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Sport & Activities
Walking: Northern Ireland’s scenic beauty and variety of landscapes make it a rewarding country to explore on foot. Forest trails, cliff-top paths and mountain hikes are easily accessible from the widely scattered villages and towns. Lake trails are particularly good around Lough Neagh and the Fermanagh Lakeland. The Mourne Mountains and forest parks in County Down and the Nine Glens in County Antrim are also considered excellent for hiking. Archaeological sites, such as stone-age tombs, stone circles (notably in Beaghmore), Celtic crosses, monasteries, Norman castles and 17th-century fortified houses, offer interesting stopovers. The best known and longest trail (896km/560 miles) is the circular Ulster Way, now largely marked, which runs all around Northern Ireland. Another well known marked trail is the North Down Coastal Path.
Pony trekking: This is widely practised, particularly in areas such as the mountains and forests around Newcastle and Castlewellan, the North Down coast and the Causeway coast.
Fishing: Sea fishing is popular all along the coast and skippered boats of all sizes can be hired at most resorts. Strangford Lough is famous for its skate and tope. Carlingford Lough is nearly as good and the coast of Belfast Lough is dotted with sea angling clubs. There are superb waters for river and lake fishing, particularly in the Mournes area of Down, the Glens of Antrim and the River Bann, which is well known for excellent salmon fishing. In most areas a rod licence and a coarse fishing permit are necessary. Day permits are available. Check at the nearest tackle shop or contact the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (see Contact Addresses section).
Golf: Some of the best golf courses are situated on the coast – at Whitehead, Bangor, Royal Portrush, Ballycastle, Royal County Down at Newcastle and the Chairndhu Club near Larne. Weekly and daily rates for playing on the courses are available from the club itself or the nearest tourist information centre.
Diving: Northern Ireland can offer the experienced diving enthusiast several areas to explore; these include Strangford Lough, some 29km (18 miles) long and averaging 6km (3.5 miles) wide, a fascinating underwater world with many contrasting diving sites. The long history of sea traffic has left a legacy of wrecks in and around the Lough such as the ‘Lees’ wreck, an old liberty ship now lying at 12m (39ft), or the remains of the largest vessel wrecked on the Co Down coast, the American troop carrier ‘Georgetown Victory’. Also of interest to experienced divers are the rugged, towering coast of Rathlin Island, and Northern Ireland’s famous north coast.
Cruising: Loch Erne has in recent years become very popular for cruising holidays and several tour operators and local companies can arrange holidays. Contact the Tourist Board for further details.
Special interest: Northern Ireland offers good opportunities for special interest holidays, from poetry and pottery to cooking, painting, gardening or music. For details of companies offering tailor-made special interest holidays, contact the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (see Contact Addresses section).
Other: Both hang-gliding and rock climbing can be practised in the Mournes, Co Down, Magilligan, Bellarena and Aghadowey, Co Londonderry. The River Bann at Coleraine is good for water-skiing while canoeing is widespread at Bangor and Newcastle.
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