2 Day Family Itinerary

Credit: Visit Isle of Man

The Island is a playground of stunning natural beauty and enchanting history that will keep both children and teenagers enthralled. From exciting outdoor pursuits, to intriguing history, to vibrant culture, the Isle of Man is the perfect holiday destination for families.

Day 1

Begin your first day with a scrummy breakfast at Noa. With two locations in Douglas, Noa Market Hall and Noa Bakehouse, this Manx bakery focuses on producing top products with a variety of local ingredients. It even has a seasonal pop-up on Port Erin Beach! We recommend the almond croissants and the full english breakfast.

Head over to Douglas Railway Station to hop on one of the Isle of Man Steam Railway‘s impressive steam trains and head south. The journey allows you to soak up beautiful views of the Isle of Man’s coastline and countryside without having to drag little ones on a long walk!

When you reach Castletown, dive into the Island’s expansive history with a visit to the medeival Castle Rushen, an impressive fortress that was once home to the Kings and Lords of Mann. If you like exploring Manx National Heritage sites, why not grab yourself a Go Explore Heritage Card for unlimited access to all sites. Afterwards, wander around the Isle of Man’s ancient capital, perhaps taking a stroll to Scarlett Nature Discovery Centre & Nature Trail. Alternatively, get creative at Craftworks Studio where you can paint your own pottery.

Port Erin Beach, seals, South Barrule Forest

There’s a variety of tasty options for lunch in the south, why not try Cafe Bar Two Six, Kellas, The Cafe at The Sound or The Shore Gansey, all offering treats that the whole family can enjoy! Afterwards, check out the watersports at Port Erin Beach and try your hand at paddleboarding, kayaking, aquabiking and more.

If you’d rather stay on dry land, see if you can spot the Island’s resident seals on the Kitterland (visible from The Sound), or make your way to South Barrule Forest where there’s loads of fun activities for kids and adults to get involved in; Ape Mann Adventure Park, mountain bike trails and a skills area, quad biking, and Laser Mayhem.

In the evening, why not check out one of the capital’s child-friendly establishments? Barbary Coast and JUST Pizza & Pasta, both located on the popular North Quay in Douglas, are great options for all families. Afterwards you can grab a gelato from Douglas’ Gelatory, a popular gelato parlour with a plethora of innovative flavours that change each day.

Day 2

Laxey Wheel, The Shed, Snaefell

Start your second day with a trip to the Great Laxey Wheel, the Island’s most iconic landmark and the largest working water wheel in the world. Additionally, learn about the lives of the Laxey Miners and explore the mine trail, fascinating history for little ones to soak up! Afterwards you can get some brunch at The Shed, a cute beachside café, or Ballacregga Corn Mill, a delightful cafe located next to the Wheel.

Next, why not take a trip up to Snaefell Summit via the Snaefell Mountain Railway, from the top of the mountain you can see the Seven Kingdoms on a clear day; Isle of Man, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Sea, and Heaven… Have fun trying to spot all seven! Follow this up with lunch at Victory Cafe (a stop on the ride back to Laxey) where you can devour some hearty classics like the Manx-loved chips, cheese and gravy. Alternatively, head to The Laxey Glen Pavilion for a tasty lunch and a play in the scenic Laxey Glen Playground.

Mooragh Park, Wallabies, The Creek Inn

Spend your afternoon in the north, which is home to many fun attractions for youngsters. Mooragh Park is a great leisure facility located in Ramsey that features a 12 acre boating lake, tennis courts, a bowling green, BMX track and a crazy golf course, as well as a children’s playground and special water play area. If you’d rather take a walk on the wild side, Curraghs Wildlife Park in Ballaugh will be sure to impress the whole family with more than 60 species of animals, opportunity to have up close animal experiences, miniature railway, and loads of play areas for little ones. Located behind the park is an area known as Ballaugh Curraghs that is home to hundreds of wild wallabies, why not go for an adventure through the area and follow the Where’s Wally the Wallaby Trail?

In the evening, why not visit the beautiful seaside town of Peel for a family-friendly meal. The Island is known for its premium seafood offering, and Peel is a fishing hotspot! You can grab a delicious meal at one of Peel’s much-loved restaurants like The Boatyard, The Creek Inn, or Barbary West Coast. End your evening with a chilled out stroll along Peel Beach and enjoy views of the majestic Peel Castle.

