Everything I did in Isle of Man

If there is one place that exceeded my expectations this year, it is definitely the Isle of Man. With a great mix of nature and culture, I could easily have spent much longer exploring this island nation. I visited Isle of Man with my local walking group, so I got to see quite a lot by hiking and cycling around. If you’re considering to visit Isle of Man, here’s an overview of everything I did!

Day 1 – arrival

Ferry to Douglas

On the way there, I took the train to Lancaster and cycled 12 kilometres to the port in Heysham. There is also a train station right at the ferry terminal, but the local train did not connect well to my Lancaster train. And I quite enjoyed the bike ride, anyway! The ferry crossing to Douglas (the Isle of Man capital) took about 4 hours. At this point I was already pleasantly surprised by how modern the ferry was.

Cycling towards Ramsey

Arriving into Douglas was a bit of a ‘wow’-moment, because I had not expected the wide boulevard and fancy hotels. Douglas is definitely not some small fishing village, and I looked forward to returning here later on in the weekend. I went for a lovely but tiring bike ride up to my accommodation near Ramsey on the north side of the island. There was a blissful moment of golden hour (more like golden ’15 minutes’) as I was cycling up the first hill. As this was supposed to be a hiking weekend, I did expect some hills, but rather naively assumed that the areas around the coast would be flat. Well, I found out the hard way! It was 25 kilometres to the hostel where we stayed. I was knackered by the end of the bike ride, so it was time for a warm shower and sleep.

There are no designated cycle paths, so I cycled on the road. I usually have no problem with this, but in Isle of Man, the main road is pretty much the only road. There are some smaller roads that run parallel for part of the way north, but these are even hillier. Despite cycling on a main road, there weren’t too many cars, so it was fine. However, some proper cycle routes would be awesome.

Day 2 – coasteering and coast path

Coasteering

In the morning, the hostel organised a coasteering activity for our group. Before we started, I was a bit doubtful about what I had signed myself up to. Coasteering is a combination of scrambling onto rocks, jumping of those rocks and swimming to the next climbing location. As soon as we got started, I realised it wasn’t overly extreme or dangerous. We definitely did not have to climb up sheer cliff faces. It was a bit of scrambling that anyone active can do, and the water was a surprisingly nice temperature in a wetsuit. The part I enjoyed most was jumping off the rocks, though! The highest jump we did at the end was 7 metres, where it felt like I was flying through the air for quite a while.

Coastal Path walk

After a shower and some lunch, I walked a section of the 160 km/100 miles Raad ny Foillan Coastal Path. The name means ‘Way of the Gull’, which is ratter fitting for a coastal path. I walked the RNF10 section from near Ramsey to Maughold with some friends from my walking group. Maughold is famous for a very old church and its collection of medieval stone crosses. It was cool to see lots of images chiseled into the crosses. The path up to Maughold was very scenic, with a good viewpoint over the northeastern tip of the island. On a clear day, you can see the Lake District mountains in England in the distance.

The next section, RNF11, went further inland. There were a few small neolithic burial sites along the route. After that, I started to find the route a bit boring. We were walking on small countryside roads that could have been located anywhere in the UK. It would have been nice to rejoin the coastline, but instead we headed for a bus stop. I took the bus back to Ramsey to buy some food. From Ramsey I walked back to the accommodation via the beach. As it was low tide, I could walk across the sand. However, there were some parts with slippery stones and seaweed, which were a bit of a challenge. Besides good views (again), there was an impressive shipwreck visible on the shore.

Day 3 – parkrun & Snaefell ridge

Nobles parkrun

If you know me, you will be aware of my healthy obsession with parkruns. When I travel somewhere, I will try to fit in a run on Saturday morning. Or vice versa, I might plan a weekend away to a specific location where I want to do a run. Because the normal venue of the Nobles parkrun was unavailable, my friends and I had to take a bus to Laxey and a taxi from there. Normally, the parkrun takes place in Douglas, but today we headed to Conrhenny Plantation. It was a nice run of 3 laps on trails around the plantation. There was a steep hill at the end of each lap. The good thing of running up a hill is, though, that you get a good view at the top. All in all I think this parkrun location was probably much nicer than the laps around a soccer field in Douglas.

Manx Electric Railway

From the plantation, we walked back to Laxey. The first kilometre or so was along a road; after that I found a footpath. The footpath was unmarked on Google Maps, but got us all the way down to the town. We struggled to find a vegan-friendly café in Laxey and ended up getting a small snack at the tram station. Here we also got tickets to the summit of Snaefell, as I had been told by several people that the hike to the top of Isle of Man’s highest peak was not worth it. The ticket for the old wooden tram was £8.50, so definitely not cheap. It was a fun experience to ride the old tram up the hill, and we got a great view of the Laxey Wheel. I would strongly recommend trying to find a seat on the right-hand side of the tram, otherwise you’ll struggle to see the valley.

The tram has one stop at Bungalow, just underneath the summit. There’s a lovely café here, and you can walk over the footbridge that is well-known by people who have watched the Isle of Man motor races. I decided to get off the tram at Bungalow and walk the last 150 metres to the top of Snaefell. As I did, the wind started to pick up and a thick mist crept in. With clear skies, you would be able to see the 4 countries surrounding the Irish Sea from the top. No such luck today, as the mist completely obstructed the view and the wind had turned into a fullblown storm.

