Holiday Cottages In Antrim and Newtownabbey

Antrim and Newtownabbey has just two self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk at the moment, in the countryside and commuter towns just north of Belfast. This is south Antrim, a district that runs from the shore of Lough Neagh at Antrim town across low farmed hills to the edge of Belfast Lough.

Best areas and towns in Antrim and Newtownabbey

Antrim and Newtownabbey is a council area immediately north of Belfast, stretching from the shore of Lough Neagh in the west to the Belfast Lough coast in the east. With only a couple of cottages, the choice is small and both sit in the country and suburb fringe of the district.

• Ballynure: a small village near Ballyclare, set in the rolling farmland of the south Antrim hills
• Whiteabbey: a shoreline suburb on Belfast Lough just north of the city, handy for both Belfast and the coast

Antrim town, the historic centre of the district on the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, and Newtownabbey on the edge of Belfast make the obvious bases for exploring further.

Antrim and Newtownabbey, Lough Neagh and the hills

This is an inland and lough-shore district rather than a seaside one. Its western boundary runs along Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the British Isles, a vast freshwater inland sea ringed by reedbeds and used for sailing, fishing and birdwatching. Antrim town sits on its north-east corner, with the lovely 17th-century Antrim Castle Gardens and a fine round tower among the oldest monuments in the country. Between the lough and Belfast the land rises into the low, green south Antrim hills, with viewpoints such as Carnmoney Hill above Newtownabbey looking out over Belfast Lough. To the east the district reaches the sheltered shore of Belfast Lough itself at Whiteabbey, and the Six Mile Water river threads through Antrim and Ballyclare on its way to the lough.

Things to do in Antrim and Newtownabbey

Lough Neagh is the headline, with sailing, angling and lakeshore walks on the doorstep of Antrim town, where the walled Antrim Castle Gardens and the ancient round tower are well worth an hour. In Newtownabbey, Mossley Mill houses the Museum at The Mill and council offices in a restored 19th-century flax mill beside the Three Mile Water. For green space and a view, climb Carnmoney Hill Local Nature Reserve or walk the woodland trails of Monkstown Wood, while the soaring Bleach Green Viaducts carry the railway over the valley to the north. The whole district sits close enough to Belfast to pair country and lough days with the city's museums, shops and nightlife.

When to visit Antrim and Newtownabbey

Late spring and summer are the pick for time on and around Lough Neagh, when the lake is busy with boats and the gardens and woods are at their greenest, with long light evenings well into the night near midsummer. Autumn is quieter and good for walking the hills and woodland reserves as the leaves turn. Winter suits indoor culture at Mossley Mill and the museums of nearby Belfast, with the odd crisp day for a hilltop view. Cottage rates are usually best outside the summer peak.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Antrim and Newtownabbey

One of the cottages in Antrim and Newtownabbey takes dogs, though none currently has a hot tub.

Getting to Antrim and Newtownabbey

Antrim and Newtownabbey lies just north of Belfast and is among the easiest parts of Northern Ireland to reach. The M2 motorway runs through the district from Belfast towards Antrim town and the north, and the A8 leads off towards Larne and its Scottish ferries. Both Antrim and Newtownabbey sit on rail lines into Belfast. Belfast International Airport is within the district near Aldergrove, and Belfast City Airport is a short drive to the south.

Useful links

• Discover Northern Ireland
• Tourism Northern Ireland
• Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council

Antrim and Newtownabbey is a local government district in the east of Northern Ireland, one of the eleven councils that make up the region. It was formed in 2015 from the former borough of Antrim and the borough of Newtownabbey, and lies wholly within County Antrim, immediately to the north and north-west of Belfast. Its principal centres are the historic town of Antrim, the council seat, and the sprawling suburban borough of Newtownabbey on the city's edge, together with smaller towns such as Ballyclare and Glengormley.

The district stretches between two very different bodies of water. Its western boundary follows the shore of Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles, a wide and shallow inland sea fringed with reedbeds and important for its wildfowl and eel fishery. From the lough the ground rises eastward across the low, drumlin-strewn farmland of south Antrim to the basalt edge of the Antrim plateau, before falling again to the sheltered shore of Belfast Lough at Whiteabbey and Jordanstown. The Six Mile Water river runs through the middle of the district, linking Ballyclare and Antrim with the lough.

The area has a long history. Antrim town grew beside one of Ireland's finest round towers, a relic of an early monastery, and its 17th-century castle gardens survive as a rare formal landscape of the period. Newtownabbey, by contrast, is a largely 20th-century creation, a cluster of older villages drawn together as Belfast expanded. Today the district combines commuter towns, country parks and the great lough that defines its western flank.