Happy Easter in Manx Gaelic!
It’s been over a year since my last post, but here I am again posting about my travels. The decision to go to the Isle of Man was made overnight. The original plan was to go to Cornwall but since there is no fast transportation from Birmingham to there we decided we should choose something else.
So we got the train to Liverpool (which was surprisingly cheap – £18 return) and the not so cheap (£40 return) ferry to the great Isle of Man!
We stayed at Wicklow Hills b&b which is located on the top of a hill in Douglas, the main city in the Isle of Man. The owners, Susan and Phillip, made us feel at home, which was nice, for a change. The b&b is very clean and has a homely atmosphere so if you’re looking for somewhere to stay, this is definitely it, especially at £25 a night per person (including breakfast!).
On our first day we decided to stay in Douglas and visit the city. I’ll go straight to the point. I didn’t like it. There was no touristic information anywhere and the whole town seemed to be oblivious to the existence of tourists. We tried to hire a bike so we could cycle around the island but that proved to be a nearly impossible mission. 2 hours after dialling several numbers we managed to hire 2 bikes for £40 for one day. Douglas in itself is just a mere fishing town with very few places of interest to see. There seemed to be a lot of shops closed down due to lack of tourists and there was a huge lack of proper restaurants where you could have a decent meal.
Our second day made our trip worth it, however. We got the steam to train (£11.60 return) to Port Erin and stopped at Castletown along the way. Catching this train is a must do despite the stink of the steam and the 1 hour bumpy ride. Castle Rushen in Castletown is a must see even though there is not much to see besides this.
Finally we got the electric train to Ballaglass glen. Again, amazing views along the way.
In a nutshell, the Isle of Man is the place to go for breathtaking views and a relaxing break. However, and I am sorry for the fact that I am biased, it is not a place to be compared to the Aran Islands, Ireland. The Aran Island are truly THE place to be for breathtaking views in where you’ll really feel yourself blending with nature.
For a wonderful meal you’ll have to go to Tanroagan, located in Douglas, a seafood restaurant that has all its products bought locally. All dishes looked amazing but I can tell you the crab and lobster ravioli was to die for! We paid £35 per head for a 3 course dinner – totally worth it!
I’ll see you next time my friends! See you after Rome! 🙂
summer pages 