8 August 2024/by reception

Your 2 day Active-Adventure itinerary for the Isle of Man

Isle of Man Activities, Uncategorised

Credit: Visit Isle of Man

The Isle of Man is the backdrop for some of the most exhilarating activities in the British Isles. While the Island may have a reputation for its relaxed approach to life, even the biggest adrenaline junkies will find something to get their pulses raising here.

Day 1

Start your first day on the Isle of Man with a revitalising walk along a section of the Raad ny Foillan, the Island’s premier long distance footpath. At almost 160 km, it means that you can walk round an entire nation! We recommend the section between Niarbyl and Peel, giving you the opportunity to explore the beautiful Glen Maye with its rushing river and pebbly beach. Some of our other favourite sections can be found here. Alternatively, you can go on a guided walk with one of the Island’s experienced providers.

Peel Hill

Once you arrive in the picturesque seaside town of Peel, grab yourself some food from one of the much-loved restaurants, cafes, or takeaways. A winning combination is eating The Cod and Castle’s fish and chips atop Peel Hill, overlooking the impressive 11^th century Peel Castle. If you decide to walk a little further, the Peel Hill loop will take you up to Corrin’s Folly and provide you with a breath-taking view! If you fancy something a little more fancy, head to Manx Menu winning restaurant The Boatyard for a delicious meal, the queenie pancakes are unbeaten.

South Barrule Forest

Next, make your way to South Barrule Forest, a haven for adventure lovers! The forest has facilities to suit every kind of adventurer, offering quad biking with Quad Bike Mania, axe throwing with Axe Throwing Isle of Man, mountain biking trails, walking trails, laser tag at Laser Mayhem, and climbing at Ape Mann Adventure Park. If you’re interested in biking but aren’t able to bring any kit with you, you can hire bikes and equipment from a number of different providers, as well as partake in their variety of tours. Once you’ve finished your activities amidst the luscious woodland, head to the forest’s Coffee Cottage for a drink and/or snack, we recommend the hot chocolate!

Mad Jack's Axe Throwing

In the evening, head to Mad Jack’s Axe Throwing, located beside the bustling North Quay. Here, you can enjoy an evening of entertainment after being trained by one of the Mad Jack’s ‘axperts’, pardon the pun. Alongside axe throwing, you can bag yourself a tasty meal and drinks from one of the popular establishments on North Quay; JUST Pizza & Pasta, Mrs Yang’s, The Barbary Coast Grill & Bar, Kiki Lounge, Little Fish Cafe, and 14 North are all great options.

Day 2

Swimming and Watersports Isle of Man

Begin your second day with a dip at one of the Island’s stunning beaches, we recommend Chapel Beach in Port St Mary or Port Erin Beach. If you’d rather bathe in fresh water, why not try a swim at Spooyt Vane Waterfall, located in the dreamy Glen Mooar. You can also try your hand at numerous watersports! Many are offered at Port Erin and Port St Mary, including; paddleboarding, aqua biking, windsurfing, kayaking, diving, and sailing.

Foraging Vintners

After all that exertion, you’ll be feeling hungry! Head to Port Erin’s Foraging Vintners Craft Winery for a refreshing beverage (try their variety of non-grape sparkling wines!) and BBQ food from Smoky Sam’s, which operates on the premises. Alternatively, head to Byron’s for a fresh pizza.

Trike Tour and Pony Trekking

Next, hop on a invigorating trike tour and be treated to exquisite scenery as you whizz around the Island! The drivers are full of knowledge about the Isle of Man and can tailor tours to your specific interests, or you can go on one of their pre-planned tours. One of our favourites is the TT Taster Tour, giving you a taste of what the TT riders experience on the infamous course, although you’ll be going at a much more sensible speed! If motors aren’t your thing, why not go on a pony trek through the gorgeous Manx countryside with Ballahimmin Riding and Pony Trekking Centre, taking in the unrivalled views on horseback.

Sunset Walk and Twilight Glo Paddleboarding

In the evening, why not enjoy something to eat at one of the lovely restaurants in the south; The Shore Gansey, Kellas, or Kizuna. Follow this up with a sunset walk, we’d suggest walking along Gansey Beach and the Port St Mary Promenade Walk, through Bradda Glen to Milner’s Tower, or along Castletown Beach and onto Derbyhaven Beach. Alternatively, you can have a go at Twilight-Glo Paddleboarding in Port Erin with Port Erin Paddleboards.

