Northern Ireland - where is everybody?

[Velma's Dad]

We just had a week's trip around Norn Iron. Beforehand I'd looked around the forums for campsite ideas etc, but given we'd be there in August I got several booked early as I assumed many would be full this time of year.

Err... no. I was amazed at how empty sites were, and generally how few campervans/MHs we saw around some of the most beautiful spots the UK has to offer. I know the need for a ferry crossing is a cost obstacle but even so.

Anyway here are a couple of sites we used, if anyone else is thinking of going.

Flesk Water Camping. 17 miles north of Ballymena. Not the most beautiful setting but ideal for touring the Glens of Antrim (stunning) and Causeway coast. Very friendly owner, well maintained site.

Thistle-Do CL. Very quiet countryside south of Castlederg. Basic CL site (with EHU and water), lovely view. We were the only ones there!

Rushin House Caravan Park. Near Belcoo in Fermanagh. Very well-appointed lakeside site with all facilities, a mile or so from a couple of pubs. Great base for exploring Fermanagh and also across the border eg the Geopark trails in Cavan.

Tolleymore campsite. Inside the gorgeous Tolleymore Forest Park. Quite busy site but still not full. The park walks are absolutely lovely. 10 mins drive to the seaside resort of Newcastle.

Castle Ward campsite. On the edge of the National Trust property. Nice site in a woodland clearing. Near Strangford on the south side of the lough. An hour from Belfast ferry port so we spent our last night there, but would have been nice to have more time to explore eg go onto the Ards peninsula.

There you go, in case anyone's interested. Can't promise the weather though, although we were pretty lucky (on the only really wet morning we popped into Belfast to see the Titanic exhibition).

 

[BeeBee]

We went over in June, got some lovely weather too, only one wet day out of 6.
One site we would highly recommend is Ballyness , near Bushmills, lovely site.
Did the Antrim coast then over to Donegal coastal area, very pretty.
Antrim coast however seems to have an overabundance of ‘static caravan’ parks, row after row and site after site,, not pretty.
Ferries are expensive to Ireland so guess it’s putting people off.

 

[Mehdime]

I guess that most campervanners land in Rosslare or Dublin and head to the Wild Atlantic Way. Northern Ireland has some beautiful spots for sure but isn’t as well advertised as the WAW.

 

[Whistler]

We went to Ireland 2 years ago - Liverpool to Belfast. Stayed at the Ballyness site in Bushmill and would highly recommend it. Also stayed at Tolleymore but was disappointed in the site if I’m honest. Never quite felt comfortable on the site. The facilities could also do with an overhaul.