David_Perry

In August of next year, my wife and I will be visiting Antrim, and after a few days there we'll be travelling back toward Dublin. Would like to overnight somewhere on the way. Would Armagh City be a good choice for one afternoon/evening plus the following morning? I think we'll be staying in Carlingford on the way up but would like to stay somewhere else on the way back. My wife and I both like historical places, but I've heard mixed reviews of Armagh city. Some say it's very nice these days, others say it's a little run-down.

Are there other towns in that area (Armagh/Down) that would be good for overnight?

Padraig

Armagh does nothing for me. Other than Carlingford, I don't think that there is any place on anything near a direct route from Antrim to Dublin is particularly interesting.

flanneruk

Depends on your tastes.

Armagh's been the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland for centuries, and since a huge part of the connection most English-speaking visitors to Ireland have is their religious heritage, its cathedrals are worth visiting.

Which said, though the Church of Ireland cathedral is the direct descendant of the church Patrick built on the spot 1600 years ago, the Victorians restored (or, as we'd say these days, vandalised) it heavily, though it's still got some of Ireland's best surviving medieval stonework. People who like 19th century Irish Catholic ecclesiastical architecture will find the Catholic cathedral the kind of thing they like. There's little of visitor interest in the city from the nonconformist Protestant tradition, which remains politically dominant in the North.

Other than that, Armagh's underwhelming. But, as Padraig says, so is everything else on the way.

littlejane

A spot I like is Newforge House in County Armagh http://www.irelands-blue-book.ie/newforge-house.htm - it's a lovely old house, with just a few rooms and a great chef.

It's not in a town but the food there is really excellent and it might be a relaxing way to break up the journey.

David_Perry

Thank you for the replies.

As an alternative to Armagh city, how about Hillsborough, just south of Lisburn - I just used Google's yellow man and had a look around - looks like it might be OK for a day or so.

tower

During the "troubles" in the 80', we were greeted by this poster at the border. Rather shaking news since we were planning to go to Armagh from the Antrim Coast. Hopefully, those days are history:

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...54870846062626