Savvy Sightseer - tips and insights for seasoned travelers!
Douglas, the capital, was a favorite destination for Victorian vacationers.
Victorian-era "pleasure grounds" features a meandering trail through a wooded haven to a vintage rail trip to the sea cliff edge.
A replica Viking ship and Manannan Museum at Peel dramatizes hardships encountered by early settlers.
Isle of Man: It's Complicated!
When is a British island, completely surrounded by Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, not actually a part of the United Kingdom? When it is the Isle of Man, smack in the middle of the Irish Sea. Technically, it’s considered a “Crown dependency,” the United Kingdom is responsible for it, but the little island is a separate entity and politically autonomous – and enjoys a reputation as a major tax haven. It also has its own language (Manx Gaelic) and its own currency, and fiercely independent residents, referred to as the Manx.
Isle of Man (IOM) may be small – only about 220 square miles - but there’s no shortage of things to see and do, like meander along the capital city’s main drag in an old-fashioned horse-drawn tram. Or fly by at about 135 mph on the Tourist Trophy (TT) international 38-mile motorcycle race route. You can meet some pretty unusual critters here, from the Manx cat – a favorite crossword puzzle stumper (it’s tailless) - to the Manx Loaghtan, a breed of sheep that can sport up to six horns. You can gawk at the Laxey Wheel, dubbed Lady Isabella, the world’s largest surviving original working waterwheel. You could salute the world’s oldest continually operating Parliament (formed in 979!) and applaud IOM’s status as the only entire nation in the world to be recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere. And you can solve the mystery of why the Bee Gees are big here, what you have to say when crossing a particular bridge – and why the national symbol is a three-legged spiral! Share all this and more with your patrons at the IOM Savvy Sightseer Travelogue!
Douglas
Iconic Promenade and Crescent Beach of the Island-nation's Capital.
A profitable smuggling trade gave rise in the 17th century to a sheltered port city on the east coast, Douglas, which continued to grow rapidly both in terms of importance and population. Once smugglers were squashed, and as steamships came on the scene, tourism became a lucrative business among Victorian vacationers, and continued to fuel Douglas’s growth. Bringing visitors to the island since 1830, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, the oldest continually operating passenger shipping company in the world, is still the best way for 21st century travelers to get across the Irish Sea from England to Douglas’s crescent-shaped beach. A grand promenade had been built in 1876, further enhancing the town’s role as a place to see and be seen. Today Douglas serves as the Isle’s capital city, center of government, base of business and home of the largest percentage, about one-third, of the Isle’s population.
Sunflowers and statues commemorate the loss of life in a fire at Summerland, a popular leisure complex on Douglas Promenade on August 2, 1973. Fifty people lost their lives in the disaster.
Click for a slideshow of key Douglas sights.
Since 1907 the Manx Museum, a short walk inland from the promenade, covers some 10,000 years of island life.
in 2023 it unveiled a gallery devoted to the Island’s biggest annual tourist draw – a world class road race.
Since 1907 the Manx Museum, a short walk inland from the promenade, covers some 10,000 years of island life.
Click for a slideshow of the Manx Museum..
Douglas may be the island’s most visited port, but there’s another seaside town, Peel, on the opposite coast that pre-dated its counterpart as the very first ruling center.
It too was a smuggler stronghold, but in its earlier days, it was a base first for Irish missionaries in the 5th century then for Viking King Magnus, who fortified a tiny islet on the Peel coast with a castle in the 11th century. The 7.5 acre St. Patrick’s Isle and Peel’s sheltered harbor made it a strategic perch from which Magnus could oversee Viking interests in Ireland and Scotland, which was known then as the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. It’s speculated the town’s name is a derivative of an old Gaelic term for fort.
Peel
Home to an in-depth collection detailing the Celtic, Viking and maritime history of the region.
Replica Viking exploring ship actually re-created an historic sailing voyage.
Considered the most Manx town on the Isle of Man!
Home to an in-depth collection detailing the Celtic, Viking and maritime history of the region.
Click for a slideshow of Peel..
When Viking leaders started to split their time between Peel on the west coast and Castletown on the east, they built a fortified tower, Castle Rushen, and ultimately moved their governing operations to Castletown permanently.
Castletown
Victorian clock, a gift from Elizabeth I, bears only one hand - seems in the 16th C absolute precision to the minute wasn’t deemed necessary.
Images of the Lords of Man line a stairway.
Victorian clock, a gift from Elizabeth I, bears only one hand - seems in the 16th C absolute precision to the minute wasn’t deemed necessary.
Click for slideshows of Castle and Keys.
It continued to be the seat of power when the Lords of Man came into control, and when the King took the Isle back, he appointed a Lt. Governor, who then moved into the stronghold complex.
Meeting place of the lower house of government.
A simulated Mr Speaker brings the debating chamber to life.
The walls do have ears - and voices - in the modern version of the House of Keys.
Meeting place of the lower house of government.
In the 1800s, the lower legislative body called the House of Keys, which had occasionally met in the castle, got its own digs across from the fortress. All of Man's ruling bodies eventually moved to Douglas, but today's visitors to the town can get a glimpse of life in the by-gone era at the refurbished castle and House of Keys - even taking part in a (nearly) real-life reenactment of a parliamentary session, brilliantly presented with a combination of holograms introduced by a real-life Secretary of the House. Guests take their places around the table to hear the merits of the day's cases.
Scenic Stopoffs
All around the Isle of Man are sights you will only see there. At Groudle Glen a relaxing walk through the woods and a short train ride takes you to a cliffside idyll. Looking out from the Douglas Promenade is a view of the sheltered harbor and Tower of Refuge, where shipwrecked crews could find bread and provisions to tide them over until help could come. Then there's the stunning view from atop Snefell Mountain, where it is said you can see seven kingdoms: England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the kingdoms of heaven and Neptune. And, of course, lush countrysides abound. Of course, a prominent stop is Tynwald Hill where annually the ancient oral method of handing down laws continues to this day. At Laxey, there's the largest functioning waterwheel in the world, considered an extraordinary feat of Victorian engineering. Not to mention staggering views of countryside.
An idyllic walk
A lifeline for mariners wrecked on the rock in Douglas Bay where they could await rescue.
Isle of Man's tallest peak and source of beautiful views.
Scene of annual outdoor parliamentary meeting.
Dubbed the Lady Isabella, she is a mighty workforce, not just a pretty face!
Getting Around
While now equipped to support electric cars, Man’s beautiful promenade in Douglas nonetheless retains its connection to the past – classic Victorian facades line the roadway, the stately Gaiety Theater holds center stage and historic horse-drawn trams, the world’s oldest, still provide a leisurely way to enjoy the waterfront views, just as they have since 1872. There's multiple ways to get around the Isle using vintage transport.
Horse-drawn Tram
From Douglas to Port Erin, there's no finer experience than riding in a vintage first class carriage listening to the hiss and clamor of a steam engine.
Nicknamed "the line that goes uphill to the sea," the small train was built in 1896 to ferry passengers to Victorian "pleasure grounds" and clifftop zoo on the island's eastern shore.
From Douglas north, the electric rail has delighted passengers in its original Victorian and Edwardian carriages for more than a century.
the Snaefell climbs steeply on the island’s only mountain, passing fields of gorse and stoic sheep, to the summit, at more than 2000 feet above sea level, since 1895.
To enjoy the Isle of Man experience at its fullest, attend a Savvy Sightseer -Isle of Man: It's Complicated! travelogue at a library or community center near you! Check the Programs page for upcoming dates and locations.
