TT 2017 plan - Help needed!
Discussion
Hi All,
for at least the third year in a row I think I've stitched myself up again by leaving this too late, but wanted to see if you TT regulars can help with any options.
Basically I'm trying to get over for the 7th to 9th of June, so I can catch the second ssp race and the senior, and do this for as cheap as possible with as few days off work as possible! Good one I hear you say..
My plan was to drive to Liverpool, leave the car in the Liverpool One car park, hop on a steam packet ferry on the afternoon of the 6th, then camp with my own tent at one of the £15-20 a night sites, before coming home Friday night or Saturday to limit parking/camping costs..
All was going well to start with, I can get parking, camping and a ferry ticket to Douglas, the problem is that I can't get a ferry home again! Well not until Monday anyway. Whilst there are worse places to be stuck for a weekend it'll mean more money and another days holiday gone which isn't ideal.
Do I have any other options? I've looked at some alternative ferry operators but most just seem to be selling steam packets services, is there any other companies who run their own ferries I should be looking at?
Cheers
for at least the third year in a row I think I've stitched myself up again by leaving this too late, but wanted to see if you TT regulars can help with any options.
Basically I'm trying to get over for the 7th to 9th of June, so I can catch the second ssp race and the senior, and do this for as cheap as possible with as few days off work as possible! Good one I hear you say..
My plan was to drive to Liverpool, leave the car in the Liverpool One car park, hop on a steam packet ferry on the afternoon of the 6th, then camp with my own tent at one of the £15-20 a night sites, before coming home Friday night or Saturday to limit parking/camping costs..
All was going well to start with, I can get parking, camping and a ferry ticket to Douglas, the problem is that I can't get a ferry home again! Well not until Monday anyway. Whilst there are worse places to be stuck for a weekend it'll mean more money and another days holiday gone which isn't ideal.
Do I have any other options? I've looked at some alternative ferry operators but most just seem to be selling steam packets services, is there any other companies who run their own ferries I should be looking at?
Cheers
Cheers all,
I'm now wondering if Monday return may be a better idea anyway in case the race schedule slips.. may cost more but I'd be totally gutted if I missed the senior as it slipped to Saturday and I had to go home Friday night!
I'm now thinking of going from Heysam as I've read on an old thread that there's plenty of side streets around the ferry terminal where people simply park up and leave their car, which sounds good to me (free!). Does anyone have experience of this?
Also I'd be interested if anyone can tell me what the Island is like once the final day is over, if I do stay the weekend following the senior on Friday, will it still be a good atmosphere there or do people vanish pretty quickly?
I'm now wondering if Monday return may be a better idea anyway in case the race schedule slips.. may cost more but I'd be totally gutted if I missed the senior as it slipped to Saturday and I had to go home Friday night!
I'm now thinking of going from Heysam as I've read on an old thread that there's plenty of side streets around the ferry terminal where people simply park up and leave their car, which sounds good to me (free!). Does anyone have experience of this?
Also I'd be interested if anyone can tell me what the Island is like once the final day is over, if I do stay the weekend following the senior on Friday, will it still be a good atmosphere there or do people vanish pretty quickly?
Fly from Liverpool and then back. Flights are cheap, were about 80 return when I looked last week.
You can also fly from Bham and other airports including rather obscurely Gloucester! Lots of special GA airports fly out for the TT.
FWIW we went for practice week last year, flew and used the amazing public transport ticket for £39 for 5 days, and had a riot! Brill weather, steam trains, horse and electric trams! Awesome! I even became a bus w
ker ofr a day and that was good too!
You can also fly from Bham and other airports including rather obscurely Gloucester! Lots of special GA airports fly out for the TT.
FWIW we went for practice week last year, flew and used the amazing public transport ticket for £39 for 5 days, and had a riot! Brill weather, steam trains, horse and electric trams! Awesome! I even became a bus w
ker ofr a day and that was good too! daniel-5zjw7 said:
Also I'd be interested if anyone can tell me what the Island is like once the final day is over, if I do stay the weekend following the senior on Friday, will it still be a good atmosphere there or do people vanish pretty quickly?
