Let me come straight out and say this up-front, no matter how much you may hear Manx people whinging about Public Transport on the island, we do have excellent services compared to just about any other part of Great Britain. However whether or not you need to hire a car will depend on the type of holiday you are planning on having because at the end of the day public transport isn’t going to get you to everywhere you may want to see. Also keep in mind that if you have a bad back the combination of really bad roads (away from the TT course) and buses is not a good one. If you are in anyway delicate it might be better to avoid the buses.
If you are visiting the island for a few days and are planning on sticking to the main towns such as Douglas, Peel, Ramsey, Castletown or Port Erin for your sight-seeing then the buses are fine. I think the longest gap between buses to those places during the working week is perhaps an hour, so nothing really, most run every half hour. If however you are more interested in visiting some of the less well known spots on the Isle of Man such as some of the many national glens, smaller villages or plan on doing any sort of outdoor activities then you’d be much better off hiring a car. The Isle of Man isn’t a big place but the taxis are expensive and if you thought you’d get away with using a couple of taxis instead of hiring a car for the week then I’m afraid you’re going to be in for a shocker with the prices.
Would I Hire A Car?
Yes I would. So much of the Isle of Man’s beauty as well as natural appeal is found by wandering away from the towns. Whilst there ARE buses to places like Niarbyl and The Sound Cafe, they are not very frequent, not to mention cheap, and you may find yourself spending the best part of a whole day transferring between buses to get to somewhere a little bit of the beaten path. If I was visiting the Isle of Man for a week or more then I’d absolutely insist on hiring a car.
Car Hire On The Isle of Man
It’s very simple to hire a car on the Isle of Man, most of the local companies have deals with major car hire, holiday and airline companies that make hiring a car as part of your booking very simple. If on the other hand you want to look for the best deal then they can also be found on car hire comparison websites like this one.