Glen Wyllin Campsite

Glen Wyllin is a campsite in a wooded valley at Kirk Michael, on the west coast of the Isle of Man, where the glen opens out at the shore. Timber cabins line one side of the mown grass, bell tents the other, and open field is left for tents.

You come in under the trees and the ground flattens into grass, wooded slopes rising either side. The cabins are clad in vertical timber, each with a slatted balcony and steps to the grass. From above the site is a green bowl open to the sea.

Cabins, canvas and open field

A cabin is open plan: fitted units with an oven, hob, kettle and toaster along one wall, a breakfast bar with stools by the window, an olive velvet sofa facing yellow curtains, and a bathroom with a rainfall shower against timber cladding. The bell tents are furnished rather than bare: rugs, cushions, proper bedding, a fire basket outside.

Beds in the cabins

A cabin has one bedroom with an extra-large double and a sofa that folds down, so four sleep without anyone on the floor. One bedroom is painted dark, with a flower garland and a neon sign above the headboard.

The decking and the wood-fired tub

Every cabin has decking with chairs looking down the glen, and a wood-fired hot tub stands between two of them on a timber platform, flue beside it. Picnic benches are dotted about the grass, and the sun sets over the water at the foot of the valley.

Kirk Michael, and the nearest town

The site is at Kirk Michael, a village rather than a town of its own; the nearest town is Peel, along the coast. A path leads down the glen to the shore, a beach of shingle and boulder that catches the sunset.

Who camps here

People who would rather be in a valley than a car park, and anyone wanting the shore without giving up a hot shower. Cabins suit a couple or small family, the field a tent.