Isle of Man TT 2016 First Timer

Roberts7286 · L Plate Warrior Joined: 04 Jul 2015 Karma :

Hi Everyone

Hopefully someone can help with my questions about next years TT.

Me and 4 others have booked our first trip to the TT next year. We are camping at Laxey AFC Campsite and we are there from sunday to wednesday of race week. Basically our questions are - Is there a limit on your tent size i.e if there is 2 of us one tent does it strictly have to be a 2 man tent or does it not really matter. We are travelling as foot passengers and were wondering what is the best way to get around the island. I've seen the unlimited travel which is on offer for the buses etc (£34) is this a worthwhile option?

Any other TT tips woould be greatly appreciated.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers
Tom

wristjob · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

ask the campsite about weather you are paying for a plot and can stick any size tent on it or are you paying per person?
as for the bus ticket i have no idea, i havent been on a bus since i left school(in the 80's)

CaNsA · Super Spammer Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Karma :

Suntan Sid · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 May 2009 Karma :

We had to pay for a tent and gazebo, they're not bothered about tent size, just the number of people and tents.
I guess it depends on the size of the campsite!

The buses do run all around the course, at all times, AFAWCS, seems reasonable if you've not got your own transport.
You will be able to get the railway up to the Bungalow from Laxey, not sure on the prices though, seemed a bit expensive to go from the Bungalow to the top of Snaefell though!
There were plenty of people on push irons, might be worth a try.

Bear in mind if you want to have a good view at one the more popular vantage points you need to get there extremly early on race days.
We got to Braddan Church, for the Senior, at ten to seven in the morning and got the last two front row seats!

Top tip! Take a transistor radio, absolutely essential, if you want to know what's going on and for commentary. Don't for one moment think that your iphone will be upto the the job, you'll be one of many thousands trying to stream the radio, the system can't cope!
Also the free wifi was useless, hundreds of people all trying to log on to the system at the same time and not logging off when they'd finished, rendered the whole thing unusable!

Buy a manx sim card, we didn't bother and the phone became unusable for days at a time!

Finally and most importantly, if you've never been before, prepare to be utterly dumbstruck. The telly really doesn't convey how fast these guys are going, you, really, will be blown away by it!
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Suntan Sid · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 May 2009 Karma :

Oh yeah, one more thing, leave your, fcukin', selfie stick at home.
Plenty of, chavvy, wangs shoving these things into the road when the races and practice were on. They've been banned for the Southern Hundred, AFAIK, the TT will follow suit, with any luck!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!" Cool

Roberts7286 · L Plate Warrior Joined: 04 Jul 2015 Karma :

Cheers suntan sid. We have paid per tent so i didnt think it would be an issue. I'll get myself a radio and dont worry i wouldnt be seen dead with a selfie stick!

Tom

Suntan Sid · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 May 2009 Karma :

rubyhorse2 · Traffic Copper Joined: 03 Mar 2015 Karma :

think suntan sid has covered it all for you Smile

there were definitely more idiots around this year. Your going to love it, even if not on bikes is a massive buzz right from your first pint on the ferry.

We've always had transport so have no idea about public transport other than the electric railway which you have to do by the way.

what i will say is taxi's seem to be cheap enough, we used a few and was always very reasonable.

Tracey Suntan-King · World Chat Champion Joined: 10 Nov 2012 Karma :

We went to Laxey twice while we were over there. There was an annual "Classic" bike show there at some point during the TT, fairly disorganised but fun with bands and icecreams and stuff like that. Oh yes and some dead ugly bikes, among the beautiful ones.

Also, there's a dirty great wheel there at Laxey. Not like the London/Manchester eye. It's a massive feat of mining engineering, and also very beautiful.

I loved every minute of our trip this year (well not so much the storm of the century on the first night). Alsolutely breath-taking.

I want to live there now, in a house on the course, of course!

Hope you have a great trip.
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rubyhorse2 · Traffic Copper Joined: 03 Mar 2015 Karma :

forgot to mention, electric railway goes from laxey to douglas pretty often and you can walk up to the paddocks etc from there, plus all the bars, nightlife, marina, bushys aint to hard for you to get to for a day or night out.