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Have a week off at the end of Aug and the IOM has crept onto the radar. Will be with the wife and in-laws, want to be near the coast, prob in a cottage/house for 4 with a decent outdoor space and near a choice of pubs/eateries. Obvs need to book ferries etc - anyone been or have any pointers please?
want to be near the coast
The Isle is 13 miles wide. You're never far from the coast!
The Isle of Man is a great place. I've only ever been at TT time so it'd be much quieter but it's a lovely place with lovely people. Outside of Douglas, all of the towns are small by mainland comparison.
Towns to the south are more quaint and are (relatively) a bit more overtly touristy as they're well off the TT circuit - Castletown, Port St Mary, Port Erin. Peel and Ramsey are more 'towny' so more lively. Douglas will be where all of the action is ... again relatively.
North of the Isle is less populated.
Given the size of the island though, I'd just focus on finding the property you like and take it from there.
The Isle of Man is a great place. I've only ever been at TT time so it'd be much quieter
Manx GP is at end of august so not much quieter at all, check dates before you book would be my first port of call.
+1 for Port St Mary
I have been twice its really nice. I went sea kayaking both times and managed to paddle past the Calf of Mann to the Chicken Rock lighthouse.
I liked Port Erin and also the wilder north of the Island. There are loads of great places to eat out and I would definitely take a bike if I went again and would head out to try and see the wallabies.
Peel is nice and a drive over the mountain part of the tt course gives you some insight into the skill if the motorcycle racers.
I am sure you will have a great time.
As mentioned above, pick where you want to stay rather than worrying about where is good to visit as it’s a small island. Although traffic can be bad.
Personally I wouldn’t stay in Douglas
Its the one place I thought that I wouldn’t want to road bike as it’s almost impossible to not have to ride on very busy roads at some point and most roads are bloody steep at some point
Whatever time of year you go there will be fast bikes / cars flying around the place, something I see as a positive!
Oh and classic TT is 17-29th Aug and is just as popular as the main TT
As someone has mentioned, it is the Manx/Classic GP at the end of August. This event is way less manic than the TT though and away from the TT course, you'll find pretty quiet roads and nowhere will be mad busy (but it is August, so you'd expect a bit of 'busy") It's a lovely place and the Inlaws (you as well maybe?...age dependent) will no doubt see it all as how the UK used to be in the 50s, 60s and 70s....
We were there a couple of years ago and loved it. Stayed in Ballabeg, just outside Castletown.
The place is so small that you can get about easily. Douglas wasn't anything special but we liked Castletown, Peel and Port Erin.
Absolutely loads to see and do.
A great place to visit. I've not been since a mate of mine was competing in the Manx International Rally and won the VW Polo series so we got to stroll around behind the Grandstand swigging from a magnum of champagne. I also got to do a lap of the TT course (in sections) on his Kawa ZX6R while I was (allegedly) a member of the support crew. Might be worth checking if there are any rallies on as it got quite busy for that, too.
I am quite keen to go over and do a bike packing trip over there.
I've only been there at TT time - five or six times, a very long time ago - and I'd very much avoid motorcycle race times, unless you're into bikes, in which case it's fantastic in a slightly surreal way, guys doing 150mph inches away from dry stone walls on what are basically B-roads.
The landscape reminds me a bit of the North Yorks Moors with a lot of added coastline. But generally it had a really nice vibe once you got away from the TT course and felt like going back in time to the latter half of the last century - then again it was the latter half of the last century last time I was there, so maybe just going back in time.
I liked it a lot and keep meaning to go back outside of TT time.
Are you quite sure you want to be on a mountain bike forum?
I see no reason to not go cycling on the IOM because people drive inappropriately. When I went it didn't seem that bad. There are lots of quieter roads and if you dislike steep hills why are you here?
Would you not be happier on a car forum. There's more to life than fast driving.
Absolutely loads to see and do.
yep we loved our time on the Isle of Man a few years ago, we based ourselves near Peel, rode every day from there to different places, including Ramsey (tram back to Douglas with the bikes on-board), there's a rail-trail that links Douglas and Peel, so all off road. The steam railway also takes bikes and is itself worth a journey. There are great bridleways and tracks, worth getting the Harvey Maps map-- https://www.harveymaps.co.uk/acatalog/Isle-of-Man-YHSWIOM.html