Things to Do in County Antrim

More about County Antrim

Where to base yourself: city, coast or glen

Antrim gives you three kinds of base and the choice decides what your days look like. Belfast is the only one with a full spread of hotels, late buses and somewhere to eat after nine; it sits about an hour and a quarter from the Causeway, which is fine once and wearing twice. Portrush is the seaside choice — walkable, loud in August, and fifteen minutes from Dunluce and Bushmills. Rooms there go early for summer weekends and vanish entirely whenever Royal Portrush has a championship on. Bushmills is quieter and closer to the Causeway itself, which matters if you want to be at the stones before the coaches. Further east, Ballycastle is the base for the Rathlin ferry and for Fair Head, and Cushendall or Glenarm put you inside the Glens with the coast road at the door. Ballygally, a 1625 castle turned hotel on the Larne shore, is the oddity — you can actually sleep in it.

The coast road between Portrush and Ballycastle

The famous stops are strung along about thirty miles of the Causeway Coastal Route, and the gaps between them are the good part. Whiterocks is a chalk cliffline east of Portrush with arches and caves you can walk under at low tide, while East Strand is the surf beach on the town’s doorstep. Past Bushmills, Runkerry Beach and the path along the headland let you approach the Causeway on foot from the west rather than through the visitor centre. Dunseverick Castle is a free scrap of wall on a headland with nobody at it, and Kinbane Castle sits at the bottom of a long, steep flight of steps on a white limestone spur — the climb back up is the price. White Park Bay is a mile of pale sand with cattle grazing the dunes above it; the path down is rough and the currents make it a beach for looking at rather than swimming. Ballintoy harbour and the Elephant Rock sea arch are within a few minutes of each other. Carrick-a-Rede runs on pre-booked timed tickets, so decide before you leave. At the Dark Hedges, cars are no longer allowed on Bregagh Road itself — park at the hotel car park nearby and walk in, and go early or at dusk if you want it without a crowd.

Into the Glens

The nine glens run inland off the coast road and take almost no traffic. Glenariff is the one with the infrastructure: a forest park with a waterfall walk on boardwalks and steps past Ess-na-Larach, a car park charge, and a tea house at the top. Glendun is wilder, with a Victorian viaduct carrying the road high over the river, and it drops down to Cushendun, a small National Trust village of Cornish-style cottages with sea caves at the end of the beach. Above Cushendall, the flat-topped bulk of Lurigethan carries a promontory fort and one of the best views over the Glens for the effort involved, and Waterfoot has the beach where Glenariff meets the sea. Inland, Slemish is the volcanic plug where Patrick is said to have herded sheep — a short but genuinely steep scramble, and busiest by far on St Patrick’s Day. For a long day’s walking, Fair Head gives you the biggest cliff in the north, reached across farmland, with Rathlin and the Scottish islands laid out below.

Rathlin and the water

Rathlin is a 25-to-45-minute ferry from Ballycastle depending on which boat you get, and it deserves a full day rather than a squeezed afternoon. The seabird colony at the west light is the draw — guillemots, razorbills and puffins from roughly April into July, after which the cliffs empty out. A bus meets most sailings; the walk out is about four miles each way. The Rue Point lighthouse marks the quieter southern end, and on a clear day the Mull of Kintyre looks close enough to row to. Sailings are weather-dependent and book out in July and August. Inland, Lough Neagh is the largest lake in these islands but has had serious blue-green algae blooms in recent summers — check the water before planning anything in it.

A wet day in Belfast

The Ulster Museum is free and takes a couple of hours easily, and it backs onto the Botanic Gardens and their Victorian palm house. A Titanic Belfast ticket normally includes SS Nomadic in the dock alongside, the last White Star ship afloat. Crumlin Road Gaol runs guided tours through the tunnel under the road and into the condemned cell. The Crown Liquor Saloon is a working pub with gas lamps and carved snugs, owned by the National Trust and opposite the Europa. City Hall, the Linen Hall Library and the bars of the Cathedral Quarter are all within ten minutes on foot of it.

Practical notes

Ballycastle Museum is closed for redevelopment and not due back until 2028, so don’t build a day around it. The coast road is slow by design — allow far longer than the map suggests between Larne and Ballycastle, and expect to queue for car parks at the headline sights between eleven and three in high summer. May, June and September give you the seabirds, the long evenings and most of the opening hours without the traffic.