About Peel
A guide to staying in Peel
Peel is a fishing town on the west coast, built almost entirely in the local red sandstone around a working harbour, and it is the only sizeable town on the island that faces open sea to the west. On a clear evening the whole front turns the same colour as the buildings.
Peel Castle occupies St Patrick's Isle, a rocky islet joined to the town by a causeway at the harbour mouth. Inside the curtain wall are the ruins of St German's Cathedral, an early round tower and a burial ground that produced the richly furnished Viking-age grave known as the Pagan Lady. Across the water, the House of Manannan sets out the island's Celtic, Norse and maritime history. Between the two, Moore's smokehouse on the quayside still cures Manx kippers over oak — you can generally smell it before you find it.
The harbour is still a working one, which is the main thing that separates Peel from the resort towns on the east coast. The main beach runs north from below the castle walls, with the smaller Fenella Beach tucked in beneath them, and Peel Hill rises behind the town to Corrin's Folly. The Raad ny Foillan coastal footpath leaves the town along the cliffs in both directions — south towards Niarbyl is one of the best stretches of walking on the island.
Accommodation here is almost all self-catering: holiday homes in the streets between the harbour and the beach, in the lanes climbing the hill behind, and a few further out in the countryside, plus a small number of hosted stays. There is no large hotel — Peel is not that kind of town. It is the usual alternative to Douglas for visitors who have a car and would rather look at a harbour than a promenade.