It's astonishing how quickly everything goes quiet following the final race. Usually the following day, Douglas prom is a completely different atmosphere.s3fella said:
Fly from Liverpool and then back. Flights are cheap, were about 80 return when I looked last week.
You can also fly from Bham and other airports including rather obscurely Gloucester! Lots of special GA airports fly out for the TT.
FWIW we went for practice week last year, flew and used the amazing public transport ticket for £39 for 5 days, and had a riot! Brill weather, steam trains, horse and electric trams! Awesome! I even became a bus wker ofr a day and that was good too!
What dates/airlines were you looking at? I've found flights from Flybe and Easyjet, Flybe want £270 just for the outbound trip on the 6th, and Easyjet want £430 odd to come back on the 10th!! lol, talk about trying their luck.You can also fly from Bham and other airports including rather obscurely Gloucester! Lots of special GA airports fly out for the TT.
FWIW we went for practice week last year, flew and used the amazing public transport ticket for £39 for 5 days, and had a riot! Brill weather, steam trains, horse and electric trams! Awesome! I even became a bus w
ker ofr a day and that was good too! Cheers for the help all.
Now sorted, went for the steam packet ferry 06/06 from Heysham and the Monday 12/06 return back to Heysham, and found secure parking on a gated drive on justpark close to the port.
Total cost £135.00.
Now very excited!
Next question.. campsites. Can anyone make any recommendations? This is my first time going to the TT and to the Isle Of Man, and we won't have transport, so looking to stay in one of the main areas so we can really experience the atmosphere with simple access to the course. I'm thinking of staying close to Douglas too so we're close to the port to make arrival/departure nice and easy.
Currently I'm looking at Union Mills Football Club, looks to have all the amenities and in a good location, has anyone been here before?
Ps. If anyone is looking to go out for the senior in the same position as me, I'd consider doing what I've done as an alternative to something like Regency's senior package, the sailing times I have are better - 5.45pm arrival on the 6th rather than 10.45pm (not sure who wants to set a tent up in the dark!), plus back in Heysham on Monday at mid-day rather than 6.45pm. Also works out cheaper by about £35, so you can get a 5 day public transport pass as well with the money saved (assuming this is worthwhile)
Now sorted, went for the steam packet ferry 06/06 from Heysham and the Monday 12/06 return back to Heysham, and found secure parking on a gated drive on justpark close to the port.
Total cost £135.00.
Now very excited!
Next question.. campsites. Can anyone make any recommendations? This is my first time going to the TT and to the Isle Of Man, and we won't have transport, so looking to stay in one of the main areas so we can really experience the atmosphere with simple access to the course. I'm thinking of staying close to Douglas too so we're close to the port to make arrival/departure nice and easy.
Currently I'm looking at Union Mills Football Club, looks to have all the amenities and in a good location, has anyone been here before?
Ps. If anyone is looking to go out for the senior in the same position as me, I'd consider doing what I've done as an alternative to something like Regency's senior package, the sailing times I have are better - 5.45pm arrival on the 6th rather than 10.45pm (not sure who wants to set a tent up in the dark!), plus back in Heysham on Monday at mid-day rather than 6.45pm. Also works out cheaper by about £35, so you can get a 5 day public transport pass as well with the money saved (assuming this is worthwhile)
Fair walk from union mills down to the circuit and main bus routes
I would try St George's afc campsite which is virtually next to the pits. Give them a ring as the website may say it is full but there will be spaces on your dates.
Blackberry lane campsite is near to governors bridge so all of Douglas in walking distance.
Douglas rugby club at quarterbridge and Braddon football club have campsites,again on/near the circuit and bus routes and again all of Douglas is walkable
I would try St George's afc campsite which is virtually next to the pits. Give them a ring as the website may say it is full but there will be spaces on your dates.
