Stuff to do on the Isle of Man?

February 8, 2008 10:49 AM

Fun things to do on the Isle of Man?

I'm in Douglas on the Isle of Man for a few days later this month - I'll only have a limited amount of free time, so was wondering what I absolutely shouldn't miss.

Especially beautiful spots to take some photos? Great pubs for a quiet pint? Architectural oddities? Best place to eat Manx Kippers? Etc.?

Also, I'm kind of into funicular railways did I just say that out loud?! - is it easy/possible to get access to what remains of the Douglas Head Incline Railway and the Falcon Cliff Lift?

posted by jack_mo to travel & transportation around (10 answers total)

Oops, forgot to say that I'm there researching a piece on Archibald Knox, so will be visiting Chronkbourn Village, Tromode, Braddan and Maughold, the Manx Museum and Douglas School of Art, as well as looking at lots of Manx Crosses...
posted by jack_mo at 10:50 AM on February 8, 2008

Definitely buy a flag.
posted by you're a kitty! at 11:15 AM on February 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Rent a car.

There's no speed limit!
posted by gergtreble at 12:29 PM on February 8, 2008

Open up an offshore bank account.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 1:54 PM on February 8, 2008

Pre-post caveat - all the links go to two sites (The IOM Guide and Isle of Man Tourism, but I figured that it would be better for you to have a bit of background for some of them, rather than me just saying "go check out these websites" without context or direction. Hopefully this will be interesting for others too, and isn't too long!

Starting in Douglas, I'd normally recommend taking a trip up to Douglas Head and have a look at the Camera Obscura there (unfortunately closed out of season) followed by a walk along Marine Drive - an old Victorian costal road that's closed to traffic now - if the weather is holding up, of course.
The horse-drawn trams that go along the Douglas promenade would have been another "fun" (depends on your taste and desire to feel like a tourist, I suppose!) but again, they don't run out of season.
You could catch a show at the Gaiety Theatre - a well preserved Victorian building with some impressive and well-preserved decor inside.
Douglas is the centre of everything on the Island, so this is where the bulk of the "main" shopping is; pretty tame compared to any other UK town I suppose. Lots of the other towns have their own quaint, local, unusual shops - so don't get jaded too quickly!

The steam railway would take you from Douglas towards the south of the Island, but - you guessed - it doesn't run out of season.
If you've got a car, the drive down south is easy enough and doesn't take long - but don't forget to wave and say "Hi" to the fairieslittle people as you cross the Fairy Bridge.

You'll pass through Ballasalla, where there's Rushen Abbey - worth visiting and having a wander around... except it's closed out of season.
Your next stop will be Castletown, which is worth a wander around - particularly Castle Rushen, which is in extremely good condition for a castle of its age. Except that it's closed out of season. There's also the Old House of Keys - the original parliament building (Castletown was originally the capital of the Island, not Douglas) - which is, unsurprisingly, closed out of season.
You can also go and visit Scarlett - a nice walk around an area of dramatic geological upheaval, with large rock strata extending out to the sea. Not closed out of season (obvious, but woo!) but probably not much fun if it's blowing a hoolie and raining.

Head a bit more south towards Port St. Mary and on to Cregneash - a "living museum" of crofters in thatched cottages, demonstrating the old Manx ways of life; pretty fascinating, and the bonnag bread is delicious. Sorry - but that's closed out of season too.
A bit further south is the Sound Visitors Centre, overlooking the Calf of Man (a bird sanctuary). There's some nice walks around here - weather permitting - and the Centre should be open if you need shelter and sustenance. You can also get to the chasms here - although be careful, as there's recently been part of them that's collapsed into the sea.

On to Port Erin for one of the nicest, sandiest beaches on the Island - and with it being February, you're bound to be able to find a place to sit! Milner's Tower sits up on Bradda Head overlooking the bay - and is open to the public! - if you fancy the bit of a gentle hike up to it; worth doing if it's a clear sunny day.

Heading up the west coast, you can stop off at Niarbyl - there's a visitor centre with a cafe, and a few nice walks around the rugged coast; there's a few small thatched cottages nestled down amongst the rocks, although you can only look from outside.

Carry on up the coast and you'll come to Peel - the Sunset City. This is the only true city on the Island, as it has a Cathedral, and there's quite a few things to do there: the House of Manannan is worth a look (and is open!)- but make sure that you schedule enough time to go around it, as it's easy to spend a whole day there without seeing it all.
There's a kipper smoking factory nearby, but unfortunately it's not open for visiting out of season; you should be able to get some smoked Manx kippers in one of the local shops, though. Peel Castle would also be worth looking around - but again won't open until nearer the end of March.
A walk around the streets of Peel is usually quite interesting, as everything is very close together, with little narrow cobbled lanes and old crooked buildings - very quaint and picturesque.

