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Coleraine attractions
Coleraine attractions
Coleraine has the advantage of being near some of the most extraordinary landscape in Britain or Ireland. The world famous Giant's Causeway is a 25 minute bus ride away. Also the oldest whiskey distillery in the world is located in nearby Bushmills. This small distillery village is well-served by buses from the town and there is a fun little steam train running in the summer from Bushmills to the Causeway. Portrush is a 15 minute train journey north of the town and is Northern Ireland's principal seaside resort, with not one but two long strands of beach complete with sand dunes. Also north of Coleraine is the scenic coastal resort of Portstewart, with fantastic beach, long promenade and spectacular coastal walks. North-west of Coleraine lies Castlerock which can be accessed by train. There is a also a beach here but the most notable feature of the area is man made, namely the bizarre Mussenden Temple, built by an 18th century Anglican bishop (and slave trader) atop a precipitate cliff and overlooking Donegal in one direction and Scotland in another. The National Trust managed Downhill forest was part of the Bishop's Palace, and although the Palace itself is now a ruin the gardens are a wonderful place full of strange hidden lakes and gloriously tended flower gardens.
The setting of Coleraine, at the lowest bridgeable point of the River Bann, where the river is a quarter of a mile wide, is impressive. The east side of the town is distinguished by Mountsandel Forest, which contains the impressive Mountsandel fort, an ancient site which has been claimed as the oldest site of human settlement in Ireland. As in many other towns in the north of Ireland, the town square is called 'The Diamond' and the Town Hall and nearby Church of Ireland St Patrick's Church are both reasonably venerable and attractive. The University was built in the 1960's but is one of the better pieces of architecture from that era and has brought a high quality theatrical space to the town in the form of the Riverside Theatre, where the quality of production often belies the small size of the town. In recent years a number of private art galleries have opened in the town, and some of those are very interesting indeed. The town has an excellent Chinese restaurant situated in an old Boat House on the river side.
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Coleraine Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.