Isle of Man (Europe)

The Isle of Man, just 33 miles long, 13 miles wide and covers an area of 227 square miles is situated in the Irish Sea, between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. It is less than 60 miles west of the Lancashire coastline, and it is easy to get to thanks to excellent air and sea services. The Island although often grouped with UK for classification purposes, is actually a unique self-governing kingdom - a Crown dependency which belongs to neither the UK nor the European Union.

It has its own parliament (called Tynwald), laws, traditions, culture, cuisine and postage stamps. But as a holiday island it is best known for its very agreeable and relaxed pace of life, along with a wealth of attractions and places to stay . And while other differences include the Manx language and currency (though English is the spoken tongue and English and UK currencies are accepted everywhere), there are also reassuring familiarities - such as driving on the left and road signs in English.