For more ideas on how to spend your time on the Isle of Man, check out our other itineraries here.

8 August 2024/by reception

Weather to Come to the Welbeck or Not?

George Family Interest, Isle of Man Activities, Mike's Walking Blog, News

It might be fair to say that you cannot guarantee warm sunny days on the Isle of Man at this time of year. Indeed, you can’t guarantee warm, sunny weather at any time of year in the Isle of Man!

However, it is quite unusual to have whole days of absolutely teeming rain and even on the worst of them, you can still extract something despite a little dampness and a bit of a hooly.

Actually that’s what we had to do recently when our daughter and her family visited for half term. we picked the time when it was least likely to be most wet and headed off to Glen Helen, 9 miles along the TT course on the west of the Island.

The intention was to visit Spooyt Vane, arguably the biggest waterfall here, which is situated just beyond the glen on private land, so we set off inland, up river. And here’s the thing: Although it is a beatiful shady spot to visit in the summer, it’s just as beautiful but much more spectacular, especially after heavy rainfall in the winter and, as on many of our walks, you can see so much more without all the leaves on the trees.

The main path to the Rhenass fall (13 years, a tourist and 43 years living here and I have only discovered the name) is wide, with no major inclines or descents, so it is one of our more accessible glens and we had no trouble with the pram or any of our other two grandchildren, despite them starting to show the effects of a hard few days of holiday and there was certainly plenty of flow to the river, rapids and lots of contributary waterfalls.

What I had forgotten, is that there was no way that we could get the pram beyond the bridge, so Spooyt Vane will have to wait until their visit next year when the youngest is a little bit bigger.

There is also a little play park, near to the entrance of the glen which is always a great sweetener for the kids to have to do a walk!

The Swiss Chalet is being refurbished after a fire and the cafe by the yurts was closed but we could have gone to Tynwald Mills nearby and we ended up going to the Hawthorn which serves food all day but you can also pop in for a coffee or a drink.

A little while later and into November, following more rainfall, on one of our beautiful autumnal days, I took this photograph of another waterfall on the Calf of Man.

You don’t need to leave the Isle of Man until the summer because there’s no such thing as bad weather, only weather in all its differing forms. And even if, sometimes you don’t fancy going out in it, it doesn’t rain in the Welbeck Bar!

Book now to stay at the Welbeck!

4 November 2021/by Michael George

Guided Tours at the Gaiety

Isle of Man Activities

For about 20 years, Irene & myself had been meaning to go on one of the Gaiety Theatre tours which are held every Saturday morning, from April to September (Though our’s was in October, so it might be worth checking if there’s one on, if you are coming over the winter) but failed uselessly until, a few weeks ago, our daughter, Lucy bought us a pair as a present.

I thought I had quite an extensive knowlewdge of our local masterpiece, designed by the revered specialist architect, Frank Matcham but soon discovered I really knew next to nothing and what I’d expected to be a swift 45 minute whizz around it, actually it was a fascinating two hour tour!

In this blog, I won’t go into too much detail but there are some unique features, such as the ‘Drop Curtain,’ and the ‘Corsican Trap,’ and the stories of its battle to survive through the 20th century (It is only here because of a quirk of Manx law and the refusal of one man to sign the warrant for its demolition) and the everlasting restorations, initiated and pushed through by the relentless enthusiasm of its former manager, Mervyn Stokes, make such interesting viewing and listening.

Bookings can be made at http://www.villagaiety.com and it costs £7.50 per adult, family tickets £15 though, as the theatre was built in the 1900s, some areas are not accessible for all.
Of course, don’t forget to book to stay at the Welbeck! Open nearly 12 months a year! Reservations

1 November 2021/by Michael George

2 Day Family Itinerary

Day 1

Day 2

Your 2 day Active-Adventure itinerary for the Isle of Man

Day 1

Day 2

Weather to Come to the Welbeck or Not?

Guided Tours at the Gaiety

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2 Day Family Itinerary

Your 2 day Active-Adventure itinerary for the Isle of Man

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