The area around Belle Isle Estate is liberally sprinkled with historic houses and gardens of oustanding merit.

Castle Coole - 9 miles - a magnificent neo-classical house designed by James Wyatt, family home of the Earls of Belmore. It has remarkably fine interiors and exquisite furniture and furnishings from before 1830.

Florence Court - 16 miles - one of the most important houses in Ulster, built in mid eighteenth century by John Cole.

The house has magnificent plaster work, the striking rococo dining-room ceiling was cleverly saved from the fire in 1955. The rest of the plaster work has been meticulously restored.

Marble Arch Caves - 30 miles - these magnificent Mesozoic limestone caves have an extensive network of caverns, viewed from a boat.

Ancient Burial Grounds - you can discover many of these dotted around the surrounding countryside.

Belleek Pottery - 34 miles - this world famous pottery offers guided tours and has a visitor's centre.

Bushmills - 70 miles - Old Bushmills Distillery is the oldest licensed distillery in the world where the renowned Bushmills whiskey has been distilled legally since 1608 when King James I granted its license. A guided tour of the distillery is provided where the secret of whiskey production is revealed and visitors are also allowed to sample the distilled product.

Crom Estate - 18 miles - 1,350 acres of woodland, park land and wetland, one of Northern Ireland's most important nature conservation areas, including Crom Old Castle.

Lough Erne by Boat - there are lots of boats offering day cruises on Lough Erne. Fermanagh Tourist Information Centre - 8 miles. Fermanagh District Council Tourist Information Centre, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, N.I.

The Argory - 42 miles - set in 315 acres of wooded countryside, the house dates from 1824 but is substantially unchanged since the turn of the century.

Devenish Island - 15 miles - reached by ferry, one of the largest of the 200 islands of Lough Erne, the site of the ruins of an abbey and of a perfect 12th century round tower.

Giant's Causeway - 70 miles - Giant's Causeway is a World Heritage site. Here the visitor can witness a spectacular sight of about 40,000 six sided basalt columns, estimated to be about 55 million years old, which were formed by cooling lava.

The site stretches for 2 miles along the Antrim coast where there are scenic walks that take you past splendid amphitheatres and fine rock formations.

The visitors' centre provides audio-visual shows and interactive exhibitions which explains in detail the formation of the causeway attributed to the giant Finn Mac Cool (mythology) and also the actual geology involved.

Enniskillen Castle - 9 miles - incorporating The Regimental Museum, The Watergate History and Heritage Centre. The castle also holds a variety of other exhibitions throughout the year.

The Buttermarket - see crafts being produced in the craft workshops. Lots of special gifts to choose from. The Boston Quay Craft Shop carries a range of the best craft work and design produced in Ireland.

The Ulster History Park - trace the story of settlement in Ireland from the Stone Age to the 17th Century Plantations.

American Folk Park in Omagh - where you can see and experience the passage across the Atlantic by the first Irish emigrants.

Donegal Town - a great place to buy Donegal Tweed or woollens, jumpers, etc. Lough Navar View Point - a spectacular view can be seen on a clear day over Lower Lough Erne, in the foreground up to the northerly mountains in Donegal.