In July 1894, Alix and Nicholas travelled with Queen Victoria to her summer residence Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. The newly engaged couple took advantage of the sea air, spending time on the beach together before Nicholas had to make his way back to Russia. Alix stayed behind with her grandmother for some time; in her letters to her fiancé, she writes of rowing sessions that gave her blisters on her hands, and that she wanted to learn to swim.

Nicholas, note from Osborne House, 10 July 1894:

Alix and I went by char-à banc to the beach, and sat on the sand looking at the waves. Our officers came to dinner, I presented them to Granny. Spent a last evening with my bride.