Isle of Man Railways trip/tickts

[gray1404]

(Mods, sorry if I've not posted this in the right bit.)

Could I have some help and advise in planning a trip to the Isle of Man to do their railways. I am looking at going in about 10 days. I see there are good deals on the Steam Packet website. Cheaper then Sail Rail.

I'm going to visit family but am yet to do the railways. I think my Mum would like to do this one with me as it woul be relaxing too.

Once there is it possible to do all of the railways in a day? Or am I best doing them over a number of days including time to stop off at any places of interest. Perhaps it might be doable with an early start? I'll be based in Douglas.

I see they do 1, 3 and 5 day Explorer tickets. Kinda pricey. Tried having a look online on ebay to see if anyone had any unused ones they were wanting to sell off and I could by a couple but no luck.

I'd be grateful of any advise or recommendations. Is 1 day rushing it?

 

[Techniquest]

It can be done in one day without too much rushing, I sure did it although had to do a bus back from Ramsey to Douglas. Which was actually quite a reasonable journey!

Remember the railways there are pretty much exclusively aimed at tourists and priced in such a way. When I went a few years ago, a day explorer ticket covering the electric line, the steam railway, the horse-drawn trams and the mountain railway, plus buses across the isle, was either 15 quid or 16.50 for a one day pass.

When you look at how much they charge just from Laxey to the top of the mountain, or to Ramsey for that matter, you'll realise just how good value the explorer ticket is. Don't believe me when I say it's good value? Well a return on either line (and same applied to Douglas IIRC) was a tenner each. Say you wanted to do Laxey to Ramsey then come back for the mountain line, that would set you back 20 quid, well in excess of the day explorer as it was!

 

[pdeaves]

No, you cannot do all the railways in one day. The Laxey Mine Railway, Groudle Glen Railway and the Curraghs Wildlife Park railway are not all open on the same day! There's also the Crogga Valley Railway, privately owned and open by invitation only...

 

[Techniquest]

Aside from the Groudle Glen line, who else has heard of the others? Not me...

 

[gray1404]

Thanks guys, yes, I am going to do the ones run my Isle of Man Transport. It looks like Im best getting the Explorer as it will still work out much cheaper vs return/single fares. I shall keep looking around in case anyone has any unused ones (scratch off cards) still.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Bear in mind that some of the explorer tickets also include admission to heritage attractions. Mrs KJ and I went over last year and found plenty to do for a week and I still managed to get her to have several train rides.