The northern shore is all sea. Belfast Lough is a sheltered, almost tide-free inlet whose inner mudflats hold internationally important numbers of wintering waders, and the 21 km North Down Coastal Path runs along its southern side through Holywood and Bangor, passing the 541 berths of Bangor Marina and the National Trust headland at Ballymacormick Point near Groomsport. Both towns sit on the train line out of Belfast, so this is the easiest stretch here to reach without a car.
Inland and south, the Mournes hold the fresh water. Blue Lough is a glacial corrie lake held between Slieve Binnian and Slieve Lamagan, walked in from Carrick Little; Spelga Reservoir sits high on the road with an easy lakeshore walk and the gravity hill below the dam; and the Shimna drops off the same mountains through Tollymore Forest Park under sixteen stone bridges. The Shimna is a spate river, so weather decides what you get: a step-and-pool stream in dry spells, a brown roar after rain.
The rivers account for most of the rest. The Clanrye runs through the middle of Newry and under the 1893 Town Hall, marking the old Down and Armagh boundary before reaching Carlingford Lough past Warrenpoint, while the Bann rises in the Mournes and heads north through Banbridge. The mountain entries all need a drive and a walk; the lough-side ones do not.
A harbour city half an hour by train from Belfast, with free Victorian gardens, a Bronze Age museum and seals on the coast path rocks.
Northern Ireland's largest marina, 541 sheltered berths staffed round the clock, at the edge of the town centre with the coastal path along the quay.
Sheltered and almost tide-free, a shipbuilding lough whose southern shore carries the 21 km coastal path through Holywood and Bangor, Carrickfergus Castle opposite.
A working town river cutting through Newry and under the 1893 Town Hall, known for brown and sea trout on the old county boundary.
An easy half day out of Belfast, with the last surviving maypole in Ireland, a medieval priory and the lough shore path to Cultra.
20 of 20 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Bangor, down
Saint Comgall founded a monastery at Bangor in the 6th century that ranked alongside Iona among the great schools of Celtic Christianity. The harbour town, made Northern Ireland's sixth city in 2022, sits a 30-minute train ride east of Belfast, with free Victorian gardens, Bronze Age swords in the North Down Museum, and a coast path where grey seals haul out on the rocks.
Bangor, down
Bangor Marina is the largest in Northern Ireland, with 541 sheltered berths on the southern shore of Belfast Lough. It is staffed round the clock all year, sits at the edge of Bangor town centre, and has the North Down Coastal Path passing along the quay.
Bangor, antrim
Belfast Lough is a sheltered, almost tide-free sea inlet, which is why it grew into a shipbuilding port and why wading birds winter on its inner mudflats in internationally important numbers. The 21 km North Down Coastal Path traces the southern shore through Holywood and Bangor; Carrickfergus Castle guards the northern side.
Newry, down
The Clanrye River runs through the middle of Newry, forming the historic boundary between Down and Armagh and flowing right under the 1893 Town Hall. It's a working town river best known for its brown and sea trout fishing, reaching Carlingford Lough past Narrow Water Castle.
Holywood, down
Holywood has the only surviving maypole in Ireland, still danced around every May Day. Add a medieval priory in the town centre, a coastal path along Belfast Lough and the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra, and it makes an easy half-day out from Belfast.
killinchy, down
Two miles inland from Strangford Lough in the barony of Dufferin, Killinchy is a village of around 500 people with the 15th-century island ruin of Sketrick Castle and three sailing clubs nearby. The Annals of the Four Masters record Sketrick's capture in 1470; a storm later collapsed much of it, and a stone underground passage was found in 1957.
Banbridge, down
The Bann runs from the Mourne Mountains through Lough Neagh and out to the Atlantic, splitting Northern Ireland along the old 'Bann divide'. You can cruise the Lower Bann from Portglenone or Coleraine, fish one of the North's best salmon rivers, or walk the greenways under its 19th-century bridges.
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The Shimna drops out of the Mourne Mountains and runs through Tollymore Forest Park, crossed by sixteen stone bridges, the oldest from 1726. It is a spate river: a modest step-and-pool stream in dry weather, a brown roar you can hear from the car park after rain. The Irish record sea trout, 16 lb 6 oz, was landed here in 1983.
Mourne Mountains, down
Beneath the craggy slopes of Slieve Binnian runs the 2.5-mile Binnian Tunnel, a mid-century feat of surveying that channels water to the Silent Valley Reservoir. Above ground, hikers trace the Mourne Wall over granite tors and the Back Castles before dropping to the still waters of Blue Lough.
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High in the Mourne Mountains, Spelga Reservoir pairs an easy lakeshore walk with wide mountain views and the famous gravity hill on the road south of the dam, where cars appear to roll uphill. Free to enter, £4.50 to park, and busy on fine summer weekends.
Northern Ireland, down
Warrenpoint sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, below the Mourne and Cooley mountains, an old Victorian resort turned working port town. Its centrepiece is the Edwardian municipal park, reopened in 2018 after an £850,000 restoration, with a rebuilt bandstand and a promenade looking across to the Republic. It makes a handy cross-border base ten minutes south of Newry.
Downpatrick, down
Groomsport, down
Mourne Mountains, down
Craigavad, down
Carlingford Lough, down
Kilmood, down
Newry, armagh
Newtownards, down
Scarva, down
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