Planning a weekend in the Isle of Man

@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
August 16, 2016 4:12am CST
The weekend that I spent in Wales was far better than I had expected, so I decided to go somewhere this weekend. After much deliberation I settled on the Isle of Man. I have visited there before, but it was many moons ago. The rail and ferry or coach and ferry can be quite a difficult journey from Manchester, despite how close some of the ports are. It was much easier to book a flight from Manchester airport, which is just a 50 minute flight each way. My outbound journey will be on Friday and I shall be returning on Monday, so it is just 3 nights on the island.
24 people like this
25 responses
• United States
17 Aug 16
Is the King going to be there? Apparently there is a direct descendant of the last king that is making a claim to the throne. He is American and the last I heard he was making his home there.
3 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
We have enough lazy royals to support without importing any more. Actually the Isle of Man, like several islands off our shores, is not a part of the United Kingdom. This should please you because they issue their own postage stamps.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
@Jeanniemaries It is incredible how such circumstances affect people differently.
1 person likes this
• United States
17 Aug 16
@Asylum Oh hooray! I am already anticipating it! I watched a program, a reality series actually on this person who is claiming the throne. I like his wife but he is a strange bird and his daughter is insufferably precocious.
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@LadyDuck (464420)
• Switzerland
16 Aug 16
Those short vacations sound wonderful Barry. I have never visited the Isle of Man, let us know if it's a nice place for a vacation.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
I already know that it is worth visiting, which is why I chose it for this weekend.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
@LadyDuck That is a problem with many Italian and Greek islands, they require a circuitous route to reach.
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@LadyDuck (464420)
• Switzerland
16 Aug 16
@Asylum There are several Italian Islands that I have never visited and some sound interesting. My niece went to Ustica for a marriage two month ago and she says that it's beautiful. I am not ready to go to Palermo or Napoli to get a ferry to go there.
1 person likes this
@egdcltd (12059)
16 Aug 16
I've never been there, but I'd like to go.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
I have been before, but it very long while ago.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
@egdcltd That is quite a fair distance. The island is nearer to Ireland than England.
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@egdcltd (12059)
16 Aug 16
@Asylum The closest I've been to it is the Lake District.
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
18 Aug 16
Jokes aside - I thought I had a postcard from the Isle of Man - but it seems I have one from the Isle of Wight - which is on the other side of the UK. The Isle of man is so close to Ireland, so maybe next time you can hop on over there too!
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
18 Aug 16
You are correct on both counts, the Isle of Wight is in the English Channel and the Isle of Man is in the Irish Sea, not far from Ireland. I have sailed past both sides of the Isle of Wight travelling by ferry to the Channel Islands, but never actually stopped there. I like the subtle hint that you do not have a postcard from the Isle of Man.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
18 Aug 16
@Inlemay Did you know that the Isle of Man issue their own postage stamps? It is not directly a part of the United Kingdom, so British postage is not valid there.
1 person likes this
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
18 Aug 16
@Asylum subtle is my middle name - ha ha
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
Wise move to fly. The worst ferry crossing I've ever been on was from Heysham to Douglas. I'm a pretty good sailor but I was sick as a dog on that one.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
I used the Isle of Man Steam Packet company from Llandudno many years ago and found the crossing very calm. My only bad ferry crossing was returning from Jersey one year. The channel was so rough that the luggage had to be strapped down and the ferry was thrown all over the place. They cancelled the return sailing that night.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
@WorDazza I enjoyed the crossing. I went into the bar to buy a pint of lager and a pie, which I took up on deck with me. It is never too bad if you are out in the open than it seems inside.
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15830)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
@Asylum In those circumstances I think I would insist on me being strapped down rather than the luggage!!!
1 person likes this
• United States
17 Aug 16
Take and share pictures, please. I would love to see the Isle from your perspective.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
I wonder if he has any idea what he means?
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
@ElizabethWallace Oh dear, I must apologise for that Elizabeth, although I realise what went wrong. It can be difficult typing directly into Mylot at times, so I write into Microsoft Word and then copy and paste to Mylot. The above comment was placed on a discussion of Anna's, so I must have failed to copy the new comment properly which resulted in that nonsense still being on the clipboard when I pasted. My intended reply was that I will not be taking my laptop, so I shall find out how to reduce a photograph size on my tablet.
1 person likes this
• United States
17 Aug 16
@Asylum He, who, huh?
1 person likes this
@sishy7 (27169)
• Australia
20 Aug 16
I wonder how many of the 3 nights are without rain...
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Aug 16
Well certainly not the first two, but maybe tomorrow will be a little dryer.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
16 Aug 16
Perhaps you can recount for us, upon your return, the tale of the Manx Cat. I used to fly on Manx Airlines, not sure if they still exist...
