Camping and caravan club sites in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is the easiest part of the UK to tow in and the least used by touring caravanners from Great Britain. The road network is generous for the traffic it carries, the country is small enough to reach any corner from a single base, and sites stay quiet in weeks when Cornwall and the Lakes are full.

Getting there

Everything starts with a ferry. Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway is the main crossing point: Stena Line sails to Belfast in around two and a quarter hours, P&O to Larne in about two. From the north-west of England, Stena runs Birkenhead to Belfast overnight in roughly eight hours, which suits anyone who would rather sleep through the drive up the M6. Holyhead to Dublin is the other option and puts you two hours south of the border on the M1.

Book the outfit, not the car. Every operator prices on total length, and a car plus a seven-metre caravan sits in a different bracket. Declare it honestly at booking, because being remeasured at the check-in booth costs money and often a sailing.

Roads and distances

The M1 west from Belfast and the M2 north are short but useful. Beyond them the A-road network is wide, well surfaced and lightly trafficked by mainland standards. Belfast to Derry is under two hours. Belfast to Enniskillen is about the same. Nowhere in the six counties is more than a comfortable morning's tow.

The Causeway Coastal Route on the A2 from Larne to Portrush is the set piece and handles a caravan without drama for most of its length, though the section through the Glens around Cushendun narrows and climbs steeply. Fuel is often cheaper across the border in the Republic, and road signs switch from miles to kilometres the moment you cross.

Where the sites are

Club sites are scarce here — a small handful rather than a network — and they sit mostly in County Down around Strangford Lough and along the Antrim coast. Council-run parks fill the gap and many of them are excellent: Delamont, Carnfunnock and the forest park sites are the ones regulars return to. Plan on a mix rather than a pure club-site tour, and expect to book directly with councils for some of the best ground.

Season and weather

Late March to October, with limited winter opening. July and August are busy around the coast, and the Twelfth of July fortnight sees heavy local caravanning, so book that window early. The weather is mild and wet in similar measure to western Scotland, though midges are much less of a problem than on the Scottish west coast.

What first-time visitors get wrong

Treating it as a short hop from Scotland. The crossing plus loading and unloading eats most of a day at each end, so a week is the sensible minimum to make the ferry cost worthwhile. The other error is not carrying euros. Crossing into Donegal or Monaghan for a day out is normal, and card acceptance at rural fuel stations and village shops is not universal.