Im trying to go next year and put deposit on the ferry now - where best to sail from ie liverpool or heysham - ill do 5 nights so what days sailing in/out do you lot suggest cheers
From your location, getting to Liverpool will be less riding than Heysham. The sailings from Liverpool are normally on the Seacat Manannan which is faster than the larger Manxman Boat that does most of the Heysham crossings. The Manxman is a much nicer place to be than the Seacat, so you may decide to ride a few more miles if comfort on the crossing is your preference. Do you want to go Practice week to get more riding time on the circuit? If you want to see the most racing that you can, book for as much of race week as you can, getting a return ferry can be the tricky bit there. Getting a night boat will maximise your time on the island if you can sleep on the boat and catch up with power naps between races. Will post again if I think of anything else.
thats helpful thanks i think i will leave the bike/car at home to be honest its mainly race week - is it worth staying until the last day of racing?
Senior TT is last day so most definitely. I’d also recommend going from Liverpool if you’re just travelling by foot, its a lot more civilised than Heysham imo.
If you’re not intending to camp I’d also make sure you can get the accommodation you want and at the desired price too as that’s more often than not a bigger ballache than getting ferry tkts.
last time was £600 plus for the car and mrs when we came back the ferry was absolutely chocka, we were parked on one of the ramps to the upper deck, no available space for even 1 car dont be choosy can go out form one and back by another (heysham/liverpool), all the good slots are snapped up they also release more tickets i think end of february/march which is from cancellations, which i how i got my tickets last time i went, i literally checked on a gloomy February evening and there they were, you'd have to check their site its a bastard, i can get the dates i want going out but cant get back unless i leave saturday finals day or tuesday
Homestay in Douglas is my preference. There is an official approved Homestay list somewhere. Not needed it myself as I have been lucky to have the same one for many years.
Total pot luck isnt it, look at last week. Glorious weather all week, yet a hell of a lot of it cancelled due to all the various incidents.
