Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [549]
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Sea Salt ( 4372 5027; 51 Central Promenade; mains £4-6; 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat & Sun, 7-9pm Fri & Sat) Both delicatessen and bistro, Sea Salt serves everything from a morning cappuccino to a lunchtime seafood platter, with an evening menu that ranges from Spanish tapas to themed menus from around the world.
Strand Restaurant & Bakery ( 4372 3472; 53-55 Central Promenade; mains £5-9; 8.30am-11pm Jun-Aug, 9am-6pm Sep-May) The Strand has been around since 1930, and dishes up great homemade ice cream and cakes, as well as serving all-day breakfast (£2 to £5), lunch and dinner in its traditional, seaside, chips-with-everything restaurant.
Mourne Café ( 4372 6401; 107 Central Promenade; mains £6-8; 11am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 10pm Fri-Sun) A new venture by the owners of the Mourne Seafood Bar (right), this informal, family-friendly cafe dishes up a kids menu (mains £5) as well as seafood chowder and beer-battered haddock and chips for mum and dad.
Campers can stock up on provisions at the Lidl Supermarket (3 Railway St; 9am-7pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 9pm Thu, to 6pm Sat, 1-6pm Sun) in the red-brick former train station beside the bus station.
SHOPPING
Hill Trekker ( 4372 3842; 115 Central Promenade; 10am-5.30pm Tue-Sun), at the far south end of town, sells hiking, climbing and camping equipment.
GETTING THERE & AROUND
The bus station is on Railway St. Ulsterbus 20 runs to Newcastle from Belfast’s Europa BusCentre (£7, 1¼ hours, at least hourly Monday to Saturday, eight Sunday) via Dundrum. Bus 37 continues along the coast road from Newcastle to Annalong and Kilkeel (£4, 35 minutes, hourly Monday to Saturday, eight Sunday).
Goldline Express bus 240 takes the inland route from Newry to Newcastle (£5, 50 minutes, six daily Monday to Saturday, two Sunday) via Hilltown and continues on to Downpatrick. You can also get to Newry along the coast road, changing buses at Kilkeel.
Wiki Wiki Wheels ( 4372 3973; 10B Donard St; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat, 2-6pm Sun), near the bus station, and Ross Cycles ( 4377 8029; 44 Clarkhill Rd, Castlewellan; 9.30am-6pm Mon-Sat, 2-5pm Sun), near Castlewellan, both hire out bikes for around £10/50 per day/week.
Around Newcastle
DUNDRUM
Second only to Carrickfergus as Northern Ireland’s finest Norman fortress is Dundrum Castle ( 9181 1491; Dundrum; admission free; 10am-6pm daily Easter-Sep, noon-4pm Sun only Oct-Easter), founded in 1177 by John de Courcy of Carrickfergus. The castle overlooks the sheltered waters of Dundrum Bay, famous for its oysters and mussels.
Set in a wood-panelled Victorian house with local art brightening the walls, Mourne Seafood Bar ( 4375 1377; 10 Main St; mains £9-17; noon-9.30pm daily, closed Mon & Tue Nov-Mar) is a friendly and informal fishmonger-cum-restaurant. As well as a choice of local oysters served five different ways, the menu includes seafood chowder, crab, langoustines and daily fish specials, all sourced locally.
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WALK: THE BRANDY PAD
The Brandy Pad is an ancient smugglers’ trail across the Mourne Mountains, used in the 18th century to carry brandy, wine, tobacco and coffee to Hilltown, thereby avoiding the excise officer at Newcastle.
The trail begins at the car park at Bloody Bridge on the A2 coast road, 5km south of Newcastle (any bus to Kilkeel will drop you there). From here, the path leads up the valley of the Bloody Bridge River, past old granite workings, to the Mourne Wall at the saddle south of Slieve Donard (3.5km).
On the far side of the wall a wide path contours north (to your right) across the lower slopes of Slieve Donard, then continues traversing west below the Castles, a huddle of weathered granite pinnacles. Beyond the peaty col beneath Slieve Commedagh, the path descends slightly into the valley of the Kilkeel River (or Silent Valley) and continues