I realize that the Isle of Man is not part of the UK or England, but there is no Isle of Man forum so this is as close as I can get.
My wife and I will be visiting the Isle of Man in early July. We will be there for a week, we are staying in Douglas. I hope to do a little fly fishing and my wife has a cooking class lined up. I am looking for other suggestions of things to see and do. We have several guidebooks, but actual traveler input is always useful.
We plan on using public transportation
You need to use iombusandrail.im to plan your journeys and to buy a Go explore smart card to pay for your journeys.
Either do that on line to have it mailed to you or buy at the Airport or the Sea ?Terminal. However the Sea Terminal office normally closes just as the Heyshan ferry arrives, and is always closed when the afternoon ferry from Liverpool arrives.
The island is a rare place where the transit is a core visitor attraction.
Do make the time to ride the steam train from Douglas to Port Erin, which even has a request airport stop. Maybe the only airport anywhere served by a steam train.
Yes there is a far more frequent bus service as well.
They also have a large number of event days when you can eat in the Dining Car on the train- look at their website to see if one of those appeals to you.
A!so ride the Manx Electric Railway from Douglas to Ramsey, and from Laxey up Snaefell.
While changing trains at Laxey do make time to see the Laxey Wheel- the largest waterwheel in the world.
Apart from that, what are your interests to give you other ideas.
thanks for your reply!
They go smart card. Sounds like the way to go. I had not thought that far ahead. it looks like that I want to hurry to the transit office as soon as we get off the boat.
My wife and I enjoy riding trains and street cars. Would we visit a new city? We often ride a streetcar or bus to the end of the line. This has always been interesting.
It is the Visitor Centre in the Sea Terminal that you want. If you miss them in the evening they open at 8am each day. Or buy at Douglas Steam Railway Station.
Ask staff if you can't find the Centre but you shouldn't have problems.
If you're on the boat from Heysham, that normally docks at the new Ro-Ro berth. You come off the ship then up and over a bridge to get into the Sea Terminal.
I assume you know that there is a special connecting train from Lancaster to Heysham Harbour for the day sailing. The station is part of the terminal.
Last time I was over was the first time for many years I had been a tourist as I normally go over for either my own genealogy reasons or assist with tours and passenger check in when there were day excursion sailings to Douglas from Cumbria and South West Scotland (those have now ceased permanently). On a day excursion the places you can physically get people to are quite limited!!
We are spending a week in the Lake District before going to the Isle of Man. Do you have a suggestion for the “best” way to get from Windermere to Heysham? I was thinking of going by taxi.
1057 train from Windermere to Oxenholme arrive 1116, depart 1126, Lancaster arrive 1139, depart 1239 Heysham Port arrive 1308.
The 1147 from Windermere is the official connection, but it is too tight for my comfort at Oxenholme. For instance today you would have missed it as the train from Oxenholme was 12 minutes late- even I can't get from Platform 4 to 1 in 75 seconds!! If that happened station staff would put you in a taxi paid for by the railway, but better not to risk that by travelling on the 1057.
That costs £22.30 each, but I assume you will have your Two Together Railcard for your prior journey from wherever to Windermere- with the railcard that comes down to £14.70 each.
The taxi ride is about 36 miles so that would cost around £75
In your time waiting at Lancaster have a pint if you want in the station pub on Platform 3. The boat train is scheduled to leave from Platform 1 at Lancaster.
It's a long time since I've been on The Isle of Man. I think the thing to do is a guided tour of the TT course. It's a great way to see the island. Every landmark on the TT course has its own history. Watching some laps on Youtube might give you a feel for it before you go.
Also, I remember Peel being worth a visit. If I remember correctly, there's a strong Viking connection in Peel which you may be able to learn more about.
The Isle of Man is wonderful - it is a bit like stepping back in time. Guide books tend to ignore the island and one of the the best sources of information is here.
You don't say if you are hiring a car. Transport is very good and you can reach most places very easily without hiring a car. There are details of bus and train transport on the website, but it is worth picking up the timetable from the Visitor centre in the Sea Terminal Building when you arrive. The staff are excellent - they are probably the best people to ask about fly fishing .
There is the horse tram along the prom, the steam railway from Douglas to Port Erin, Manx Electric Railway from Douglas to Ramsey and the tram up Snaefell. There is also the Groudle Glen Railway that was built as a Victorian tourist attraction taking visitors to see the polar bears and sea lions kept in an enclosure at the base of the cliffs. The animals are long gone but the railway survives run by enthusiastic volunteers.
There is a lot of history to find too - from the Viking boat burial at Baladoole to the carved crosses found in many of the old churches. The Isle of Man has the oldest parliament in the World and you can visit the site of Tynwald at St Johns. The Manx government still meets here once a year on Tynwald day to read out laws that have been passed.
Visit the Manx Museum in Douglas (free) to find out more. The House of Manannan in Peel also covers the history but is aimed at the short attention, five second soundbite...
There is Peel Castle, Castle Rushen and the ruined Rushen Abbey. Cregneash is a 'folk museum' of old crofts reflecting the way of life 100 years ago. Laxey Wheel is the centre of a major lead mining industry.
You can buy a combined pass covering both transport and the heritage sites.
If you are walkers, there are a lot of easy walks to do and glens to explore. There are wild life boat trips from Port St Mary and Port Erin.
I would say that you should certainly visit Tynwald.
I would say that you should certainly visit Tynwald.
There is the site of Tynwald (grass mound) at St Johns but the current Tynwald building (splendid) used for all meetings is in Douglas. They do very good guided tours which tell you all about the government and how it is run.