Hike along the Northern Ridge

With the suboptimal weather conditions, it was hard to find a path down the other side of Snaefell. In the end, we just walked down through the heather towards Black Hut. There, we crossed the road before making our way up to Claugh Ouyr and following the ridge north towards Ramsey. As we were ascending, the mist opened up, but the wind did not back down. To restore some of the heather, parts of the path were covered by boardwalk, which made the walking a bit easier. As soon as we got to the summit of Claugh Ouyr, the path continued as a trail. There were expansive views all around. The weather kept getting sunnier as we walked further north. The terrain was undulating; the path was easy to follow.

From the ridge, it was possible to see most of the northern half of the island. This made the walk seem much longer than it actually was. From Bungalow all the way back to the accommodation near Ramsey was just over 12 kilometres. The descent from North Barrule was steep, followed by a crossing a field. It was further downhill on a track past a plantation before bending left to Ramsey or right to the accommodation.

Day 4 – southern coast path

Port St. Mary

One of the people from my walking group had arranged a minibus down to Port St. Mary. The original plan was to take a boat to the smaller island called Calf of Man, but the wind was too strong, so the skipper cancelled. Instead, we walked around the picturesque village of Port St. Mary before embarking on the Raad ny Foillan Coastal Path once again. Following part of RNF3, we caught sight of the impressive cliffs. The dreary weather made them look all the more rugged. We walked up to The Chasms, a quirky geological feature of fissures in the cliffs.

Cregneash museum village

Further inland we walked through the open-air folk museum that is the village of Cregneash. You can walk around and admire the traditional thatched cottages, but it’s worth buying a ticket and interacting with the museum guides. There’s also a cute tea room that serves ‘Manx Bonnag’ a local type of cake (sadly not vegan). If you’re planning to visit multiple museums or heritage sites, it may be worth getting a GO Explore Heritage Pass, which includes free public transport, as well. I spent quite some time in the café, hoping that it would stop raining. Because it was forecasted to continue raining pretty much the whole day, I went back outside to see the Meayll Circle, a prehistoric burial site. It was impressive to see, and there was a WW2 bunker nearby, as well.

The planned walk would continue on to The Sound and Port Erin, but I hit my head in the bunker and was absolutely soaked by the rain, so decided to cut it short. I walked back down to Cregneash and took a bus to Port Erin, where I tried to warm up in a pub. Another part of the walking group used the day to visit the castle and museum in Peel. The museum is supposedly really good, as it tells you all about the culture and (natural) history of Isle of Man.

Day 5 – departure

Douglas

The bike ride back to Douglas was a lot easier than the way up to Ramsey! It was a warm morning and the wind had died down, so the conditions were perfect. The main road was a little busier than it had been on the day of arrival, but it still didn’t feel too unsafe to be cycling on the car lane. I did get a flat tire near the end, but I always bring a spare. I was back on the bike within 20 minutes to enjoy the final descent down into the capital of Isle of Man.

In the search for a functional souvenir, I ended up buying a beautiful mug at an interior design shop, about which you can read more here. The Manx Museum also had a decent gift shop, but other souvenir shops were too tacky. As it was a Monday, lots of restaurants were closed. I’d been wanting to try the vegan café Vibe, but its limited opening times made it impossible. Instead, I mainly strolled down the centre of Douglas. Interestingly, there were speakers playing bird sounds in the shopping street. A bit odd! I meant to walk around the harbour as well, but didn’t end up having time.

Ferry to Liverpool

It wasn’t very clear where the check-in for bikes was to get onto the ferry. I went to ask someone and was sent to the car check-in, as expected. The ferry to Liverpool is a lot faster than the one to Heysham, despite covering a longer distance. There was some choppiness at the start, but it was mostly a calm crossing. Once in Liverpool, it took 10 to 15 minutes to cycle to the train station (again during golden hour!).

Conclusion

Even with everything I did in Isle of Man, I felt like I could have filled an entire week with things to do. If I ever make it back to Isle of Man, I’ll definitely visit Peel. The northmost part of the island is pretty much entirely flat, so this would be a good place for another bike ride. Apparently, there are also wild walibi’s to be spotted there. The ancestors of the walibi’s escaped from a wildlife park some time around the 1930s. It would also be fun to cycle the course of the motor race. Either way, I had a great time on the island! The ferry connections make it easy to visit. Between April and August, you can even continue your trip from Isle of Man to Belfast or Dublin.

Most important tips

• Isle of Man has its own currency, but you can also pay in pounds. I didn’t have to use any cash at all, as buses, shops and restaurants all accepted card payment.
• Public transport is frequent and reliable, so there is no need to hire a car.
• The Coastal Path is an easy and beautiful walking route to follow all around the island.
• Hiking up Snaefell is supposedly a bit boring. If you want good views, walk along the Northern Ridge instead.
• Every village has at least one museum or heritage site, so all of them are worth visiting.
• If you want to fully explore the Isle of Man, I recommend going for a week.