UKC

I'm having a week near  Kilkeel in August. This will be a first visit to the Mournes. I like to have a walk everyday for 2/3  hours and on a decent day a really good mountain walk.  I don't intend climbing. There are many guides available, is there one that  shines out from the crowd ?  Any other tips / ideas  appreciated : hidden gems , swimming spots, pubs, cafés, restaurants, take-aways ! Thanks Andy.

lots of infromation on the http://www.walkni.com website

As you are just down the road (30 mins) from Newcastle if you want to take in the highest peak in NI try this route.

http://www.walkni.com/d/walks/344/Slieve_Donard_via_Glen_River.pdf

Did this as part of ticking all the high peaks of the GB and Ireland. Nice walking route and great views from the top weather permitting

Guidebooks: I would recommend either Paddy Dillon’s ‘The Mournes Walks’ (old but recently revised) or Adrian Hendroff’s brand new ‘The Mourne and Cooley Mountains’ which is more glossy and modern. Both absolutely grand for a first visit.

A much greater depth of info can be found on Mountainviews.ie

The walk up Annalong Valley to the foot of Slieve Lamagan from Carrick Little Slieve Binnian Car Park is great. A few different loops available from here. Coordiantes (54.128721, -5.944385)]

You can have a look at Divided Years at Buzzards Roost (Divided Years (E9 6c)) and get up to Cove Cave from here:

http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/blog/2011/09/cove-cave-trip-review/

The walk up to Slieve Doan from Ott Car Park is also good and provides a few different options. Coordinates (54.183659, -6.040363).

I also would recommend Paddy Dillon's 'Mournes Walks'. Cheap to pick up too.

Its a bit more than a few hours but if you do fancy Slieve Donard then parking at Newcastle getting the bus along to bloody bridge and walking up from bloody bridge to the top and back down into Newcastle is an excellent day out, it lets you follow the mourne wall for a lot of the way up and the views from the top are very good if its clear.

Thanks for  those interesting replies.

I'll order Adrien Hendroff's book. I would also order the 1.25 000 Mournes Activity map but it appears to be out of stock everywhere !  I often use Mountainviews.ie but you can't beat paper ! 

Last year had an enjoyable 10 days near Achill but even on the nicest day Croaghaun had a nasty black clousd on it and we got wet ! Climbed Croagh Patrick late afternoon and had the summit to ourselves, fantastic views but the spiritual side of things is lost on me, but whatever floats your boat !

Agreed, we did Slieve Donard via Bloody Bridge on Dec 31st last year, amazing views and a great route.  Bloody cold at the top though!

The Harvey Superwalker map is as good as the OSNI map you mentioned, just in case that is in stock. (Would be surprised if you couldn’t get a copy of either locally though).

Glad to heat you use MV (as an MV committee member!)

For what it’s worth, I know Donard is the highest but I would be far from alone in considering Binnian and Bearnagh to be much better outings.

Others have already mentioned Adrian's new book. This recent UKH article goes with it:

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/articles/destinations/10_great_walks_in_and_a...

Usually very good service quick delivery and generally cheaper:

OSNI map

https://dash4it.co.uk/the-mournes-including-slieve-croob-irish-activity-map...

Harveys map

https://dash4it.co.uk//harvey-superwalker-mourne-mountains..html

Thanks for  that, I've ordered  the OS map, I'll look out for the other one locally.

The longest walk I did was number 9 ( Binnian and Slievelamagan ) in Adrian Hendroff's  guide. It was a blustery day with torrential showers but I got great views throughout the day. Route 3 from Bloody Bridge ( Chimney Rock mountain) was also very enjoyable.  Slieve Donard will be there for our  next visit !

I've put the view from our cottage in my gallery !