Isle of Man

The Isle of Man packs a surprising amount of walking into a relatively small patch of the Irish Sea. A central chain of hills runs from South Barrule towards Snaefell and North Barrule, providing open ridges with views towards England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales when the weather decides to cooperate.

Snaefell is the island’s highest summit, but North Barrule provides the finer mountain walk, rising steeply above Ramsey with a narrow, undulating ridge. Elsewhere, quieter paths cross heather moorland, old mining ground and plantations before dropping into sheltered glens.

The coast is even more varied. The Raad ny Foillan circles the island through nearly 100 miles of cliffs, beaches, farmland and hidden coves. Its southern sections cross the hills above Port Erin and the Calf of Man, while the north changes completely, becoming a low landscape of dunes, shingle and open horizons.

Walking routes are threaded with keeills, hillforts, stone circles, abandoned mines and traces of the island’s Norse and Celtic past. Several trails follow old fishermen’s paths, royal routes and dismantled railway lines.

Distances can look modest on the map, but repeated coastal climbs soon add up. The reward is a region where a single walk can include mountains, woodland and sea without requiring a week to reach the next one.