things to see and do in bangor and belfast
 

we are going to belfast (staying in bangor) for 3 nights, can anyone give us any tips on what to see and do. we are going 3-6july.<BR> thanks

Mont Stewart gardens, Grayabbey, Giant's causeway, dunlucy castle, Antrim coast, Carick a reed rope bridge, St. paddys grave in Downpatrick. Have fun!

In Belfast, City Hall (do the tour), eat at Nick's Warehouse or Dean's, have a drink in the Crown and on Friday night, head to the Rotterdam (take a cab) for drinks and music (call first, see if they're doing music). Some people like to take the black taxi tours that show you the murals in various parts of the city. To me, it's somewhat in bad taste, but others find it interesting. Look for the taxi stand behind the Castle Court shopping center in Belfast.<BR><BR>Mountains of Mourne (Newcastle--some great hiking there), Silent Valley--I'm pressed for time right now. Try a search, as we've done several postings on Belfast.

thanks for your replies

Apartment beside the City Hall is nice for food or trendy drinking. Visit Grace Neills (oldest pub in Ireland, isn't it?)in Donaghadee, which is about 5 miles from Bangor on the coast. Great food & interior/atmosphere. Mountstewart, outside Newtownards as already mentioned (by the bad speller) is known as one of the top Gardens in Europe and you can tour the house also. A few miles down the road is Greyabbey which has several antique shops. Stop at "Hoops" in the courtyard there for home made scones and cakes. Travelling on down the peninsula is Portaferry and you can get the short ferry across to Strangford on the other side. A few miles from Strangford is Downpatrick whose association with St Patrick means there's several historic sites to visit if interested. You can travel back to Bangor via Killyleagh, Comber, Newtownards. Killyleagh has a castle and the Dufferin Arms nearby which is good for food. I really like Hillsborough as its very quaint. Also has a lot of association with the royalty - Hillsborough castle etc. Great places to eat there - The Hillside, The Plough, Marquis of Downshire - do a pub crawl. Giants Causeway is a must when visiting Northern Ireland. Also try to see TorrHead and the beautiful Murlough Bay near Ballycastle. The Ramore or Harbour Inn in Portrush (at the Harbour beside each other) are superb. Portballintrae is nice for a drive or walk through and the oldest distillery nearby, Bushmills, in the village of the same name is quite good. <BR>Newtownards has a good tourist office beside the bus station where you could pick up lots of info as well as being a nice craft type shop. <BR>Enjoy - there's lots more but you'll have to come back again !<BR>PS As you can tell I'm a real foodie!

Apartment beside the City Hall is nice for food or trendy drinking. Go for a walk to Crawfordsburn Country Park/Helens Bay near Bangor. Visit Grace Neills (oldest pub in Ireland, isn't it?)in Donaghadee, which is about 5 miles from Bangor on the coast. Great food & interior/atmosphere. Mountstewart, outside Newtownards as already mentioned (by the bad speller) is known as one of the top Gardens in Europe and you can tour the house also. A few miles down the road is Greyabbey which has several antique shops. Stop at "Hoops" in the courtyard there for home made scones and cakes. Travelling on down the peninsula is Portaferry and you can get the short ferry across to Strangford on the other side. A few miles from Strangford is Downpatrick whose association with St Patrick means there's several historic sites to visit if interested. You can travel back to Bangor via Killyleagh, Comber, Newtownards. Killyleagh has a castle (Van Morrison performed there) and the Dufferin Arms nearby which is good for food. I really like Hillsborough as its very quaint. Also has a lot of association with the royalty - Hillsborough castle etc. Great places to eat there - The Hillside, The Plough, Marquis of Downshire - do a pub crawl. Giants Causeway is a must when visiting Northern Ireland. Also try to see TorrHead and the beautiful Murlough Bay near Ballycastle. The Ramore or Harbour Inn in Portrush (at the Harbour beside each other) are superb. Portballintrae is nice for a drive or walk through and the oldest distillery nearby, Bushmills, in the village of the same name is quite good. <BR>Newtownards has a good tourist office beside the bus station where you could pick up lots of info as well as being a nice craft type shop. <BR>Enjoy - there's lots more but you'll have to come back again !<BR>PS As you can tell I'm a real foodie!