Fermanagh Lakelands

Fermanagh Lakelands rewards a bit of thought about where you base yourself, because the county's attractions are spread around two large loughs rather than clustered in one place. Enniskillen is the obvious anchor: it has the largest concentration of restaurants, pubs and shops, sits at the junction of the main roads in and out of the county, and puts Castle Coole, Enniskillen Castle and the Marble Arch Caves all within a short drive. Staying in the town suits visitors who want to walk to dinner in the evening and who plan to explore outwards by car during the day.

Further out on Lower Lough Erne, around Killadeas, Kesh and Boa Island, the accommodation options trade convenience for scenery: several properties sit directly on the water, with private jetties, lake views from the bedroom window and, at the more elevated end, spa facilities built around that lakeside setting. These suit a slower trip, where the accommodation itself is part of the appeal rather than just a base, and where a hire car or the on-site ferry becomes the way you get about.

For a quieter, village-based stay, Belleek and Belcoo both offer a genuine sense of place: Belleek for its pottery and proximity to Donegal, Belcoo for its position at the gateway to the Marble Arch Caves and Cuilcagh Mountains. Guest houses and B&Bs in these areas tend to be smaller and more personal, often run by people who know the local walking and fishing intimately and can point you towards a stretch of water or a trail that isn't on the tourist board leaflets.

Whichever base you choose, book ahead for July and August, when the lough cruises and watersports centres are at their busiest and the better-known properties fill up well in advance, and expect a genuinely wide range of prices, from simple farmhouse B&Bs to five-star resort hotels with golf courses and spas attached.

The county's attractions are spread widely around the two loughs, so allow driving time between them.

• Enniskillen Castle Museums combine a restored 15th-century castle with galleries covering local history and the regiments of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, set on the bank of the River Erne.
• Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark offers guided boat and walking tours through a show cave system of stalactites, underground rivers and chambers carved from limestone over millions of years.
• Castle Coole, a neoclassical mansion in landscaped parkland just outside Enniskillen, is one of the finest 18th-century houses in Ireland, cared for by the National Trust.
• Florence Court, an 18th-century house beneath the Cuilcagh Mountains, pairs Rococo plasterwork interiors with walled gardens and woodland walks.
• Devenish Island, reached by ferry from Trory near Enniskillen, holds the remains of a sixth-century monastery, including one of Ireland's best-preserved round towers.
• Crom Estate on Upper Lough Erne protects ancient oak woodland, ruined castles and one of Ireland's largest surviving wildflower meadows, with boat trails through the reed beds.
• Belleek Pottery, on the border with County Donegal, is Ireland's oldest working pottery, producing delicate parian china since 1857 and offering factory tours.
• Lough Erne cruises run from Enniskillen and other jetties, giving access to islands and shorelines that are otherwise unreachable, with several operators offering scheduled sailings in summer.

Fermanagh's food identity leans on what the loughs and surrounding farmland produce: wild and stocked brown trout, Erne pike, and beef and lamb from the drumlin farmland that rings the water. Fermanagh black bacon, a cure specific to the county, turns up on breakfast plates from B&Bs to hotel dining rooms.

Enniskillen's Blake's of the Hollow, a Victorian bar largely unchanged for over a century, is one of Northern Ireland's most celebrated traditional pubs, and a starting point for a night out that typically continues to one of the town's other long-standing bars. The weekly Enniskillen Market and seasonal farmers' markets sell local produce, baked goods and preserves.

Belleek and the lakeside villages have a scattering of pubs doing solid, unfussy food built around local meat and fish, while the hotel restaurants around the loughs, particularly at the resort properties, put a more formal spin on the same ingredients. Fishing remains central to local life, and several pubs and guesthouses cater specifically to anglers staying for the coarse and game fishing the loughs are known for.

Camping in Fermanagh Lakelands means camping beside water almost by default. The established sites cluster around the shores of Lower and Upper Lough Erne, where the ground is generally flat, well-drained grassland running down to jetties, boat launches and swimming spots, a gentler terrain than the exposed hill camping found in the Marble Arch Caves Geopark to the south-west. Midges are a real consideration on still summer evenings by the water, so repellent and a well-sealed tent are worth packing regardless of the season.

Wild camping has no automatic legal right in Northern Ireland; almost all land, including lough shores and forest edges, is privately owned or managed by bodies such as the National Trust or the Forest Service, and pitching without permission is technically trespass even where enforcement is relaxed. In practice, this pushes most visitors towards the county's handful of licensed touring and camping parks, which are well established, reasonably priced by UK standards, and set in better locations than most improvised pitches would offer anyway.

The camping season runs roughly from St Patrick's Day in March to Halloween at the end of October, matching the opening dates of the main sites, with a short winter window at some for touring caravans only. May, June and September are the most comfortable months, combining decent weather with lighter midge activity and quieter pitches than the school-holiday peak of July and August, when the lakeside parks fill with family groups drawn by canoeing, boat hire and the watersports centres based on the loughs. Rain is a possibility in any month in this part of Ireland, so a pitch with good drainage and a solid awning matters more here than fighting for the sunniest spot.