Cowes

Sailing has been the big thing in Cowes since the Royal Yacht Squadron was founded in 1815. The town is on the west bank of the Medina where the river meets the Solent, and since 1858 the Squadron’s clubhouse has been Cowes Castle, one of Henry VIII’s forts, built in 1539. Cowes Week, first sailed in 1826 and held each year around the start of August, is one of the oldest regular regattas in the world, with hundreds of boats racing on the Solent. The Floating Bridge, a chain ferry, takes you across the Medina to East Cowes, where Queen Victoria’s Osborne is on the edge of town. Going the other way, a flat promenade runs west from the Parade past Egypt Point to Gurnard.