The must-do attractions if you've got a limited window within Mourne Country.
Welcome to JOE's 24 Hours In... series, in which we will make singular recommendations for travelling visitors who are spending just the day in a particular location. As part of our recommendations, we'll be picking out one hotel, one restaurant and/or bar, and one activity that all are top of the list for that location.
And so for this edition, we look at what to do if you're spending
24 Hours In... Banbridge, beginning with...
MUST-STAY
Belmont House Hotel
We recommend
Belmont House Hotel, which is a short walk to our Must-Eat & Drink location, and a short drive to our Must-Visit location (more on both of those in a bit).
The hotel itself is built a top a hill, giving off an Downton Abbey-esque stately vibe, with a huge dining space on the ground floor and a nice bar in the basement. The rooms are spacious and clean, the beds big and soft, and our bathroom came equipped with a massive bath tub, if anyone was in the market for a good soak.
Additionally, we had the bed & breakfast option, which featured an impressive morning menu. We went for the French toast and, my word, was it good...
MUST-EAT & DRINK
Blend x Batch
Located a short 10-minute stroll from the hotel, you'll find
Blend x Batch on Newry Street, the high street of Banbridge. The establishment is very modern and achingly hip, selling coffees and baked goods for takeaway. We sat in for our evening meal and were massively impressed by the varied menu, and the level of service and food.
Best described as high-end comfort food, we took turns dipping into a huge portion of camembert with lovely crusty bread, tucked into our massive cajun chicken burgers, sipped delicious cocktails (one of them pictured above in the main image), but the pièce de résistance had to be the desserts.
Making the only logical choice, one of us went with the sticky toffee pudding, uniquely presented in a glass tumbler which helped keep all of the juicy goodness together. We also ordered a slice of the Kinder Bueno Cookie Pie, which is now our new favourite collection of words in the English language...
MUST-VISIT
Game Of Thrones Studio Tour
We have previously written about the
Game Of Thrones Studio Tour when it first opened a little over a year ago (check out that
full write up here), but even revisiting the Down tourism hotspot one year later, there have already been a series of new additions to the tour that we don't want to spoil for you here.
Additionally, a 10-minute drive from the hotel above, right on the outskirts of the The Boulevard shopping mall - picture Kildare Village and you're pretty much there - with a shuttle bus bringing you to the tour and back as part of the package for the ticket price.
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