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Cowes, sometimes referred to as West Cowes, is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, an island south of Southampton. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry.

Originally, the settlements on either side of the River Medina were known as East and West Shamblord; the East then being more significant settlement. During the reign of Henry VIII, forts were built on the east and west banks of the river to dispel a French invasion, referred to as cowforts or cowes. They subsequently gave their names to both Cowes and East Cowes, replacing the earlier name.

The population was 9,663 in the 2001 census, a figure that is easily doubled during the regatta in early August.

Leland's nineteenth century verses described the towns poetically as "The two great Cowes that in loud thunder roar, This on the eastern, that the western shore".

Cowes Castle is home to the Royal Yacht Squadron. The town gives its name to the world's oldest regular regatta, Cowes Week, which occurs annually in the first week of August. Later on in the summer, powerboat races are held.

Much of the town's architecture is still heavily influenced by the style of ornate building which Prince Albert popularised.

Cowes is a gateway town for the Isle of Wight. travellers to Southampton are served by a high speed catamaran passenger ferry from Cowes known as the Red Jet. Southern Vectis route 1 is the main bus service in Cowes, serving the Red Jet terminal and running to Newport to take travellers on to other Island destinations. Wightbus also run local services around Cowes and Gurnard. The Cowes Floating Bridge connects the two towns of Cowes and East Cowes throughout the day. It is one of the only chain ferries left not to have been replaced by a physical bridge.

As the Isle of Wight had been a target of attempted French invasions, some had notable incursions. The west fort in Cowes still survives to this day, albeit without the original Tudor towers, as Cowes Castle. The eastern fort was destroyed.

It is believed that the building of an 80 ton, 60 man vessel called Rat O'Wight on the banks of the river Medina in 1589 for the use of Queen Elizabeth I sowed the seed for Cowes to grow into a world renowned centre of boat-building. However, seafaring for recreation and sport remained the exception rather than the rule until much later. It was not until the reign of keen sailor George IV that the stage was set for the heyday of Cowes as 'The Yachting Capital of the World.' In 1826 the Royal Yacht Squadron organised a three-day regatta for the first time and the next year the king signified his approval of the event by presenting a cup to mark the occasion. This became known as Cowes Regatta and it soon grew into a four-day event that always ended with a fireworks display.

In Cowes the 18th century house of Westbourne was home to a collector of customs whose son, born there in 1795, lived to become Dr Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby School.

Northwood House was the home of the Ward family. It was donated under trust to the town in 1929, the grounds becoming Northwood Park. William George Ward was a close friend of the poet Tennyson and in whose memory the poet wrote six lines.

Cowes and East Cowes became a single urban district in 1933.

During an air raid of World War II, the local defences had been fortuitously augmented by the Polish destroyer Blyskawica (itself built by White's in East Cowes), which put up such a determined defence that, in 2002, the crew's courage was honoured by a local commemoration lasting several days to mark the 60th anniversary of the event. In 2004 an area of Cowes was named Francki Place in honour of the ship's commander.