Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [576]
Downhill Hostel ( 7084 9077; www.downhillhostel.com; 12 Mussenden Rd; dm/d from £11/35, f from £40 plus per child £5; ) is a beautifully restored late-19th-century house, tucked beneath the sea cliffs and overlooking the beach, offering very comfortable accommodation in six-bed dorms, doubles and family rooms. There’s a big lounge with an open fire and a view of the sea, and you can hire wetsuits and body boards when the surf’s up. You can even paint your own mugs, plates and bowls in the neighbouring pottery. There are no shops in Downhill so bring supplies with you.
Bus 134 between Limavady and Coleraine (20 minutes, nine daily Monday to Friday, six Saturday) stops at Downhill, as does the 234 between Derry and Coleraine.
Castlerock
Castlerock is a small seaside resort with a decent beach. At the turn-off from the main coast road towards Castlerock is the late-17th-century Hezlett House ( 2073 1582; guided tour adult/child £3.50/2.40; 11am-5pm Fri-Tue Jul & Aug, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun Easter, Jun & Sep), a thatched cottage noted for its cruck-truss roof gables of stone and turf strengthened with wooden crucks, or crutches. The interior decor is Victorian.
Bus 134 between Limavady and Coleraine (20 minutes, nine daily Monday to Friday, six Saturday) stops at Castlerock, as does the 234 between Derry and Coleraine.
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TOP FIVE VIEWPOINTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Binevenagh Lake (above)
Fair Head
Cuilcagh Mountain
Scrabo Hill
Slieve Donard
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There are nine trains a day from Castlerock to Coleraine (£2, 10 minutes) and Derry (£7.50, 35 minutes) Monday to Saturday, and four on Sunday.
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COLERAINE
pop 25,300
Coleraine (Cúil Raithin), on the banks of the River Bann, is an important transport hub and shopping centre. It was one of the original Plantation towns of County Londonderry, founded in 1613. The University of Ulster was established here in 1968 much to the chagrin of Derry, which had lobbied hard to win it.
There’s not much to see in town, but it’s a pleasant enough place for a wander on your way between Derry and the Antrim Coast.
Orientation & Information
The mostly pedestrianised town centre is on the east bank of the River Bann. From the combined train and bus station turn left along Railway Rd to find the tourist information centre ( 7034 4723; info@northcoastni.com; Railway Rd; 9am-5pm Mon-Sat), then turn right at King’s Gate St for the main shopping area and Coleraine Library ( 7034 2561; Queen St; 9.30am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 5pm Fri & Sat, 1-5pm Sun), which has public internet access for £1.50 per 30 minutes.
Sights & Activities
The tourist office has a Heritage Trail leaflet that will guide you around what little remains of the original Plantation town, including St Patrick’s Church, parts of which date from 1613, and fragments of the town walls.
On the second Saturday of each month the Causeway Speciality Market ( 9am-2.30pm) is held in the Diamond, selling a range of local crafts and organic produce, from hand-turned wooden bowls and homemade candles to farmhouse jam from Ballywalter, County Down, and sheep-milk cheese from County Derry.
Just 1.5km south of the town centre, on the east bank of the river, is Mountsandel Fort (admission free; dawn-dusk), a massive and mysterious earthwork that may have been an early Christian stronghold or a later Anglo-Norman fortification. From the Mountsandel Forest parking area on Mountsandel Rd, a 2.5km circular walk leads high above the River Bann to the fort, where you descend steeply down to the riverbank and return upstream past the Victorian lock and weir at Cutts.
You can take a 1½-hour river cruise on the Lady Sandel ( 07798 786955; www.riverbanncruises.com; adult/child £8.50/5.50) from the jetty on Strand Rd (across the river from the town centre) upstream to Macfinn via the lock at Cutts, or downstream to the river mouth. Boats depart at 2pm Saturday and Sunday from Easter to mid-September, plus 3pm Monday to Friday in July and August.
Sleeping & Eating
There