Holiday in NI

[Notstrongandstable]

Hi,
Looking for advice on areas in NI for me, DH and DC (UK) to meet my parents (ROI) for a holiday. The lack of certainty around entry to ROI is putting me off flying there.
Needs to be near Belfast for access to airport and trains.
My sister has put me off saying she doesn't feel comfortable driving up north..I've never been. I would have thought that's a very dated opinion.
I was thinking maybe Bangor or Carrickfergus?
How welcome would we be as a mixture of Irish and English? Is this just a complete non issue?
Thanks for any help!

It’s really a non issue. People very friendly. North coast is beautiful! Cushendall etc mournes beautiful too

You're right that being a mixture of Irish and English is a non-issue! Bangor is nice - you've the coast, nice parks, marina, folk and transport museum up the road. If you've a car, you could go on to the Ards peninsula and Strangford Lough.
Carrickfergus has the castle. You could go to Whitehead - railway museum with steam trains running at weekends, coastal path with a lighthouse.
Both handy for Belfast on the train. Bangor trains might be more frequent I think.

Complete non issue. You would be absolutely fine and welcomed. The North Down area and around the mournes is beautiful with lots to do and experience. Close to Belfast for airport and to experience some of the amazing places to visit in Belfast. We went at half term and had a brilliant time.

As others have said, absolutely no issue visiting from England…it’s not the 1970s ffs. I love the north coast - Giant’s causeway, ballycastle, bushmills, portrush and portstewart.

The North coast, Portrush,is accessible by train from Dublin/ Belfast and you would be very welcome both from GB and ROI.
Portstewart is very popular and those towns are great for Sandy beaches ,golfing sightseeing and places to eat and drink, at reasonable prices , and the whole North Coast has lots to see

My sister has put me off saying she doesn't feel comfortable driving up north..I've never been. I would have thought that's a very dated opinion.

Very unreasonable opinion from your sister, unless she has just recently stepped out of the 1970s.

Complete non-issue- we live in the most proddy village ever. DH is from Dublin and we have a RoI reg car in the drive and have never even been given a sideways glance tbh.

Ps I’m sorry your sister has been so put off by the media reports. I’m not sure which part of ROI she is from but I imagine she never hears any of the good stuff about the North. I hope you convince her she has nothing to worry about. All tourist places are just like anywhere else in Ireland so she might be surprised.

Went to Belfast for a long weekend last year and had the most amazing time. Everyone was lovely to both me (irish) and my oh (english) . Nobody said anything or gave us a hard time. I do think that times have moved on in the North, there are probably still small pockets you need to avoid but I would 100% go back to Belfast in the future.

Non issue.

Bangor is alright but nothing special. Hollywood is nice. When you say access to plane / train are you going to hire a car?

What sort of things do you like to do?

The being English is a non issue. Brought my English dh home here and never had a bad word said to him.

I would do strangford (mount steward is stunning), then the banger area, moving up to Belfast , then up the causeway coast towards cushendall, Ballycastke etc.

theulsterfry.com/world-news/hillsboroughs-up-its-own-hole-status-given-royal-seal-of-approval/

Get your sister to stop off in Hilly for some cucumber sandwiches to fortify her against the wild northern hordes. She can buy some posh pineapple themed tat in the Castle gift shop too.

FYI - there is no lack of certainty around entry to ROI since Monday. As long as you're vaccinated you're fine, no PCR tests and no quarantine.

Bumping this. Did ye go and how was it?

@blubberyboo

Ps I’m sorry your sister has been so put off by the media reports. I’m not sure which part of ROI she is from but I imagine she never hears any of the good stuff about the North. I hope you convince her she has nothing to worry about. All tourist places are just like anywhere else in Ireland so she might be surprised.

Letting the sister off a bit lightly to blame the media for her ignorance. I mean FFS, the Good Friday Agreement was over 20 years ago.