Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [591]
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There’s hostel accommodation for hikers at Ballyeamon Camping Barn ( 2175 8451; www.ballyeamonbarn.com; 127 Ballyeamon Rd; dm £10; ), 8km southwest of Cushendall on the B14 (1km north of its junction with the A43), close to the Moyle Way and about 1.5km walk from the main entrance to the forest park.
Laragh Lodge ( 2175 8221; 120 Glen Rd; mains £9-11, 4-course Sun lunch £15; 10.30am-11pm, food noon-9pm) is a restaurant and bar on a side road off the A43, 3km northeast of the main park entrance. A recently renovated Victorian tourist lodge with assorted bric-a-brac dangling from the rafters, the Laragh dates from 1890 and serves hearty pub-grub style meals – beef and Guinness pie, fish and chips, sausage and mash (with a couple of vegetarian options) – and offers a traditional roast lunch on Sunday.
You can reach Glenariff Forest Park from Cushendun (£4, 30 minutes, six daily Monday to Friday, four Saturday) and Ballymena (£4, 30 minutes) on Ulsterbus 150.
Carnlough
pop 1500
Carnlough is an attractive little town with a pretty harbour and a historic hotel. Many of the buildings, made of local limestone, were commissioned by the Marquess of Londonderry in 1854. The limestone quarries were in use until the early 1960s – the white stone bridge across the main street once carried a railway line that brought stone down to the harbour. The line is now a walkway that leads to the local beauty spot, Cranny Falls.
The tourist information centre ( 2888 5236; 14 Harbour Rd; 10am-10pm daily Easter-Sep, to 8pm Mon-Sat Oct-Easter) is in McKillop’s general store, next to the Londonderry Arms Hotel.
SLEEPING & EATING
Londonderry Arms Hotel ( 2888 5255; www.glensofantrim.com; 20 Harbour Rd; s/d from £65/110; ) Dating from 1848, this atmospheric coaching inn was briefly owned by Winston Churchill, who sold it in 1921 (he once stayed in room 114). It has a wonderfully crusty, old-fashioned atmosphere, with various bits of antique furniture, wing-back armchairs and lots of polished mahogany, spoiled a little by 1970s avocado bathroom suites. The hotel’s Frances Anne restaurant (mains £15 to £20) serves local lamb and seafood, while the wood-panelled bar is a shrine to the famous Irish racehorse Arkle.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Bus 162 runs from Larne to Glenarm and Carnlough (£4, 40 minutes, eight daily Monday to Friday, six Saturday); three buses a day on weekdays continue north to Cushendall. Bus 128 goes to Ballymena (£4, one hour, five daily Monday to Friday, one Saturday). Also see Getting There & Around, Click here.
Glenarm
pop 600
Since 1750 Glenarm (Gleann Arma), the oldest village in the glens, has been the family seat of the MacDonnell family; the present 14th Earl of Antrim lives in Glenarm Castle ( 2884 1203; www.glenarmcastle.com), on a private estate hidden behind the impressive wall that runs along the main road north of the bridge. The castle itself is closed to the public, except for two days in July when a Highland Games competition is held, but you can visit the lovely walled garden (adult/child £4/2; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat & noon-6pm Sun May-Sep, closed Tue May & Sep).
The tourist office ( 2884 1705; 2 The Bridge; glenarm@nacn.org; 9.30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 2-6pm Sun) is beside the bridge on the main road. It has internet access for £2 per 30 minutes.
Take a stroll into the old village of neat Georgian houses (off the main road, immediately south of the river). Where the street opens into the broad expanse of Altmore St, look right to see the Barbican Gate (1682), the entrance to Glenarm Castle grounds. On the left is Steensons ( 2884 1445; Toberwine St; 9.30am-5.15pm Mon-Sat year-round,