Carrying on towards the north, and you'll get to the Ballaugh Curraghs wildlife park - nice for a day out (particularly for kids) to see all the varied critters they've got there; should be open, but as it's all in the open air it won't be much fun in the bad weather.
North some more and a bit eastwards into Ramsey, and you've got the Grove Museum to look around a Victorian farmstead (except it's closed) and Albert Tower overlooking the town (except that it is not open to the public at all, and is a fair walk up to get to).

Heading south now along the eastern coastal road, and you'll go past Maughold (for the Celtic crosses you know about) and will eventually get to Laxey; check out the two water wheels that they've got here, particularly the Lady Isabella - the largest working water wheel in the world. Unfortunately closed out of season, but you can ogle the size of it from nearby.
In season, you could also take the Manx Electric Railway up to the summit of Snaefell, the Island's only mountain - where on a clear day you can see the six kingdoms: England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Mann, and Heaven!

Carry on southwards, and you'll come through Onchan (there's a pub called "The Archibald Knox" that you may want to visit!) and back into Douglas.

There's plenty more to see - weather permitting - particularly loads of lovely glens to walk through, hills to walk across, or lengthy hiking trails to traverse - but I suspect that you won't have time for stuff like that.

Failing all that, there's plenty of pubs within each town that are within staggering distance of each other! Lots of nice restaurants too - plenty of choice, and a good range from cheap-and-cheerful up to very posh and expensive.

To be quite honest, to give the Island a fair chance I'd recommend that you come back again in the Summer when (a) everything is open, and (b) the weather is more likely to be nice and warm and sunny. If you're stuck here in a howling gale, with horizontal rain, no transport, and everything's closed, then it can be a bit depressing! :)

Oh, and if you find that you like it over here, make sure that you investigate the Manx tax policies - you'll never want to leave...!

Naturally if you (or any other potential travellers to the IOM) need any more info, feel free to MeFiMail me...
posted by Chunder at 2:11 PM on February 8, 2008

Hmm - got a bit carried away there, I'm afraid! :)

The Falcon Cliff funicular railway isn't there any more, although you can walk up beside the tracks to Little Switzerland - not much to see unfortunately. If you're walking along the Promenade, look out for the Hydro hotel, near to Promenade T-Shirts (pretty unmissable) - the road/footpath goes up from there.
There were a few other cliff railways (detailed here) but there's not much to see of them any more unfortunately. Port Soderick is at the end of Marine Drive, which starts at the Camera Obscura on Douglas Head, and is easily reachable if you fancied the walk (it's only a couple of miles).

Photography-wise, everything listed above is a photo opportunity - particularly all of the glens! It's hard to pick and choose specific areas of photographic interest, as a lot will depend on your mood, the weather, the things you like to snap, etc. Landscapes are a bit of a given - there's a massive amount of varied scenery, from rugged hills and cliffs, to soft meadows, sandy beaches and rocky foreshores, forests, rivers, streams, waterfalls, hidden coves, quaint and quirky buildings, seals and sharks, rare birds and interesting old graveyards. Take your pick :)
There's a group on Flickr for IOM stuff, and if you search by tag (IOM and isleofman will be the best bets) then there's plenty to see and get inspiration from.

Architecturally speaking, there's lots around Douglas; most people don't notice, but there's plenty of old Victorian buildings, as well as some older stuff - and if you make sure that you're looking up when you walk along Strand street and Victoria street, you'll see some pretty fascinating architectural oddities (e.g. funny little towers and minarets, statues, business names and dates built into the building walls, loading windows and crane arms, etc.) that you're unlikely to see elsewhere. As mentioned, Peel has an awful lot of cool old streets and buildings which may be of interest.

There's plenty of pubs to sit and have a quiet - or not - pint. For a bit of a warm cosy atmosphere, the Rover's Return in Douglas is pretty hard to beat, especially if you can sit by the fire! They've usually got a good selection of local ales on tap, too - worth a try if you're into real ales and stuff like that.

I think that I've written too much again! Hope that some of this actually helps :)
posted by Chunder at 3:01 PM on February 8, 2008

Take photos of Manx cats? (Extra points if you find a cat that has a tail.)
posted by exphysicist345 at 3:26 PM on February 8, 2008

Wow, thanks Chunder! I'm obviously visiting at completely the wrong time of year, but that's a great guide you've put together.

Shame that the cllff railways are in such a state of disrepair, too (for some reason I thought they were non-operationa but intact).
posted by jack_mo at 6:12 AM on February 9, 2008

Here is some more Archibald Knox stuff if you're interested - not sure if the museum stuff will still be around when you come over...
posted by Chunder at 1:40 AM on February 25, 2008

I was on that tour, Chunder - hardcore Knox action.

Also, I would've suggested a mini MetaFilter meetup so I could buy you a pint in return for your great answers in this thread, but the lovely folk from the Archibald Knox Society had almost every minute of my stay planned (to a slightly bizarre degree - at one point I found myself on Manx Radio answering callers' questions about the education system on the island, bus pass reform and the scandalous closure of a section of the electric railway!).
posted by jack_mo at 4:08 PM on February 25, 2008