7 Best Sights in Northern Ireland

In 1934, this spectacularly baronial castle, built for the Marquess of Donegall in 1865, was passed to the Belfast Corporation. Although the castle functions primarily as a restaurant, it also houses, in the cellar, the Visitor Centre, which provides information about the castle's history and its natural surroundings in Cave Hill Country Park. Tours are self-guided and take in the reception rooms built by the Earls of Shaftesbury. For a fine introduction to the castle and park, check out the excellent eight-minute video Watching over Belfast. In fact, the best reason to visit the castle is to stroll the ornamental gardens and then make the ascent to McArt's Fort. This promontory, at the top of sheer cliffs 1,200 feet above the city, affords an excellent view across Belfast. Take the path uphill from the parking lot, turn right at the next intersection of pathways, and then keep left as you journey up the steep-in-places hill to the fort.

After your walk, the Castle Tavern is a great place for drinks, snacks, and meals.

Built atop a rock ledge in 1180 by John de Courcy, provincial Ulster's first Anglo-Norman invader, Carrickfergus Castle is still in good shape and has sparked renewed visitor appeal with the opening of its dungeons. Apart from being captured briefly by the French in 1760, the castle—one of Ireland's largest—stood as a bastion of British rule until 1928, at which time it still functioned as an English garrison. It is the longest continually used castle of its type. During 2020 work was completed on a huge £1 million conservation project replacing the roof of the Great Tower with a new double-pitched roof. Built using medieval construction designs and techniques, it was made of Irish oak timber from trees which came down in a storm and have been oak-pegged in place without the use of nails or metal fixings. Externally it is finished with Cumbrian stone slates and lead. Walk through the 13th-century gatehouse into the Outer Ward and continue into the Inner Ward, the heart of the fortress, where the four-story keep stands, a massive, sturdy building with walls almost 8 feet thick. Make sure you venture down the steps into the dark stone dungeons along with an ammunitions room. The town's tourist information center is also here in the reception area.

With a 500-acre park, an artificial lake, a Neoclassical temple, and a vast house in Bath stone magically set on the slopes running down to the Narrows of the southern shore of Strangford Lough, Castle Ward must have been some place to call home. About 3 km (2 miles) from the village of Strangford, off the road to Downpatrick, this regal stately home was designed around 1760 in, rather famously, two differing styles. Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor, could rarely see eye to eye (gossip had it) with his wife, Lady Anne, and the result was that he decided to make the entrance and salons elegant exercises in Palladian Neoclassicism, while milady transformed the garden facade and her own rooms using the most fashionable style of the day, Strawberry Hill Gothic. His white-and-beige Music Room is picked out in exquisite plasterwork, while her Boudoir has an undulating fan-vaulted ceiling that conjures up the "gothick" medievalisms of King Henry VII's chapel at Westminster. Tours are held every hour.

There are walking and cycling trails of the grounds from where you can look out over the lough shore and see the location of Winterfell used for the TV series Game of Thrones.

Regular Game of Thrones archery experiences are held throughout the year. In the spring and summer months sea safaris, as well as high tea and sea voyages around Strangford Lough, are organized at Castle Ward and leave from the pier at Strangford; these should be booked directly through Clear Sky Adventures ( www.clearsky-adventure.com)

This Georgian palace—the only royal residence in Ireland and that for 50 years was the official home of the governor of Northern Ireland—opened its doors to the public for the first time in 2015, and has since become a leading attraction involving a £24 million investment. It was built in the 1770s by Wills Hill, the 1st Marquess of Downshire, Ireland's largest landowner and secretary of the American colonies. Benjamin Franklin's five-day stay here is said to have contributed directly to the American War of Independence, such was the animosity between Franklin and Hill. Other visits included that of President George W. Bush and the historic meeting in 2005 between the Queen and Mary McAleese, then president of Ireland. The building was the location for talks during the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement and the more recent Northern Ireland peace process, and is still the current home of the secretary of state for Northern Ireland. On busy days up to four guided 45-minute castle tours are held hourly from 10 am to 4 pm. Visitors are brought through eight elegant state rooms, still used by the royal family, including the throne room, which comes with three magnificent Dublin teardrop crystal chandeliers and graceful drawing room where paintings from Irish artists including Derek Hill, James Dixon, David Crone, and Gareth Reid are on display. A highlight of the red room is 40 Henry Bone miniature portraits of sovereigns and their consorts; these small, exquisite, enamel-on-copper paintings were commissioned by Prince Albert in 1843. Look out, too, for impressive royal portraits and paintings by Old Masters such as Gainsborough and Van Dyck. Separate guided tours focusing on art, politics, royalty, and gender identity are also held on selected dates. The Hillsborough Castle café opened in 2019, which means that for the first time in the castle's 250-year history the public can enjoy snacks, lunches, or afternoon tea (£29.95) in royal surroundings. From the visitor center to the main house, where the Stable Yard Tea Room opens in the spring and summer, it is a 15-minute walk, although a shuttle bus also operates.

