct contact with the visitors, although I may be being a bit harsh, and maybe if I wanted to involve them, they would have been accommodating and informative, but the feeling was still there. Maybe just something that the management needs to look into, in that visitors may appreciate a little input from the more knowledgeable people around the place. Anyway, the house is fascinating, and although we couldn’t see upstairs due to it being closed for the season, there was still enough on show for us to have an excellent visit. After the house we decided to go back up to the entrance building to have a drink and snack up in the café. This is when my wife began a discussion with me about the benefits of joining English. Now, as I hadn’t been paying attention when we first arrived, I didn’t realise that we would get our money back for the day, which was £36. We would also get 15 months membership instead of 12, and as we were going to visit another English Heritage site the very next day, it would save us the entrance fee for that as well. It really was a no-brainer, so I went up and spoke to the lovely lady that had first talked to us on our arrival, and we duly joined for £99 for a joint senior’s membership. Oh, and by the way the food and drink at the café was very reasonably priced and good quality. After this we got the little bus down to Swiss Cottage. From there we walked through the woods to the beach where we had a hot chocolate from the café, and then walked back to the house where we finished our visit, satisfied that we had seen and done enough for the day. We fully intend to come back in the Summer when everything is open.

So many of our friends had recommended visiting this place whilst on our holiday to the Isle of Wight. Within minutes of entering the house and home of Queen Victoria, we could see why. It’s just an amazing wonderful sight. Make sure you plan plenty of time to see everything, it’s not a place to rush. The weather was kind to us on the day we visited, clear blue skies, so we walked the majority of the gardens after viewing the interior of the house, which has a lift if you cannot manage stairs. Luckily the walk to the private beach has now been opened for visitors too. It’s a long walk down and a step one up, but there are deck chairs once there and a quaint hut serving refreshments and delicious ice cream. It was surely welcomed. The Swiss Cottage within the grounds gifted to the royal children by Prince Albert was an eye opener to what we would refer to as a play house in the garden. It’s just delightful, and you can imagine the hours the children must have spent there happily. To one side of this is a museum of all sorts, the more you look the more you see, fascinating. Surrounding this magical house are immaculately kept grounds to stroll around, and in spring the colours must be amazing , especially the rhododendron lined pathways. There are trees everywhere that must be very old as their trunks are enormous, and the height. Wood carvings are dotted around too for you to find. The decorative gardens to the rear of the house even in September remain colourful and well maintained, as are the walled garden gardens and greenhouses to the front. The gravel paths are challenging to wheelchair users, but we saw many managing. A courtesy bus is available too to get you around the various areas if you are mobility challenged. I lost count of the number of detailed sculptures inside the house and out in the many sections of the gardens. Each unique and obviously collected or gifted to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert over the many years they were married and happily staying there. We lost an entire day here, and the time was well and truly worth it. Do hope you put this on your to do list if visiting the Island, you will not be disappointed.

The whole Osborne Estate and the House are a fabulous place to visit. The gardens are glorious and the house is not onyl historic but wonderful to walk around. The beach was our favourite with superb views across to Portsmouth, a cafe, toilets, Queen Victoria's Bathing machine plus a Punch and Judy show. The kids loved it. But BEWARE the shuttle bus to and from the beach only carries around 9 people. Miss one (it was very busy) and could wait 20 mnutes; miss two (like we did) and that 40 minutes gone. So we had to forego a visit to the Swiss Cottage. You really need 2-3 days to take in all there is to do and see.

Let’s start with the one negative, getting in the place. We are English Heritage members and had also pre-booked entry but this makes no different getting in. There was only one very large queue to get in including many who were paying on the day which made getting it quite slow. One couple in front of us gave up and left. There should be a better system for members who have already pre-booked and those who need to pay on the day being separated. However once in this was a great family day out. So much to see with the house itself, the private beach and a real highlight was the Swiss Cottage which was a great area for the Children. This day was a highlight of our trip on the island and would recommend you visit.

Osbourne house is a gorgeous piece of English History that I cannot fault. However, the service received from start to finish was disappointing. Firstly, myself and my partner were most likely the youngest of the visitors seen today and, were overlooked and ignored on 3 separate occasions by staff in favour of other visitors of older calibre. It was as though we did not exist. Our membership was over looked several times, the lady in the gift shop with wine tasters asked others before us even though we were the closest to her. Another couple saw this ignorance occurring and obtained the stewards attention to assist us with our pre-booked members tickets. We were ignore previously when asked if anyone had members tickets. The terrace restaurant situated in Queen Victorias chapel is beautiful however service is extremely slow. We waited 39minutes for an open sandwich (cold) and a potato curry. The girl on the till was rude and asked several customers before and after if they were members yet neglected to ask us. Once I had informed her that we were members she asked for proof and then proceeded to tell me that we were not entitled to any discount. The beach is quite a walk from the house but there are several mini buses available. The beach itself is lovely and has a small cafe there. All in all a lovely place to visit, I just wish the younger generation were as welcome as the older. The house itself is a must visit!