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
@pgntwo That was the origin of the Giant's Causeway, but I did not know that it was associated with the Isle of Man.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
I am glad that you mentioned the TALE of the Manx cat and not the TAIL.
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
16 Aug 16
@Asylum Therein lies a tale, of the Manx Cat and his tail. Or you could recount the tale of Finn MacCool, a giant of some repute - he heaved a rock towards Scotland, the hole became Lough Neagh, the rock the Isle of Man.
2 people like this
@MALUSE (69388)
• Germany
16 Aug 16
What kind of plane is that? 50 minutes seem to be long for such a short distance.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
This will be my first flight to the Isle of Man, so I am not certain what planes are used. The overall distance of the flight is around 100 miles, so some time must be spent circling the airport awaiting a landing slot.
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
16 Aug 16
It will be an ATR-72 turboprop plane with seating for 78 passengers. They cruise at around 300 mph, so most of the time would, no doubt, be taken up with boarding and take-off and landing procedures.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23401)
• United Kingdom
17 Aug 16
Good grief 50 minutes is it a self propelled plane? Do they give you a feather to flap? Perhaps it is with Manx air the propellers are shaped like your Isle of Man logo! Either way have a great time. I have never been there although I would like to go one day!
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
Nice to know that someone recognises the Isle of Man logo. It is just a 3 night break since I have no time to take a holiday these days.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
@garymarsh6 I always take my passport and took it to Llandudno as well. It is my only definite proof of identity.
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@garymarsh6 (23401)
• United Kingdom
17 Aug 16
@Asylum Don't forget your passport on your return you may be tempted just to jump on a plane seeing that you are already at the airport! Have a great time!
1 person likes this
• Midland, Michigan
17 Aug 16
I'm not sure that I ever heard of this place before, but I see that it's fairly close to where you live now. That will make the travel less time consuming other than the getting to the island itself it sounds. Is it difficult as far as time spent going between or are there a lot more waves in that portion of the water? I didn't catch that you were going by plane this time. I guess I thought you were talking about flying from your area to a spot nearer to the island by plane and still going the rest of the way by ferry or whatever. It wasn't until I read owl's reply that I went and read again this post to see where my understand went awry. But, got it now.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
I considered the trip by ferry, but getting to the ports would be a rather circuitive route.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
@MarshaMusselman I could probably have saved a few pounds by land and sea, but it would be a laborious journey. Of course travelling by sea would have taken me to the harbour in Douglas, where I am staying. The flight takes me further South, so I will require a bus to Douglas.
1 person likes this
• Midland, Michigan
17 Aug 16
@Asylum It's probably not too much more expensive going by air since it's so close and all?
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@JESSY3236 (19273)
• United States
17 Aug 16
Have a nice trip. I have never been there, but a blogger I follow went there. I hear it's nice place to visit.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
It is a very popular tourist resort and well worth spending a few nights.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (330034)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Aug 16
I would love to be able to just catch a plane for 50 minutes and land somewhere totally different. Hope you have a great time.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
18 Aug 16
It does constitute a very convenient trip, as opposed to 4 hours or so.
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@Ujjawal29 (245)
• New Delhi, India
16 Aug 16
Never spent vacations on an island. Enjoy the lovely place.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
I have been to many islands over the years, including Jersey and Guernsey in the channel islands.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
@Ujjawal29 I do not manage to take many holidays these days.
• New Delhi, India
16 Aug 16
@Asylum i wish i could travel like you
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61046)
• United States
16 Aug 16
I am looking forward to hearing about your adventure this is another place I have never visited.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
It is a fascinating island with a great history and also a very popular tourist resort.
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• Austin, Texas
16 Aug 16
Have a safe trip and enjoy yourself enough for you and me.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
I may even enjoy myself enough for a few other people as well.
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@marlina (154156)
• Canada
16 Aug 16
Enjoy the little "escapade". I guess your eye is okay then.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
My eye is fine at the moment because the last one took a month to develop the problem.
@just4him (312409)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
16 Aug 16
I hope you have an enjoyable trip.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Aug 16
I have every intention of doing so.
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@Mike197602 (15497)
• United Kingdom
16 Aug 16
I've not been there but I'd like to go. Over the past near decade I've had no job and have lived on savings. Now I have a job I probably will take holidays again. Last one was to Cuba and I overstayed my visa by a long while I did like going to places but now I've nobody to go with. On your travels do you go alone or have you some holiday mates you go with? I've seen on the internet you can make holiday mates and go with them to places if you don't like to go on your own.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
I always travel alone, which I find convenient because there is no disagreement about what to do each day.
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@thelme55 (76652)
• Germany
17 Aug 16
Oh wow! Thats an amazing isle to go for a weekend. Enjoy the relaxing and breathtaking view of the island.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
17 Aug 16
I will be a couple of hundred metres from the promenade, so it should be an enjoyable stay.
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