Stranraer
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No one could say that STRANRAER was beautiful, and if you're heading to (or coming from) Northern Ireland, there's really no reason to linger longer than you have to. If you find yourself with time to kill, head for the town's one specific attraction, the Castle of St John (Easter to mid-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-1pm & 2-5pm; £1.20), a ruined four-storey tower house built around 1500, which stands on the main street, one block inland from the harbour front. If you've yet more time on your hands, pop into the Stranraer Museum in the Old Town Hall a short distance west along George Street (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-1pm & 2-5pm; free) for a brief foray into local history.
The train station is right by the Stena Line ferry terminal (tel 0870/570 7070, www.stenaline.co.uk) on the East Pier, from where boats depart for Belfast. A couple of minutes' walk away, on Port Rodie, is the bus station. Stena Line's fast HSS catamarans depart for Belfast from the West Pier on the other side of the harbour. P&O Irish Sea ferries (tel 0870/242 4777, www.poirishsea.com) to and from Larne arrive at the port of CAIRNRYAN, some five miles north; note, though, that bus services to Cairnryan are infrequent and aren't integrated with the ferry times.
Stranraer's tourist office is at 28 Harbour St (April-Oct 9.30am-5.30pm, Sun 10am-4.30pm; Nov-March Mon-Sat 10am-4pm; tel 01776/702595) between the two piers. Should you need accommodation, head for the Harbour Guest House (tel 01776/704626, www.harbourguesthouse.com; £40-50), a decent B&B on the seafront on Market Street, just a short stroll from either pier, or the vast, whitewashed crenellated North West Castle (tel 01776/704413, www.mcmillanhotels.com; £70-90), next to the police station on Port Rodie. For campers, Aird Donald Caravan Park (tel 01776/702025) is ten minutes' walk east of the town centre along London Road, though there are much nicer sites elsewhere.
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