Enjoying life
Friendly People with a Zest for Life
Northern Ireland people are hospitable, friendly and generous. They are vibrant and colourful with a real zest for life and a taste for the good things in life.
A hard-working people, they are also family-orientated and like nothing better than sharing laughter and the craic with friends and family.
Their strong work ethos cuts across into their leisure and relaxation time, so don’t be surprised to see them on a family-trek up a mountain at the weekend, sailing the lakes or surfing a few waves along the north coast beaches.
Opportunities for leisure activities in Northern Ireland 
are certainly plentiful and varied. Waking, cycling, fishing, golfing, sailing, horse riding and scuba diving are just some of the outdoor challenges right on everyone’s doorstep. And we mean right on the doorstop. To the amazement of many a visitor, everything is within a short drive.
You can drive on uncrowded roads from the surf-washed Atlantic beaches of the Causeway Coast and Glens, through Belfast and on to the seaside resorts of The Kingdoms of Down in just two or three hours. And you could travel from the City of Derry through the Sperrin Mountains to the Fermanagh lakes in even less time.
An Angler’s Paradise
Northern Ireland is considered to be one if the best destinations in Europe for anglers. Whether you fancy some sea angling or game and coarse fishing – its all here with fabulous scenery to match.
Many of Northern Ireland’s lakes and rivers are among the least exploited in Europe with a wide variety, including pike, bream, roach or perch, awaiting the coarse anglers all year round – there’s no closed season.
World-class game fishing is available with rivers rich with excellent salmon and well-conditioned brown trout. The game fishing season is from March to October although certain designated waters, well stocked with rainbow trout, allow the gaming season to last all year.
The pike is still amongst the most widespread of Irish coarse fish, preferring the unspoiled habitats of the less discovered lakes, in particular the remote lakes in Fermanagh and the quieter reaches of Lough Erne.
Competition and leisure anglers come for the roach and bream in the River Bann, Lough Neagh and Lough Erne where bags of 60kg are regularly taken.
Boat fishing in the vast limestone waters of Lower Lough Erne is as challenging as is exciting with exhilarating scenery as an added backdrop. With hundreds of miles of river, together with the larger lakes and numerous smaller loughs, its only a matter of choice. Stay anywhere, fish everywhere.
Ready-Made for Walkers and Trekkers
Spectacular scenery, heather clad mountains, nature reserves, forest parks and country parks make Northern Ireland among the very best and safest locations in Europe for walkers and trekkers.
It’s hardly surprising that some two million visits are made each year to Northern Ireland forests including Glenariff Forest Park in the world famous Glens of Antrim. Glenariff, Co. Antrim, known as "the Queen of the Glens", is regarded as the most beautiful of the nine Antrim Glens.
Here are some other locations for hill walkers and trekkers:
Tollymore Forest Park, Newcastle, Co. Down, is at the foot of the Mourne Mountains and offers panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and the nearby sea. It was listed in the Sunday Times top 20 British picnic sites for 2000.
Castlewellan Forest, Castlewellan, Co. Down, features diverse woodland and a variety of attractive man made features, all of which are accessible to the visitor on foot. Castlewellan also features the Peace Maze - the largest and longest hedge maze in the world.
Florence Court Forest Park, near Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh and the north east shoulder of Cuilcagh Mountain, offers widely contrasting habitats, from open mountain and blanket bog to coniferous forest and the old estate woodland, which features many mature oaks, some planted around 200 years ago.
Gortin Glen Forest Park, north of Omagh,Co. Tyrone provides breathtaking views of the Sperrin Mountains.
Dungannon Park Co. Tyrone, offers a variety of nature walks and waymarked trails which meander through this mature forest park, along river banks and past the small pond where various species of duck are found.
Drum Manor Forest Park, near Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, is the most centrally located forest park in the region, lying immediately south of the Sperrin Mountains and west of Lough Neagh.
