Isle of Man

It would be useful to know when you plan to visit, and an outline of the rest of your trip to UK and Ireland. There are flights to the island's capital Douglas and some ferry services, so it could easily become an "in between" as you move between UK and Ireland. It is a long time since I last visited, I expect others herenknow the island better, but for overall planning the extra info would help.

Thank you for your response.
We are not sure when to go or where to start our trip.
Is there any must see secrets that most tourist don't know about but are open for public visit?
I was thinking maybe startin Dublin and end in Edinburgh.
I'd really like to see St. Patrick's Cathedral, The Cliffs of Moher, Wicklow Mountains and the Dublin Flea Market in Dublin.
In Edinburgh we'd like to see the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions Museum, hike up to Arthur's Seat and try the Scottish Whiskey Experience.

Aer Lingus operate flights usually twice daily from Dublin to the Isle of Man and Loganair once daily from Edinburgh. Your wish list for Ireland suggests a good week's travel. If that's all you intend to see around Edinburgh 3 days should be enough, and I would guess 3 or 4 days was enough to be very familiar with most things in the Isle of Man so that suggests a 2 week trip - is that what you were planning???

However, if you've not been outside the US previously (by coincidence, I'm just now on my way to New Orleans) you might be surprised just how much there is to see and do in the UK. If Ireland, IoM and Edinburgh meet your wish list, that's fine, but if you want to spend longer, then we can fill a few more weeks (or months!!) without difficulty - but you might find it worth looking at a couple of guide books first. As for time of year to visit, I would suggest May or September - you might try and avoid the TT motorcycle races in IoM in June, British summer school holidays in July and August and the Edinburgh Festival in August, as these will be peak tourist times. Hope this helps

How long have you got for this trip?

The IoM in my opinion is quite an unusual choice for a first trip.Its not that exciting (for me anyway)..there is a lot better in both Ireland and Scotland (and in England too).But I guess there is a reason why you chose it...

If you go to the Isle of Man definitely avoid the T.T. week and I would suggest avoid a week either side as well.

No need to do a cruise to the IOM get there by ferry or flight and do your own thing.

We were not sure how long of a trip to plan but I don't think our budget would allow any longer than three weeks. According to my family tree I have ancestors from the Isle of Man. That is the main reason for wanting to visit there. I will definitely look into visiting England as well, there are quite a few things there I have always wanted to see. Thank you everyone for helping me narrow down the time of year we want to go, that will really help with the planning.

You may want to think about an open jaw ticket - in to Dublin, and return from a Scottish or English airport (Edinburgh, Manchester, London, for example) so while you are researching where you want to go, look at the possibilities an open jaw ticket allows you to avoid back-tracking at the end of your holiday. It depends where you are starting from in the US too, and if you've not travelled outside the US before, it might be useful to talk to a travel agent and get some advice about the options available to you. You don't have to take his advice, of course!! - but it might be a useful starting point.

"and try the Scottish Whiskey Experience."

Sorry but you'll get whisky in Scotland, whiskey in Ireland and North America.:-)

We headed over to Isle Of Man from here in the UK last September.

Travel method in our case was by the Manannan sea cat from Liverpool to Douglas and back - www.steam-packet.com

Research for the visit was largely done by taking a look at the official Isle Of Man tourist website - www.visitisleofman.com and by getting hold of a copy of Lily Publication's Isle Of Man guide.

We found our accommodation via booking.com and whilst it was an okay B&B, we could have made a better choice...

We didn't hire a car at all for our stay.

We bought the six day Heritage Travel Card which allowed us to use buses, trams, steam trains and the Electric Railway to get around the island and to visit many of the heritage sites and museums too.

This card allowed us to visit Laxey Wheel, Peel, Port Erin, Castletown and Ramsey during our week on Isle of Man and to get to the summit of Snaefell too.

Eating out in Douglas was largely done in local pubs such as The Queen, The Prospect and The Bridge along with Ciao (pizza) and Tandoor (a good curry house that was frequented by both locals, visiting building workers and other tourists too).

Lunches were usually taken at cafes or pubs in whichever town or village we were in at the time - apart from in Peel where we ate outside at the kiosk down by the harbour wall - if you do go for a hot kipper bap, have some baby wipes to wipe your hands after consuming said bap!

Weather over our time in September was changeable - one full day of t-shirt weather then a mixed bag of clear windy days and downright rainy days too. We travelled hand luggage only, but had our mountain waterproofs with us along with fleece tops, hats and gloves too.

We had a great time, despite the weather and it was only the cost of the ride that put us off going on a motorised trike around the TT course. We did cross the TT start/finish line on one day out, but that was on a service bus!

What we did notice was how friendly everyone was on the island. People stopped to ask us whether we need help in finding our guest house or somewhere to eat and were fairly chatty in pubs, cafes and shops.

Hope that this helps with your quest!

Enjoy... we did, despite the weather.

PS Apart from the TT races, there's also the Manx Grand Prix road races too - held in late summer.