EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

The small fishing harbour of ANNALONG - its name in Irish is Áth na Long , or "the ford of the ships" - is a pleasantly relaxed seaside town during the summer, with a stony beach and Slieve Binnion providing a grandiloquent backdrop. In the harbour, pleasure craft are tied up alongside the fishing boats and small trawlers; the whiff of their herring catches sometimes permeates the whole town. The village goes about its maritime work in its narrow streets much as it always has done, and it comes as a surprise in this out-of-the-way part of the North to find the grey harbour walls adorned with the familiar ritualized Protestant graffiti - "Ulster 1690", "UVF" and a Union Jack flag. A path from the campsite just off the main road gives immediate access to an early nineteenth-century cornmill , still in working order and open for visits (Feb-Nov Tues-Sat 11am-5pm; £1.30), and to a herb garden down by the walled harbour and the beach.

There are a number of small B&Bs here, including a former farmhouse, The Sycamores , 52 Majors Hill (tel 028/4376 8279; £33-40), and Kamara , 106a Kilkeel Rd (tel 028/4376 8072; £33-40). Luxurious country house accommodation can be had at Glassdrumman Lodge , 85 Mill Rd (tel 028/4376 8451; www.visitcoastofdown.com /glassdrummanlodge ; over £130), which has its own stylish restaurant. There's camping at the municipal Marine Park caravan site (tel 028/4376 8736) by the harbour - a dreary place, landscaped in the shape of a shamrock. There's little in the way of places to eat , but right on the harbour, the Harbour Inn serves adequate lunches and evening meals, while the Halfway House north of town on the A2 offers bar meals and Sunday lunches.

Inland a mile or so from Annalong, signposts point to the Silent Valley (daily: Easter-Sept 10am-6.30pm; Oct-Easter 10am-4.30pm; car £3, pedestrians £1.50). Here you'll find Belfast and County Down's reservoir , a huge thirty-year engineering project that was completed in 1933. There's a car park by the lower reservoir, bound by the Mourne Wall, a sturdy 22-mile-long granite boundary to the catchment area that links the summits of fifteen mountains along its route. The views out to Slieve Binnian and Ben Crom, behind it to the west, are worth the effort of the three-mile circular Viewpoint Walk (starts at the car park). Less energetic, but still superb, is the half-mile Sally Lough stroll (or you can take the shuttle bus; £1.50) up to the dam at Ben Crom; again the views are spectacular.