Tullynahattina Lough

The water sits there, flat and dark, ringed by bog and rough grassland that rolls back toward the Mourne Mountains. Tullynahattina Lough isn't the sort of lake that announces itself - there's no café, no visitor centre, no signs telling you it's particularly special. But that's rather the point.

It's a proper quiet spot for walking, especially if you've had enough of managed attractions and want something genuinely undisturbed. The shoreline path gives you decent views across the water, and on a clear day you can make out the mountains to the south. Most people come for the fishing - brown trout, mainly - or simply to sit and watch the light change across the water. Walkers heading between Newry and the higher peaks often loop through here as part of a longer route.

There's nothing to pay and no formal opening hours because there's nothing formal about it at all. Allow an hour or two depending on how far you want to walk the shore. Early morning is best, when the place is properly empty and the water reflects whatever sky you've got that day.

If you're staying at Hilltop Hideaway, the pod retreat about six miles away, this makes an easy morning's walk or a quiet evening wind-down before settling in with your hot tub. It won't thrill everyone - children might get restless after thirty minutes, and Instagram photographers will find it a bit too subdued - but if you value solitude and empty bog in equal measure, it's worth the drive from Newry.