Raad ny Foillan is a continuous coastal trail around the Isle of Man, a small island in the Irish Sea.
The name means “the Way of the Gull” in Manx, and small blue signs showing a gull in flight mark the path along its whole length. It was created in 1986 to mark the island’s Heritage Year. The trail follows the island’s coastline in a complete loop, starting and ending at the Millennium Bridge in Douglas, the island’s capital.
Because it forms a closed loop, hikers can start anywhere and go in either direction. The official guide divides the trail into 12 stages, and walking the whole route takes between 5 and 10 days, depending on your pace.
The scenery changes along the way, from the flatter north, with its pebble beaches, to cliffs and hills overlooking the sea in the south.
The path passes some of the island’s best-known landmarks, including Spanish Head, where local legend says a shipwrecked Spanish Armada ship once left the island’s first tailless cats swimming ashore.
It also passes the Calf of Man, an island just offshore, and the Point of Ayre, the island’s northernmost point, where the oldest working lighthouse on the island stands. Seals can sometimes be seen resting on the rocks below the cliffs, and seabirds nest in the crags.
The trail passes through towns and villages such as Ramsey, Peel, Port Erin, Port St Mary, and Castletown, so there are places to eat and stay along the way.