Backpacking in Northern Ireland: Top 12 Sights in Blissful Ballyhalbert

“It’s all too beautiful” – Small Faces.

Despite what the tourist brochures and obvious tourists tell you, Northern Ireland’s charm lies not in Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway!! Nor in the Bushmills Distillery and the Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge! Even though I promoted them to the hilt myself many times and continue to tell you all to Visit Northern Ireland. I guess I was just trying, and sometimes failing to get you to visit my country. Nobody cared even when I backpacked Milford (home of the penalty kick) or idyllic Islandhill. Off the wheaten craic was too unbeaten for the masses.

Of course, I toured such obvious Northern Irish spots manys a time too, but my focus has always been on the mundane, the quirky and the sublime parts of the world. Life hits a wave of emotion on you when you do the same in your home town in Northern Ireland. As you’ll know, over hyped tourist spots don’t rock my world or make it go round.

In the past, I covered some cool spots of Northern Ireland, I felt were more off the wall for you, such as:

• Backpacking in Ballintoy
• Backpacking in Newtownards
• The People’s Republic of Podjistan (a bordering Micronation)
• Backpacking in Narnia (a bordering Fantasy Kingdom)
• Touring the world’s oldest Whiskey Distillery in Bushmills
• Staying at the (now closed) Royal Hotel in Bangor
• Ireland’s Highest Pub, The Ponderosa!
• Backpacking to Islandhill near Newtownards
• Visiting the home of the McCrum at Milford
• Guided Tour of Glentoran Belfast’s The Oval
• Staying by the beach at Cairn Bay Lodge, Bangor
• Tayto Castle in Tandragee
• Backpacking in Portbraddon and Ireland’s Smallest Church

My latest adventure took me down the beautiful Ards Peninsula, to towns such as Greyabbey, Portavogie, Portaferry, Kearney, Kircubbin and Ballyhalbert. Ballyhalbert is a real gem of a village, which now houses over 1,000 people, 900 of them on the Facebook Page! It has many top sights and I could only really limit it to a top 10 as ever…my family also lived here for a brief time, although I was always based in Poland when they did that. Here’s a quick top 10.

1.The Ballyhalbert “E”!!!

The famous rusty “Ballyhalbert E” sits in the main harbour.

2.Burr Point – The Most Easterly Point of Ireland

The Ballyhalbert E actually stands for EAST. It is here where the most easterly point of Ireland is. It’s a short coastal walk past the rusty Ballyhalbert E down to Burr Point. A marker denotes this is where the furthest east part of Ireland is. So here you are in the furthest east part of Northern Ireland, and the whole of Ireland all in one!

3.RAF Airfield

“The RAF from Ulster shaddim dine” – Northern Ireland football fans chant.

Ballyhalbert became pivotal during World War II with the establishment of RAF Ballyhalbert, an airfield that served a crucial role in safeguarding Belfast and the eastern portion of Northern Ireland. Over its operational span, Ballyhalbert housed personnel from the RAF, Army, Navy, and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). In March 1960, the airfield transitioned into private hands, eventually transforming into a caravan park and exclusive residential community named Ballyhalbert Park Homes. And so yes – the RAF from Ulster DID actually shoot the Germans down (“shaddam dine”). Don’t believe the naysayers.

4.Ballyhalbert Beach

The beach is popular in summer but dog walkers are here daily, and so are the birds. It’s a great place for sunrise.

5.Ballyhalbert Pier

Most seaside towns on this part of Northern Ireland have a pier, such as Donaghadee, Portavogie, Bangor and indeed here at Ballyhalbert. Watch the fishermen go and the dog walkers aplenty.

6.Ballyhalbert Holiday Park

Caravan lovers migrate here in the summer months. It’s a Northern Irish thing. When the temperature hits 20 degrees Celsius, we think it’s tropical so out come the buckets and spades and cheap ciders. Some of these wacaday caravans even have Wi-Fi and Sky Sports. Streuth!

7.Echlinville Distillery

On the edge of Ballyhalbert, you’ll find some huge surprises. Including this gem. Established in 2013, Echlinville Distillery achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first distillery in Ireland to receive a license in 125 years. With a straightforward mission to craft the highest quality whiskey imaginable, they uphold an unwavering commitment to excellence throughout the entire distillation process. Visitors can experience their exceptional whiskey firsthand by purchasing it directly at the distillery, and they also offer regular tours, providing insight into the captivating operations of an operational distillery. The actual address is – 62 Gransha Rd, Kircubbin, Newtownards BT22 1AJ, Northern Ireland.

8.Ballyhalbert Local Shop (Spar)

Ballyhalbert is rare in that there is no actual bar, cafe or restaurant here so the nearest it has to this are the kiosks by the local shop, owned and run as a SPAR, and the local shop itself which has a coffee machine, groceries and the village’s only ATM. Grab some Harp, soda bread, black pudding and whiskey jam.

9.Quarry Pits / Clay Pits (National Trust Dander)

On the edge of town are these quarry pits or clay pits which is actually now a nature reserve and dogs can be walked here. Dad and I had a dander here too.

10.Ballyhalbert Football Stadium

Not so much tongue in cheek rather that the only football pitch here is part of the village’s primary school. No big names came through the ransk yet, but nearby Bangor was home (at some point) for professional footballers Terry Neill, Billy Hamilton, Josh Magennis and Keith Gillespie. Even more impressive is that Balon D’Or and European Cup winner George Best lived nearby, in Portavogie. It might have helped that they have a pub there.

11.Church

The nearest church is Saint Andrew’s Church of Ireland but Ballyhalbert has a local gospel hall.

11.War Memorial

Ballyhalbert not only had the RAF base, but many fighters also hailed from this village. As such there is an impressive War Memorial dedicated to the local fighters and the Polish fighters who were based here also have their own war memorial.

12.Iraqi Tanks

Perhaps the most unlikely backpacking sight here are the tanks that came from Iraq. They are just past Ballyhalbert in the Northern Irish countryside at Glastry. I found out why they are here, a local secret – try and find them, and the reason 😉

In this post, I tried to cover only the area classed as Ballyhalbert itself, though I threw in the Distillery. There are a few other churches on the edge of the village and a war memorial. It’s also not far from Kircubbin which houses a racetrack and Donaghadee which houses Ireland’s Oldest Pub – Grace Neill’s. Safe travels to little Ballyhalbert!

Here are some videos from my time backpacking in Ballyhalbert, Northern Ireland: