IOM

Isle of Man

A 4 day walking holiday in the Isle of Man

Time for travel again! With Covid wrecking my planned long-distance walk along the Jurassic Coast this year and borders more or less shut on our lovely Island home, I thought that might be it for the year. However, a unique 6 week “air-bridge” with the Isle of Man opened up an opportunity. At 221 square miles and only 85k population there is lots of natural space, so it offers some fine walking. There is a round the island walk – the Raad Ny Foillan or “Way of the Gull” – at 100 miles but I did not have time for that, my trip limited to Wednesday to Sunday

So, the plan was to base myself in the capital, Douglas, with access to good transport links, then do a variety of walks over 4 days, hopefully taking in the best of the coastal RNF, some of the inland features, plus climbing the highest point, Snaefell, a mountain at 2036ft

And that was how it worked out. In total I walked 50+ miles over 4 days, with over 13000ft of ascent (and descent). The IOM may be small in context but it has some hills and that is a decent amount of climbing. Of those miles nearly 35 made up the Raad Ny Foillan, so I completed about one third of the RNF – and certainly the best bits

Whilst I did miss that feeling of being on a continuous journey, of completing the ‘A to B’, I felt I experienced a good selection of the best IOM has to offer. And that offering is fantastic. I would never have visited the IOM if not for Covid, but I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and the island provides some great hiking and biking…there is a round the island cycle route – the 90 mile Raad Daawheeyl – so there could always be a next time!