Bangor, County Down

Bangor's accommodation runs from boutique seafront hotels to Victorian guest houses and a countryside inn on its outskirts, giving visitors a genuine choice of base rather than a single obvious option. Seacliff Road and the marina area hold the town's smartest addresses, putting guests within a short walk of the harbour restaurants, Pickie Funpark and the railway station, while Ballyholme's quieter guest houses look out over their own stretch of Blue Flag beach a little further round the bay.

A few miles outside the town, Crawfordsburn offers a different pace entirely: wooded, rural, and home to one of Ireland's oldest working inns, it suits travellers who want a spa and open fires alongside easy access to both Bangor and Belfast. Back in the centre, Princetown Road and the streets around the marina hold a good run of family-run guest houses in converted Victorian townhouses, generally the best value option for anyone arriving by train and planning to explore on foot.

The eight properties below cover that spread: two boutique hotels and a historic countryside inn at the upper end, a well-known budget chain hotel, three long-established guest houses, and a self-catering option right on the seafront for those who would rather cook their own breakfast with a view over Belfast Lough. Prices below are indicative and should always be checked directly with the property before booking.

Bangor rewards a slow wander along its waterfront as much as any single sight, but these are the highlights to build a visit around:

• Pickie Funpark a family favourite on the seafront with pedal swans, mini-golf, splash pads and the narrow-gauge Pickie Puffer railway looping the park.
• Bangor Marina one of Ireland's largest marinas, a genuine working harbour that's good for a wander among the yachts, with restaurants and cafes overlooking the water.
• North Down Museum housed within the walled grounds of Bangor Castle, telling the area's story from the Bronze Age through the monastic era to the Victorian resort years, with free entry.
• Bangor Abbey site of St Comgall's sixth-century monastery, once one of early Christian Ireland's great centres of learning, and still a working parish church today.
• Ward Park a Victorian public park with a boating lake, aviary and bandstand, popular for picnics, duck-feeding and gentle walks.
• Ballyholme Beach a broad sandy Blue Flag beach east of the marina, sheltered enough for swimming and sailing, with clubs based along its shore.
• North Down Coastal Path a waymarked walking route tracing the shoreline from Holywood to Orlock Point, taking in Crawfordsburn Country Park and Grey Point Fort en route.
• Eddie Irvine Sports an indoor karting, roller disco, football and pickleball venue on the edge of town, owned by the former Formula One driver.

Bangor's food scene draws on County Down's reputation as one of Ireland's best larders. Comber, a short drive inland, gives its name to the Comber earlies, the delicately-skinned new potatoes with protected status that appear on menus across the county every summer. Strangford Lough, over on the Ards Peninsula, supplies oysters and mussels found on seafood boards throughout the area, while Portavogie prawns, landed further down the coast, turn up in chowders and seafood platters on menus in Bangor itself.

In town, Coyles Bar & Bistro on the High Street is a long-standing spot for pub classics and seafood, while Cairn Bay Lodge's Starfish Cafe serves brunch and light lunches with views over Ballyholme Bay. The restaurants around the marina make the most of their harbour outlook for an evening meal, and a seasonal twilight market brings local food and drink producers into the town centre through the summer months. On any fine day the seafront kiosks still do a brisk trade in ice cream and fish and chips, Bangor's oldest and simplest culinary tradition, best eaten on a bench looking out over Belfast Lough.

Bangor itself has no campsite within the town, but the Ards Peninsula immediately to the south-east holds a small cluster of long-established touring parks within about ten miles, easily reached along the coast road through Groomsport and Donaghadee. Millisle, in particular, has been a family camping and caravanning destination for decades, with sandy beaches, rock pools and a gentler pace than Bangor's busier seafront.

For something more organised, Delamont Country Park near Killyleagh, a little further south on the shores of Strangford Lough, is Northern Ireland's only Camping and Caravanning Club site, with a five-star rating and full serviced pitches for tents, caravans and motorhomes. It makes a good base for exploring Strangford Lough's shoreline and wildlife as well as day trips back up the coast to Bangor.

All three sites below accept both touring caravans and tents, and all are seasonal, generally open from around Easter through to November, so it is worth checking opening dates before travelling outside the summer months. Dogs are welcome at each, and none is more than a straightforward half-hour drive from Bangor town centre.