Two water systems account for most of this list. The Erne runs 120km from the Cavan hills through Upper and Lower Lough Erne to the sea at Ballyshannon, spreading into more than 150 islands on the way, and the places along it are strung out accordingly: Carrybridge, a small boating hamlet where a bridge crosses to Inishmore on the upper lough; Crom Estate, a National Trust reserve of ancient oak woodland and a burnt-out castle shell; Derrylin on the A509 towards the Cavan border; and Irvinestown, a working town in the north that works as a base for the lower lough.
The second system is underground. The Aghinrawn and the Owenbrean rise on Cuilcagh, sink into swallow-holes and join a third river to feed the Marble Arch Caves, where the 75-minute tour includes a boat ride when water levels allow. Above them the Cuilcagh boardwalk crosses the blanket bog from Belcoo, and the Cliffs of Magho, 300m over Lower Lough Erne at the top of the Lough Navar Forest Drive, give the view that ties the basin together.
The southwest corner sits on the border. Lough MacNean has Belcoo and Blacklion on the neck of land between its two basins; Lough Melvin straddles into Leitrim. Rainfall governs a good deal here: the cave boat, the karst rivers and the canoe water on the Arney all change with it.
17 of 17 shown — tap a pin for the place.
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Lough Erne is two connected lakes, Upper and Lower, threaded with over 150 islands and reached from the island town of Enniskillen. Visit the island monastery at Devenish by boat or follow the shore at the National Trust's Crom estate.
Magho, fermanagh
The Cliffs of Magho rise 300m above Lower Lough Erne, and the viewpoint at the top of the Lough Navar Forest Drive takes in Fermanagh, Donegal, Sligo and Tyrone. The walk up is a hard 2.5km through the forest; a plaque near the summit remembers a 1943 flying-boat crash.
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The Aghinrawn drains the largest karst basin in Northern Ireland, about 27 km², before disappearing into a swallow-hole and joining two other rivers underground to form the Marble Arch Caves system. Above ground you can walk the Cuilcagh boardwalk that crosses it; below ground the 75-minute show-cave tour includes a boat ride when water levels allow.
Upper Lough Erne, fermanagh
Crom is a National Trust reserve on Upper Lough Erne and the home of Springwatch 2026 – the first time the programme has been based outside Great Britain. Its draw is old: ancient oak woodland, two yews more than 800 years old, and the burnt-out shell of Old Crom Castle above the water.
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Irvinestown is a working north Fermanagh town best used as a base for Lower Lough Erne. Its draws are specific – a free garden of eight carved Irish saints, the flying-boat history of nearby Castle Archdale, and two July festivals, the Lady of the Lake carnival and a charity truck convoy of up to 700 lorries.
Border of County Fermanagh (Northern Ireland) and Counties Cavan & Leitrim (Republic of Ireland), fermanagh
Lough MacNean lies in two basins on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, with the villages of Belcoo and Blacklion on the neck of land between them. See it from the marked trails at Glenfarne Wood, in the Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark area.
Northwest Ireland, leitrim
Lough Melvin straddles the Leitrim–Fermanagh border, its clear, low-nutrient water home to fish found almost nowhere else: the endemic Melvin charr and two native trout, the red-spotted gillaroo and the dark sonaghen. It's a fishing lake first, but the Eco Park at Kinlough and a 32km cycle loop give non-anglers a reason to come too.
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The Owenbrean rises on Cuilcagh Mountain, sinks underground, and joins two other rivers to form the Cladagh, which resurfaces in the Marble Arch Caves. The show cave's guided tour follows the river on foot and, when water levels allow, by boat. Above ground, three waymarked walks from Gortmaconnell cross limestone hills and bog.
Cavan, cavan
The River Erne runs 120 km from the Cavan hills through Upper and Lower Lough Erne to the Atlantic at Ballyshannon, spreading into a maze of more than 150 islands rather than a single channel. Monastic ruins, crannogs and Enniskillen Castle line the water, and since 1994 the Shannon–Erne Waterway has linked it to the Shannon for boats.
Carrick-on-Shannon, leitrim
The Shannon-Erne Waterway runs 63 km across the Irish border, linking the River Shannon with Upper Lough Erne through lakes, rivers and 16 self-service, smart-card locks. Closed for over a century, it reopened in 1994 as a cruising, paddling and cycling route.
Aghalurcher, fermanagh
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Belcoo, fermanagh
Enniskillen, fermanagh
Derrylin, fermanagh
Enniskillen, fermanagh
fermanagh
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