Blackberry lane campsite is near to governors bridge so all of Douglas in walking distance.
Douglas rugby club at quarterbridge and Braddon football club have campsites,again on/near the circuit and bus routes and again all of Douglas is walkable
Scunnylad is right with his recommendations Union Mills campsite is not at Union Mills on the circuit and you would need transport to and from it. Another one worth looking at is Glen lough campsite it is at Glen Vine on the circuit bus stop opposite, I think they usually put a bar and food caravan on at TT. We just live down the road so you are welcome to come and spectate from our house in Crosby.
Have a look at the Metzeler Village; I read somewhere they've just opened for bookings.
We've got a great home stay this year, in Douglas 2 mins from the Grandstand, secure garage parking and for the first time we're there for the Senior, so can join the Mad Friday Night post-TT piss-up.
We've got a great home stay this year, in Douglas 2 mins from the Grandstand, secure garage parking and for the first time we're there for the Senior, so can join the Mad Friday Night post-TT piss-up.
shunter V8 said:
Scunnylad is right with his recommendations Union Mills campsite is not at Union Mills on the circuit and you would need transport to and from it. Another one worth looking at is Glen lough campsite it is at Glen Vine on the circuit bus stop opposite, I think they usually put a bar and food caravan on at TT. We just live down the road so you are welcome to come and spectate from our house in Crosby.
Great spot to live shunter.
Watched a few times from the little church hall on the kink where
David Jefferies crashed
Glendhoo campsite is worth a look, right on the course by cronk ny mona so only a couple miles from start/finish. Decent hot showers (pre pay card, pound a go for ten minutes but theres a knack to using them over and over again!)
Good veiwing points close by, decent pub up the road and walkable to the paddock.
Good veiwing points close by, decent pub up the road and walkable to the paddock.
Awesome again guys thanks very much.
I've had a good look through the suggestions, Metzeler village is an interesting one as saves taking/pitching a tent etc which would be a bonus, but it's not cheap compared to a standard site and doesn't seem to offer dates past the 10th, which is no good for us given we're not leaving until the 12th.
In the end I whittled it down to two suggested by scunnylad - St Georges football club or Braddan football club on Victoria road (not union mills), these two sites must be a stones throw from each other looking at the map.. and both are £10 per night per person, it was a simple decision as St Georges is fully booked (though realise I could have contacted them to check) and Braddan had spaces, plus the Braddan website does give a little more info on the site and facilities. This is the site;
http://www.isleofmanttcamping.com/
Total cost for two of us including secure parking in Heysham, return ferry tickets and 6 days camping 06-12th June - £355 :-)
Shunter many thanks for the offer to watch from your house, much appreciated & I may well take you up on that!
Next & very important question, what pubs do you suggest we MUST visit? :-)
Also the local transport 5 day pass for £40 odd, is this a no brainer?
I've had a good look through the suggestions, Metzeler village is an interesting one as saves taking/pitching a tent etc which would be a bonus, but it's not cheap compared to a standard site and doesn't seem to offer dates past the 10th, which is no good for us given we're not leaving until the 12th.
In the end I whittled it down to two suggested by scunnylad - St Georges football club or Braddan football club on Victoria road (not union mills), these two sites must be a stones throw from each other looking at the map.. and both are £10 per night per person, it was a simple decision as St Georges is fully booked (though realise I could have contacted them to check) and Braddan had spaces, plus the Braddan website does give a little more info on the site and facilities. This is the site;
http://www.isleofmanttcamping.com/
Total cost for two of us including secure parking in Heysham, return ferry tickets and 6 days camping 06-12th June - £355 :-)
Shunter many thanks for the offer to watch from your house, much appreciated & I may well take you up on that!
Next & very important question, what pubs do you suggest we MUST visit? :-)
Also the local transport 5 day pass for £40 odd, is this a no brainer?
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