Bangor

Bangor in Irish is Beannchor, a horned or peaked curve, referring to the shape of its bay. In the 6th and 7th centuries its monastery rivalled Armagh as the religious and cultural centre of Ireland, but Viking raids finished it off, and its Norman revival under St Malachy was never so important. It remained a small place until the Ulster Plantations of the 17th century, when it grew as a port. Over the next 200 years a major linen industry developed across Ireland, however Bangor's speciality was cotton, with steam-driven mills lining the sea front. But as the scale of production processes grew, Bangor couldn't compete with the Lancashire mill towns and this industry faded. The railway arrived in 1865 and the town morphed into a seaside resort and commuter town for Belfast, acquiring its Victorian architecture.

It remained a tourist resort into the 1960s, but its cool climate and bracing sea temperatures were no match for the Med. "The Troubles" then set in: there were murderous bomb attacks in Bangor but the town escaped more lightly than most, though it suffered from the blight that descended on Belfast. Conversely, it benefited from the revival following the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The six counties of Northern Ireland are no longer units of governance; since 2015 Bangor has been the administrative centre of Ards and North Down Borough, so local government is a significant local employer.

Visitor information is based in the old market house at 77 Main St, open M-Sa 9:30AM-5PM.

Most long-distance routes are via Belfast. One exception is George Best City Airport: you walk or take the free shuttle bus to Sydenham station for the Bangor train, and don't travel via the city.

By road from Belfast follow A2.

Trains from Belfast Grand Central run every 20 min and take 40 min via City Hospital, Botanic (for Queen's University), Lanyon Place, Titanic, Sydenham (for City Airport), Holywood, Marino, Cultra (for Transport and Folk Museums), Seahill, Helen's Bay (for Crawfordsburn), Carnalea and Bangor West.

1 Bangor railway station is on Abbey St. It has a staffed ticket office and machines, and step-free access to the platforms.

Ulsterbus 1 & 2 run from Belfast Laganside, taking 50 min via Lanyon Place, Holywood, Cultra, Kilcooley and Crawfordsburn; they don't serve Belfast Grand Central. They're hourly M-Sa but only four on Sunday. Bangor Buscentre is south side of the railway station.