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Fermanagh is justly famous for the intense beauty of its lakes . Much of the landscape is dominated by their waters which, along with numerous rivers, constitute more than a third of the county's area. Though there are several attractive smaller loughs, it's the two interconnected parts of Lough Erne which draw the most visitors - Lower Lough Erne in the northwest and Upper Lough Erne in the southeast. Surrounding hills are wooded with oak, ash and beech, producing a scene of fresh, verdant greens in spring and rich and rusty colours in autumn. The water's rippling surface reflects whatever light there is, mirroring the palest of skies through to the ruddiest of magenta sunsets. It's a breathtaking landscape, where land and water complement each other in a resonant, stately harmony. In winter Lower Lough Erne has the character of an inland sea, dangerous waves making even the locals wary of sailing. Fabulous vistas reach across to the shores of richly wooded, mostly uninhabited islands, on which are scattered early Christian ruins and evidence of earlier pagan cultures. The Upper Lough is quieter and less spectacular. The waterway here is a delightful muddle of little inlets and islands, where waters are shallower and shorelines reedy. Fields have shocks of bristly marsh-grasses; definitions between land and water are blurred. There are plenty of opportunities for water sports , and the less energetic can get out onto the lakes by renting a boat or taking one of the lough cruises. Walkers will find the countryside to be mostly gentle hills and woods, which rise to small mountains in the south and west of the county, made accessible by the Ulster Way. For cyclists , there are well-surfaced, empty roads (though routes around the Upper Lough are harder to negotiate, with little lanes often leading only to some empty reed-infested shore). The county town of Enniskillen sits at the point where the Upper and Lower loughs meet. Long a strategic bridging point, it has more amenities than the rest of Fermanagh put together and, consequently, is a good base for exploring the region. With your own transport you can easily access Fermanagh's impressive series of planters' castles, while the county's two stately houses, Florence Court and Castle Coole , are both open to the public. Public transport in the county is limited to Ulsterbus - although reliable enough, only the main routes from Enniskillen are served with any frequency. If you look like a foreign tourist, then hitching along main roads is possible during the summer months, though never easy: County Fermanagh is as friendly as anywhere in the North, but it is one of the few remaining areas still patrolled by the British Army.
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