Explore the 100 acres of beautiful gardens, tended by 17 full-time gardeners, by following signposts through peaceful woods, waterways, and neatly manicured lawns. It is worth taking time to wander around the walled garden or Pinetum and take the yew tree walk to Lady Alice's Temple. Be aware that some of the paths have steps and steep slopes which are slippery in wet weather.

If time permits after your castle visit, you can stroll around or join a guided walking tour of the town. An attractive place with Georgian architecture, Hillsborough boasts a fort dating from 1630, and an 18th-century church all cheek by jowl with boutiques, gift shops, and a selection of genteel cafés and gastropubs such as the Hillside, the Plough, and the Parson's Nose, all serving food at lunchtime and early evening. Details and times of the walking tours with qualified guides are available at Hillsborough Visitor Information Centre in the former courthouse in the Square right beside the entrance/exit to the castle from the town ( 028/9628–9717).

Although the Irish architect Richard Johnston made the original drawings in the 1790s, and was responsible for the foundation, the castle was, for all intents and purposes, the work of James Wyatt, commissioned by the 1st Earl of Belmore. One of the best-known architects of his time, Wyatt was based in London but visited Ireland only once, so Alexander Stewart was drafted as the resident builder--architect. The designer wasn't the only imported element; in fact, much of Castle Coole came from England, including the main facade, which is clad in Portland stone and was hauled here by bullock carts. And what a facade it is—in perfect symmetry, white colonnaded wings extend from either side of the mansion's three-story, nine-bay center block, with a Palladian central portico and pediment. It is perhaps the apotheosis of the 18th century's reverence for the Greeks.

Inside, the house is remarkably preserved; most of the lavish plasterwork and original furnishings are in place. The saloon is one of the finest rooms in the house, with a vast expanse of oak flooring, gilded Regency furniture, and gray scagliola pilasters with Corinthian capitals. One-hour tours are held daily, with the last one at 4:15 pm, and include Life Below Stairs, which explores the servants' rooms and service quarters; above stairs is the home of the present Earl of Belmore, who still lives on the estate. During the day the Tallow House tearoom serves lunches and snacks.

In the summer months, you can indulge in the Queen Anne Afternoon Tea Experience. This includes a guided tour looking deeper into the history behind the original Queen Anne site on the estate followed by afternoon tea served in the lavish Breakfast Room. It costs £20; check the website for dates and availability.

Dramatically perched on a 100-foot-high basalt-rock cliff, halfway between Portrush and the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle is one of the north's most evocative ruins. Even roofless, this shattered bulk conjures up a strength and aura that is quintessentially Antrim. Originally a 13th-century Norman fortress, Dunluce was captured in the 16th century by the local MacDonnell clan chiefs. They enlarged it, in part using profits from salvaging the Spanish galleon Girona, and made it an important base for ruling northeastern Ulster. Perhaps the MacDonnells expanded the castle a bit too much, for in 1639 faulty construction caused the kitchens (with all the cooks) to plummet into the sea during a storm. Between 2009 and 2012, archaeologists uncovered belt buckles, thimbles, dress fastenings, jewelry, clay pipes, animal bones, and shards of pottery that are now on display in the Discovery Room. An eight-minute introductory film explores the castle's history. Colorful leaflets are available on-site dealing with the castle's checkered history. Guided tours are held every day at 11 am and 2 pm in the summer months and last 45 minutes.

Children love the sandpit where they can handle tools and dress up.

Strategically sited overlooking the River Erne, Enniskillen's 600-year-old waterfront castle is one of the best-preserved monuments in the north, and has undergone a multimillion-pound redevelopment, which has seen the tourist office merging with the castle complex, creating a new gateway to the region. Built in the early 15th century by the Gaelic Maguires to command the waterway, the castle was of tremendous importance in guarding one of the few passes into Ulster and the crossing point between Upper and Lower Lough Erne. Fermanagh’s unique lakeland history is interpreted in four galleries spread over two floors in the restored barrack coach house. Exhibitions highlight life from prehistoric times to the present day, from crannógs (man-made island settlements) to early Christian stone sculpture, Belleek pottery, and rural crafts and traditions. The Full Circle Art Gallery showcases work of local painters such as William Scott, T. P. Flanagan, and Kathleen Bridle. In the listening seat you can hear a recording of Flanagan (who died in 2011) speak about his love of Enniskillen, describing the special quality of the stillness and light. A new building, in the shape of the original armory, links the visitor center with the coach house, allowing tourists a glimpse of the original castle wall. The center, styling itself as a "history hub," combines tourism, genealogy, archive, and heritage services alongside a café and shop. The Camp Commander's garden has also been re-created. The polished paraphernalia of the Inniskillings Museum, which includes weapons, badges, medals, and engravings, is held in the castle keep. Pride of place is given to the bugle sounded at the charge of the regiment at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Look out too for the spectacular room with a cabinet holding the regimental silver used to dress the mess tables for formal dinners. There are interactive displays, and a Roll of Honor contains the names of the 9,100 people from all over Ireland who died in World War II.