Isle of Man

城市概覽

"Manannan beg va Mac y Leirr, Shen yn chied er ec row rieau ee . . " - Manannan in legend was the first ruler of Mann, Son of the Seagod Leir, and summoned the mist as a cloak of invisibility. Rising sea levels made this an island around 6500 BC, the same era that Great Britain was sundered from the continent. Stone Age settlers farmed, fished and erected megaliths. In the Iron Age around 500 BC came the Celts, who spoke a Brythonic or P-Celtic language akin to Old Welsh. The Romans probably set foot here but didn't linger. About 500 AD arrivals from Ireland brought Q-Celtic, the forerunner to the Manx, Scottish and Irish Gaelic languages. From 800 AD the Vikings raided, then settled and became Christianised. Godred Crovan (King Orry of legend) was a Viking or Norse warrior who ruled from the 1070s. His realm was called Suðr-eyjar, the southern islands of Mann and the Hebrides, distinct from Norðr-eyjar the northern islands of Orkney and Shetland, hence the ecclesiastical diocese of Sodor and Mann. Norse power was broken in the 13th century and Mann was ceded to Scotland but became a shuttlecock in the Anglo-Scottish wars. Mainland absentee barons treated it as a chattel and ranch. High taxes in the 18th century fostered smuggling all around Britain, and in Mann, this reached such a pitch that the London government took over. In 1765 they bought out the feudal rights from the baron, who in that era was the Duke of Atholl. They considered merging it with the county of Cumberland but opted to govern directly, with the title "Lord of Mann" returning to the monarch (since 2023, Charles III). (It's called "revestment" - when the monarch creates a lordship he/she "invests" it, so this is the reverse, only for once not involving treason and lopped heads on pikes.) Mann was not included in those versions of the United Kingdom constituted in 1603, 1707 or 1801. In 1868 the island was granted a degree of local autonomy; it re-invented itself as a Victorian holiday resort and

如何抵達

Entry requirements British and Irish citizens may enter and live in the Isle of Man without a visa or clearance from the Immigration Office. However, they may only work if they have a work permit. The Isle of Man forms a "Common Travel Area" with the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Channel Isles. If you're eligible to enter any one of them without a visa, then you may enter them all, and if you're granted a visa for one then it covers them all. Often the ferries don't ask to see your passport. The Isle of Man is not part of the EU Schengen travel zone and those visas are not valid for the Common Travel Area. Many countries' citizens may enter for tourism and similar purposes without a visa: see United Kingdom#Get in. These include EU and EEA countries, United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but not South Africa or India. Entry is for up to six months. If you do need a visa, the normal application process is via the UK immigration website. An Irish visa is also valid but that is an unusual way for a non-European to enter the Isle of Man, so expect some questioning on arrival lest you're scheming something cute. Visas are multi-entry and briefly leaving the island and returning (say for a weekend in Amsterdam) does not re-start the clock on your six months.

By plane 1 Isle of Man Airport (IOM IATA) is at Ronaldsway, just outside Castletown in the south of the island. It has flights year-round from London (Gatwick and City), Liverpool, Manchester and Dublin, and others seasonally. Airlines include BA, Easyjet, Loganair and Aer Lingus. The airport has car hire and the usual facilities, and has its own station a short walk away on the Isle of Man Steam Railway, which runs from March to October. However buses from the airport serve the same destinations, are quicker, more frequent and closer to the terminal building so take the bus unless you are a die hard rail enthusiast. See Castletown for the aviation and military museum just south o

當地交通

By bus Bus routes radiate from Douglas Lord Street Interchange near the ferry terminal. They run south every 20 minutes to the airport, Castletown, Port St Mary and Port Erin, and north hourly to Laxey and Ramsey. They run west every 30 minutes or so to St John's and Peel, and an hourly bus continues northeast from Peel to Kirk Michael and Ramsey. There is no service down the west coast between Peel and Port Erin, and only an occasional school bus to Jurby. Buses within Douglas in 2023 have single adult fares of £1.30-£2.00. To the airport or Castletown is £3.10, to Port St Mary or Port Erin is £3.40, to Ramsey is £3.10 and to Peel £2.70. Children aged 5-15 pay half fare and under-5s are free.

By train

The Isle of Man has narrow-gauge heritage railways the way tropical islands have mosquitoes. Three of them can be regarded as practical transport, the rest are simply tourist- and kiddy-rides. All three run mid-March to end of October and are operated by IOM Bus and Rail.

IOM Steam Railway runs south from Douglas station (near the bus station and ferry terminal) to Castletown, Port St Mary and Port Erin, with four trains a day. Manx Electric Railway runs north hourly from Douglas Derby Castle (north end of the promenade) to Laxey (for Snaefell) and Ramsey. Snaefell Mountain Railway connects at Laxey with the Electric Railway and ascends to the summit of Snaefell. In 2023 the adult return fare from Douglas is £13 to Castletown, £17 to Port St Mary or Port Erin, £13 to Laxey and £17 to Ramsey. From Douglas or Ramsey via Laxey to Snaefell summit and return is £18, and buying the Laxey-Snaefell portion separately is £16. Child fares are half the adult on the same basis as the buses. Go Explore is a smart card for unlimited travel by all modes. You will struggle to break even on this: a one-day ticket is £19, so it would take an excursion on the railway plus connecting bus trips to maybe save £1. A three-day ticket is £39. These cards don't get you into any attrac

必看景點

The Adult Visitor Holiday Pass covers most major attractions, is valid for two weeks and costs £35 in 2024. Buy it at the first attraction you visit, and you'll break even from about the fourth. But there's a long list of heritage organisations whose members get in free (National Trust, English Heritage, National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland, Cadw, Irish OPW, and on and on it goes...) and they may somehow forget to mention this. Laxey Wheel is the giant waterwheel symbolic of the island. This wheel and its smaller sisters pumped the lead mines carved into the hillside. Castle Rushen is an impressive fortress in Castletown. Peel Castle is on an islet reached by road, with its curtain wall encompassing a ruined cathedral. House of Manannan also in Peel is an excellent museum of the island's story from Celtic times through the Viking period to the Victorian holiday resorts. Prehistoric sites of burial and ritual are found near Port St Mary and near Laxey. Cregneash near Port St