About Castletown
A guide to staying in Castletown
Castletown was the capital of the Isle of Man until the seat of government moved to Douglas in the nineteenth century, and the town still looks the part. It is arranged around Castle Rushen — a limestone keep in exceptional condition, standing in the middle of the town rather than above it, directly over the market square and the harbour.
Much of the old machinery of government survives within a few minutes' walk. The Old House of Keys, where the lower chamber of the Manx parliament sat, has been restored and reopened. The Old Grammar School is the oldest roofed building in the town. On the quay, the Nautical Museum holds the Peggy, an armed yacht built in 1789 and walled up in her own boathouse for over a century before being rediscovered.
It is a quiet, low, grey-stone town with a harbour that dries out at low tide, and it is the practical base for the southern corner of the island. The Langness peninsula runs out into the sea just beyond it, with a lighthouse at the end and one of the island's best coastal walks along it. Ronaldsway Airport is just outside the town, which makes Castletown a sensible first or last night for anyone flying rather than sailing.
We list only a small number of stays here, so there are no separate pages by property type for Castletown — everything we have in the town is listed together on this page. Book well ahead, and look along the coast at Port Erin and Port St Mary if you need more choice in the south.