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Father in law would like to see the Isle of Man, so we are looking at going next year.
His mobility isn't great an I don't want to spend all the time driving, so where would be a good base? Also, if anyone knows of or could recommend a house that sleeps 6 it would be helpful!
Castletown is nice, fairly central to most of the places you might want to see. Also close to the airport, and to Douglas for the ferry. There's also a station on the old narrowguage steam railway that will take you to Douglas from where you can take the electric railway/trams up towards the north of the island to Laxey and to the top of Snae Fell.
Love the Isle of Man. Take your bike if you can. Drive round the TT course and it will be a great 'overview' of the whole island.
Go to Port Erin or Niarbyl and you might see a basking shark. Calf Sound at the southern tip for some great views and a nice cafe. Go up to the north end, Point of Ayre, for similar but without the cafe.
Avoid late May / early June as that's when the TT is on. You won't find a ferry crossing or accomodation then unless you've booked a year in advance. The TT is utterly amazing however ....
Port St Mary is nice also. Pretty much the most southerly point of the island.
Not too big a town(I think its classed as a village), and not too far from Douglas for a shopping day out, but certainly far quieter than the capital. So fewer of those leather clad hoodlums about 😉
I'd say Douglas as a base. Lovely victorian promenade and the start of the narrow gauge railway to Laxey and Snaefell.
I also love the Isle of Man, both during the tt and when its quiet.
What is Ramsey like?
Prices elsewhere are eye wateringly high.
Ramsey's not the most charming of towns, but it's got a nice park and a long promenade (very good MTB too!). There's a gin distillery with a bar and Conor Cummins' coffee shop, not too sure about eating out - you'll probably be driving for anything beyond fish & chips.
Electric railway mentioned above has a terminal in Ramsey, and you'll get to drive the mountain section of the TT course when you're heading south.
Pretty much anywhere will be fine....the Isle of Mans worst place will still be wonderful in comparison to much of the UK
Was more concerned about the amount of time spent driving about.
His mobility isn’t great an I don’t want to spend all the time driving, so where would be a good base?
I have friends who live on the IoM so visit every so often. Douglas is not a bad base from that perspective with the train going all the way up the coast and up the hill, but I think if you go expecting not to drive you will get bored very quickly !
You will have to drive around, but then its only a small island so driving around isnt that difficult. On the whole each of the main towns are ok, but they are 'remote' from each other ie a 30 min drive or so.
Lovely place, with some good biking on and off road (but it is hilly) and the roads are very busy!
Take a sports car and drive the parts of the TT that dont have a speed limit 🙂