CAUSEWAY COAST

 Northern Ireland's north coast has something for everyone: the Giant's Causeway, impressive cliffs, beaches, and the cheerful resorts of Portstewart and Portrush. This is the most exciting place to walk in Northern Ireland. The shorter of two circular walks takes you up the cliffs, above the Giant's Causeway, from where a great view of the columns clearly show in fact three causeway, the largest looking like a crocodile's snout.

ANTRIM COAST A drive of over sixty miles from Larne to Portrush offers one of the most spectacular scenic routes to be found anywhere, one of nature's displays of unspoiled beauty. The road weaves around the coastline with side roads leading off to the famed Glens of Antrim. Clearly visible, the Scottish coast and Rathlin Island rise from the sea, while the peculiar regular sided columns of the Giant's Causeway appear as stepping stones to these places.

ARMAGH

 One of Ireland’s oldest cities, Armagh dates back to the age of St Patrick and the advent of Christianity. The narrow streets in the city centre follow the ditches that once ringed the church, founded by the saint in 455. Two cathedrals, both called St Patrick’s, sit on opposing hills. The huge Roman Catholic one is a twin-spired Neo-Gothic building with seemingly every inch of wall covered in mosaic. The older Anglican Cathedral dates back to medieval times.  It boasts the bones of Brian Ború, the King of Ireland who defeated the Vikings in 1014, and an 11th-century High Cross. Armagh’s gorgeous oval, tree-lined Mall, where cricket is played in summer, is surrounded by dignified Georgian buildings. The Armagh Planetarium  is on College Hill in the Observatory Grounds, from where there are splendid views over the city.

The Mall showing the cricket pavilion,
St. Patrick's Cathedral (R.C.)
The Cathedral Church of St. Patrick (C. of I.)
A busy Market Street

 

 

VisitArmagh 

ENNISKILLEN

The busy tourist centre of Enniskillen occupies an island between Upper and Lower Lough Erne. The town gained fame for the wrong reason in 1987, when 11 people died in an IRA bomb attack, but it deserves a visit for its setting and sights.  At the west end of town stands Enniskillen Castle, dating from the 15th century. It houses Fermanagh County Museum and the Inniskilling Regimental Museum. Its most stunning feature, however, is the Watergate, a fairy-tale twin-turreted tower, best admired from the far bank of the river. Further west, Portora Royal School, founded in 1618, counts among its old boys the play-wrights Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett.

 

 

Enniskillen Castle seen from across the River Erne

 

enniskillencastle.co.uk

 

MOUNTAINS OF MOURNE

These mountains occupy just a small corner of County Down, with no more than a dozen peaks surpassing 600 m, and yet they attract thousands of visitors each year. Northern Ireland's grandest scenery  sweeps around in a great arc of granite mountains between Dundrum Bay and Carlingford Lough, a patchwork of tiny sheep-cropped fields with drystone walls lying below the peaks. As well  as being popular for rock climbing, this area can only be properly enjoyed on foot. The main recreation area is the Silent Valley with reservoirs and dams, and superb mountain panoramas. The best base for the Mourne area is the resort of Newcastle, "Where the Mountains o' Mourne sweep down to the sea". Some 35 km north of Newcastle, the Legananny Dolmen is one of the finest and most photographed ancient sites in the country.

The Mountains of Mourne, County Down, in the south east, provide fine walking country

 

DERRY

Often called the "Cockpit of The Troubles" and Stroke City. A seminal event of the Troubles known as "Bloody Sunday" occurred in Derry on January 30, 1972, when British troops shot dead 13 Catholics during a civil rights march. Yet despite being a microcosm of Northern Ireland in its poverty and threatened violence, in its resilience, optimism, humor and joie de vivre, Derry is charming. In terms of conventional sightseeing, the city's top attraction is its 17th-century walls, some of the most complete in Europe. The city center within the walls contains old-fashioned shops and bars, as well as the spruce Derry Craft Village where you can buy crystal, linen T-towels and other local products.

The 17th-century Protestant St. Columb's Cathedral holds relics of the siege and Cecil Alexander, who wrote the famous hymn that begins, "There is a green hill far away/without a city wall" inspired by Derry's settings.

Visitor Info: Visit Derry

NORTHERN IRELAND

Within its compact area, encircles a wealth of surpassing scenic splendour. Vibrant, fresh and green in appearance, the natural features it encompasses are as diverse as they are exhilarating, from barren plains to expanses of lakeland, and from low-lying areas to lofty mountain ranges. Quite apart from its aesthetic charm, historic castles and ruins are scattered lavishly throughout the country, recounting tales from Northern Ireland's rich history.
The scenery is the prime allure - the Giant's Causeway, one of the wonders of the world on the Causeway Coast, the Mountains of Mourne, the Glens of Atrim, the Fermanagh Lakeland are the top districts to head for.

Not only in friendliness is Northern Ireland like the rest of Ireland. The pace of life is slow. The cuisine often lacks finesse, but comes in mammoth portions. In the bars the Guiness and the "crack - as the repartee is called - are great, as are the "sing-alongs". Some would say that the most significant differences between the two neighbors are that it is cheaper in the north and the roads are better.

CITY OF NEWRY

This cathedral town and port is in a hollow among hills at the head of the Newry River estuary. The town is intersected by canals built in the early eighteenth century, now disused for commerce but stocked with fish and they are a venue for international angling contests.

 

The distinguished history of Newry has resulted in a fine array of both civic and religious buildings. Known as the Gateway to the North, the area has a history of continuous settlement dating back to 4000BC and enjoys wonderful architecture, including beautiful Georgian houses, a cathedral that dates back to the 1830s and a unique town hall built over the Clanyre River. The Town Hall (half in County Down, half in County Armagh) actually spans  the Clanrye River. Evidence of the town's mercantile past can be noted in the names of the streets. The Catholic Cathedral in Hill Street has some good stained-glass windows.

BELFAST

Belfast is the capital city of the North of Ireland and is situated at the head of Belfast Lough. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, the second largest city on the island of Ireland and the 15th largest city in the United Kingdom. The name Belfast also originates from the Gaelic Beal Feirste, which means mouth of the river.

Some of the many attractions in the historic city of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Top row: Queen's University, the Crown Bar and City Hall.
Middle row: Belfast Castle, the Titanic Centre and the Botanic Gardens.
Bottom row: Stormont, the Big Fish and Harland & Wolfe Titanic Mural.

Belfast is a product of the Victorian industrial age. Shipbuilding, engineering, linen and rope-making flourished here. The city's most enduring peaceful symbols are the two great yellow Harland and Wolff dockyard, nicknamed Samson and Goliath, while numerous haughty Victorian buildings fill the city center. City Hall is the most impressive structure, topped by handsome copper domes, with elaborate stucco and a staircase of three types of Italian marble inside.

Only in Belfast can you trace the Titanic story to its source, discover the passion and pride of those who designed and built her and relive the excitement of the Titanic era when the city was at the height of its powers.

To find out more about Belfast: Belfast City Hall

Received from Vikki