Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [537]
Rioja ( 9147 0774; 119 High St; mains £15-17; 5-9pm Tue-Sat, noon-2pm Fri) Rioja is a relaxed Mediterranean bistro. With terracotta tiles and candle-lit tables, it offers a range of Iberian, French and Italian dishes, including cataplana, a Portuguese seafood casserole. Although it’s licensed, you can bring your own wine if you want to (corkage £1); the early bird menu (5pm to 7pm Tuesday to Friday) offers any main course for £9.95.
Entertainment
Jenny Watts ( 9127 0401; 41 High St) A traditional pub with a beer garden out back, Jenny’s pulls in a mixed-age crowd, offering folk music on Tuesday night, easy listening on Thursday, cool tunes (in the upstairs lounge) on Friday and Saturday, and jazz and blues Sunday lunchtime and evening. It also serves good pub grub, and kids are welcome at meal times.
Café Ceol ( 9146 8830; www.cafeceolbangor.com; 17-21 High St; admission free-£5; 7pm-1am Wed-Fri, to 1.45am Sat) Bangor’s biggest and busiest nightclub has a sleek cocktail bar, an intimate lounge and a stylish club venue, Mint, which features hip hop and R&B on Thursday, ’80s and ’90s music on Friday and dance, house, funk and R&B on Saturday.
Getting There & Away
Ulsterbus ( 9066 6630; www.translink.co.uk) services 1 and 2 run from Belfast’s Laganside BusCentre to Bangor (£3, 55 minutes, half-hourly Monday to Saturday, eight Sunday). From Bangor, bus 3 goes to Donaghadee (25 minutes, hourly Monday to Saturday, four Sunday), and bus 6 goes to Newtownards (20 minutes, half-hourly Monday to Saturday, seven Sunday).
There’s also a regular train service from Belfast’s Great Victoria St and Central stations to Bangor (£5, 30 minutes, half-hourly Monday to Saturday, hourly Sunday).
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ARDS PENINSULA
The low-lying Ards Peninsula (An Aird) is the finger of land that encloses Strangford Lough, pinching against the thumb of the Lecale Peninsula at the Portaferry Narrows. The northern half of the peninsula has some of Ireland’s most fertile farmland, with large expanses of wheat and barley, while the south is a landscape of neat fields, white cottages and narrow, winding roads. The eastern coast has some good sandy beaches.
Donaghadee
pop 6500
Donaghadee (Domhnach Daoi) was the main ferry port for Scotland until 1874, when the 34km sea crossing to Portpatrick was superseded by the Stranraer–Larne route. Now it’s a pleasant harbour town that’s fast becoming part of Belfast’s commuter belt.
The town is home to Grace Neill’s, which dates from 1611 and claims to be Ireland’s oldest pub. Among its 17th-century guests was Peter the Great, tsar of Russia, who stopped in for lunch in 1697 on his grand tour of Europe. In the 19th century, John Keats found the place ‘charming and clean’ but was ‘treated to ridicule, scorn and violent abuse by the local people who objected to my mode of dress and thought I was some strange foreigner’.
In July and August, MV The Brothers ( 9188 3403; www.nelsonsboats.co.uk) runs boat trips to Copeland Island (adult/child £5/3, departs 2pm daily, weather permitting), which was abandoned to the seabirds at the turn of the 20th century. There are also sea-angling trips (£10 per person, departures at 10am and 7pm), with all tackle and bait provided.
SLEEPING & EATING
Pier 36 ( 9188 4466; 36 The Parade; s/d £50/70, mains £8-18; food served 12.30-2.30pm & 5-9.30pm Wed-Sun) An excellent pub with a red-brick and terracotta-tiled restaurant at the back, dominated by a yellow Rayburn stove that turns out home-baked bread and the daily roast. The hearty menu includes soups, stews, sausage and champ, mussels and other seafood, steaks and a good range of veggie dishes, and there are a couple of comfortable B&B rooms upstairs.
Grace Neill’s ( 9188 4595; 33 High St; mains £9-16; food noon-3pm & 5.30-9pm Mon-Fri, noon-9.30pm Sat, 12.30-8pm Sun)