Ulster Rally, Spring Bank Holiday 2009

Dates  Friday 22nd to Monday 25th May 2009

There may be a day or two added prior to the weekend, as a few people will probably come over early.

The North West 200 road races are on the weekend before and some people may want to come over for that. The Race Day date is Saturday 16th May.

Location  The accommodation base will be at Portaferry, at the southern tip of the Ards Peninsula. There are hotel, hostel and B&B rooms available and the town is within easy traveling distance of the Larne and Belfast ferries. 

Barholm, the accommodation base in a shoreside Victorian house

The Strangford Narrows, where the ferry crosses between Portaferry and Strangford

Strangford Narrows: Portaferry (top right) and Strangford (bottom left)

The main riding locations will be routes in some of these areas:

• North Coast. The North Antrim Coast road including Torr Head 
• South Coast. 'St Patrick's Country': around Strangford Lough and down to Newcastle / Mourne mountains area – you could call it the south coast road.
• For those with extra time for their own riding, the Fermanagh Lakes in the west would be a fabulous trip, or mid-Ulster around the Sperrin Mountains. County Donegal is spectacular. It's the most northerly part of Ulster and Ireland – though it is actually part of the South of Ireland!

North Coast The North Antrim coast road