Portaferry - Entrance of Strangford Lough on Ards Peninsula
Portaferry County Down is a small port town that is at the narrow entry to Strangford Lough where a daily ferry connects the town with Strangford. The town is well known for its festivals.
Portaferry is a small town in county Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of Ards Peninsula, near the narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. The atmosphere of this city might be different for being placed by the river and for being a fishing destination, but there are some other places which make Portaferry famous with them and thus tends to attract visitors all the time.
There is a marina in Portaferry that tends to carry around 500,000 people one mile across the sea to Strangford since this service operates daily at 15-minutes intervals (8am - 11pm), which stands as one of the important things that make highlight this small town. Portaferry also hosts its own small marina which is known as Portaferry marina.
The town centre of Portaferry has many old Georgian buildings along with Portaferry Castle, which is a 16th century tower, and which brings the history right into the mind and eyes of the tourist or visitor once he/she walks by them or even get the chance to get inside any of them. Even walking down the streets of this town and passing by all those different buildings is considered one of the things that one should do in Portaferry to experience it in exactly the right way.
Portaferry is known to be a popular location because of its wildlife and marine reserve which tends to attract lots of tourists and visitors to it, and that comes in addition to Exploris which is an aquarium; Exploris was opened by Ards Borough Council in 1987 and then it was extended and re-opened by prince Charles in 1994 and now it is under private management. Exploris is Northern Ireland's premier sanctuary and aquarium that features a huge walk-through tank and outdoor seal pools.
From the different places that one could check and visit in Portaferry, county Down, there are those which we have already mentioned and which include the transportation means that happens between Strangford and Portaferry, Exploris, as well as the 16th century old Portaferry Castle which is found there.
County Down is not just about Portaferry, but there are different places out there which one could discover in different cities and towns which are all placed in county Down. Kilbroney Park is one of the places located in county Down ( Newcastle is another destination with the famous Slieve Donard Hotel ( Donaghadee in county Down could also go on your list of places to visit in this county in Northern Ireland ( Bangor Harbour and Marina was another location we have visited in county Down and thus would recommend ( and that comes in addition to different other destinations that on the list of places that one could visit in county Down, Northern Ireland.
We walked through the town of Portaferry, we experienced the atmosphere of the whole place, we enjoyed our time by one of the cafes, and we got the chance to pass by those different attractions that mark this town and add to your memory when its name is mentioned. There are green spaces, there is water, there are old buildings and a castle; what else would you want to experience all in the same place?
Portaferry is not just a local place but it is also a touristic one for its beauty, history, wildlife and the other visitor attractions. One of those important attractions of the place is Strangford Lough which is the largest sea inlet in the British isles. Portaferry is actually Northern Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve and is also renowned as an area of outstanding natural beauty and special scientific interest with six natural nature reserves within its reaches - Queen's University of Belfast have a Marine Research Laboratory on the shorefront and currently the town is also home to a tidal energy research project the Minesto Sea Kite.
There are over 2,000 species of marine animals which have been found in the Strangford Lough and internationally important flocks of wildfowl and wading birds converge there in winter, and it is also the most important site in Ireland for breeding common seals.
There are actually lots of things to be known and discovered about Portaferry even though it is considered a small town, but you could visit different touristic attractions in it and at the same time get the chance to experience the life by the lough and know more about its importance.
Have you ever got the chance to visit Portaferry in Northern Ireland before? If you had then share your experience with us and we would listen to all the comments as well.
Some of the best locations around Ireland / Northern Ireland and further afield. A travel blog/vlog of the hidden treasures that are on our doorstep.