Highlights

• BeeGees statue
• Douglas Broadway Beach
• Horse tram along the promenade and the horse stables and resting fields (ask them where to find these)
• Villa Marina Concert Hall and venue
• Nobles Parkrun
• Manx Museum
• Manx Electric Railway Museum
• Groudle Glen Railway
• View of Tower of Refuge, especially at night
• Local seafood and ice cream

Before you go

• The Tourist Trophy motorcycle races are usually in May or June. Book far ahead if you plan to visit during that time
• Large cruise ships sometimes stop for a day visit with crowds of people
• Many restaurants are not open on Sundays so check opening times
• Locals are generally very friendly and helpful, so don’t hesitate to ask for directions or info
• Enjoy the outdoor art that is placed throughout the city
• All dishes seem to have a side of bread

Transport

• The main airport is Ronaldsway Airport and it located between Douglas and Castletown
• From the airport, you can take a bus to Douglas (1, 1H, 2, 2A, 11 and 11A)
• The Go Card for unlimited travel via IOM Transport (1, 3, 5 or 7 days) includes buses, the horse cart, and trains. We bought our passes at the airport, and found this to be easy and great value. Don’t miss riding the horse tram along the Douglas promenade!
• Another way to reach the Isle of Man is by Steam Packet ferry from Heysham, Liverpool, Belfast & Dublin
• Taxis are available but there are not many, so leave some time if you need to book one
• Also, normally I would not recommend hitchhiking, but for events such as ParkRun the organisers helped find local people to transport visitors

Accommodation

• My friend and I booked rooms at two different hotels, because they got busy and we couldn’t get two rooms at the same place. However, that means I can give reviews of two hotels!
• I stayed at HQ Hotel, which was very central in Douglas. They have several buildings and breakfast is served in the main restaurant. My room was small but comfortable and clean. Breakfast was delicious and was either a buffet or from a menu. Everyone was very friendly and helpful!
• My friend stayed at the Welbeck hotel, just across the street. Her room was bigger and had a big window. It was about the same price but did not include the breakfast.
• As usual I recommend checking reviews on Booking.com or using AirBnB

Food

Douglas has many options for food and drinks. Here are a few places that we tried during our short visit.

Cafes and Snacks

Pat-a-Cake bakery is a quaint, local bakery with a nice selection of savoury and sweet treats. I especially enjoyed the freshly made Bakewell tart.

Santander Work Cafe is a co-working area that is open to all. I stopped by for a coffee and a cookie. It has a very friendly and welcoming vibe. It’s also bright and airy, so a nice place to relax for awhile.

Mojo’s Fish and Chip Shop is a local favourite along the promenade. They have the traditional fish and chips and a lot of other seafood including Queenies (small scallops). Very reasonable with good portions.

On the last day, I jogged over to Devereau’s to buy some kippers to take back to the UK. They are one of the famous places to buy kippers and other seafood. They survived the journey and were tasty cooked with scrambled eggs.

Restaurants

Little Fish Cafe was my favourite restaurant on the Isle of Man. Luckily we got the last available table outside. It was popular and busy. The service was very friendly and our server explained all of the dishes to us. We had our first try of the local scallops, Queenies, fish soup, and fish cakes. Delicious!

The Fig and Olive was a very cute restaurant with indoor or terrace seating. We enjoyed the seafood platter and it was huge! However, mine had too much sauce and it overwhelmed the seafood. Next time I would ask for no sauce or sauce on the side.

Frank Matcham’s was recommended to us by a local as a new restaurant. It is huge and they have the QR code ordering from the table. The service was quite slow and they missed some items. However, the food was tapas style and most of the dishes were very tasty.

Lastly, I have to say again how great the breakfast was at the HQ Hotel. The full English breakfast was delicious and fresh. And it was also nice to try their smoked salmon and eggs with toast.