About Laxey
A guide to staying in Laxey
Laxey is a former mining village on the east coast, arranged down a steep wooded glen: the old village and the wheel up the valley, the harbour and beach at Old Laxey at the bottom, and the tram line threading between the two. The walk between the two halves is short but a real climb on the way back — worth knowing before you book.
The Great Laxey Wheel is why most people come. Built in 1854 to pump water out of the lead and zinc mines that made the village, and known as Lady Isabella, it is the largest working waterwheel of its kind in the world and still turns. There is a spiral staircase up to the viewing platform on top, and the Laxey Mines Trail runs on up the valley past the washing floors and the remains of the workings.
Two original Victorian electric railways meet at Laxey station. The Manx Electric Railway runs along the coast between Douglas and Ramsey; the Snaefell Mountain Railway climbs from the same platform to the summit of the island's only mountain on its 1895 route. Between them they make Laxey one of the easiest villages on the island to reach without a car.
There is not a great deal of accommodation here. Our listings are mostly self-catering apartments, split between the upper village and Old Laxey by the harbour, with a hotel down at the bottom and a holiday home or two. It suits walkers, railway enthusiasts and couples — and it needs booking early, because the supply is genuinely small.