Travel to Isle of Man
Flying to Isle of Man
The Isle of Man has good air links. The international airport, Ronaldsway Airport, is 16km (10 miles) south of Douglas, near Castletown. There are regular flights to the Isle of Man from regional British airports, with some flights from the north west taking less than half an hour. The busiest routes to and from the Isle of Man operate between Ronaldsway and Manchester, London Gatwick and Liverpool. The airport has full banking facilities, post and telephone access, internet access, a left luggage facility, a number of shops and several restaurants and bars in which to wait.
British Airways (BA) (www.britishairways.com) operates between the Isle of Man and London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester. Flybe (BE) (www.flybe.com) maintain routes from Birmingham, Bristol, Luton, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and London Gatwick whilst manx2 (www.manx2.com) also operate services to the Isle of Man from Belfast, Blackpool, Leeds-Bradford, Gloucester and Newcastle airports. Aer Arran (www.aerarann.com) operates from and Blue Islands (www.blueislands.com) have connections between Guernsey and Jersey and the Isle of Man.
Notes
A regular shuttle bus service links the airport and Douglas, with services every 30 minutes from 0700–2300. Taxis are also readily available to make the journey; there is a rank situated outside the entrance of the terminal building and taxis meet all flights. Most destinations are covered by fixed tarif charges.
Flight times
Flight time from London City is about 1 hour 15 minutes, from where you can pick up connections to Europe and the United States. There are also direct flights from Edinburgh (55 minutes).
Departure tax
None.
Travelling to Isle of Man by Rail
Driving to Isle of Man
Getting to Isle of Man by boat
The main port and point of arrival for ferries, cruise ships and people sailing is Douglas, which has extensive facilities for both commercial and private vessels. Douglas is the only port with dedicated passenger handling facilities and roll-on, roll-off vehicle services. The marina offers a small number of berths for visiting leisure craft. There are further berths at Castletown, Laxey, Peel and Ramsey. Coastguard stations can be found at Douglas, Castletown, Peel, Port Erin and Ramsey.
Water note
It’s often cheaper to buy a return ticket than to pay a single fare.
Cruise ships
Lots of cruise itineraries that include the Irish Sea stop in the Isle of Man, mooring in the main harbour at Douglas. Larger vessels weigh anchor in Douglas Bay.
Ferry operators
Car ferry and high-speed catamaran sailings are run by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (www.steam-packet.com). The conventional ferry Ben-My-Chree, operates all year whilst the fast craft, Manannan, runs between March and November. Services operate from Douglas to Heysham (3hrs 30 minutes on a conventional ferry), Liverpool (2hrs 30 minutes on a fast service/4hrs on a ferry), Belfast (2hrs 45 minutes on a fast service) and Dublin (2hrs 45 minutes on a fast service/5hrs on a ferry). The ferry docks at the Sea Terminal in Douglas.
