Ulster Way – 625 miles around the North

Overview

The Ulster Way is not one continuous trail, and knowing that changes how you use it. The full loop around Northern Ireland runs about 625 miles (1,006 km) – Wikipedia’s infobox puts it at 636 – but only around 400 of those are the 16 signed “Quality Sections”: real off-road walking on coast, forest and mountain. The gaps between them are “Link Sections”, mostly on public roads, and there’s no shame in busing, driving or taxiing over those rather than tramping the verge. Treat the Way as a menu of good walks stitched into a circle, not a route to grind out end to end. It’s free, it’s waymarked with yellow Ulster Way signs, and because it was designed for join-in-anywhere access you can start almost anywhere.

If you do just one section, make it the Causeway Coast Way.

History

The idea belongs to conservationist Wilfrid Merydith Capper, who in 1946 pictured a waymarked route linking the six counties of Northern Ireland and the 15 youth hostels then operating. His original alignment opened in the 1970s at 665 miles, but sections slid out of use as roads were widened and land access changed. A restoration was announced in April 2003, and a revised, fully waymarked route of about 625 miles reopened on 16 September 2009. In the summer of 2010, Matthew Hoper and Simon Harris became the first recorded walkers to complete the revised route, over roughly six weeks.

The sections worth walking

The Quality Sections are the point. A few stand out.

Coast and lowland

• Causeway Coast Way – 32 miles (51 km), Portstewart to Ballycastle, past the Giant’s Causeway, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and Dunluce Castle. The busy, spectacular one.
• North Down Coastal Path – 12 miles (19 km) from Holywood to Groomsport along Belfast Lough; flat and easy, good for a half-day.
• Lecale Way – 34 miles (55 km) along the Down coast through St Patrick country, skirting the sheltered edge of Strangford Lough.
• Lagan Towpath – an 11-mile riverside stretch out of Belfast, into the city’s industrial past.

Mountain and upland

• Mourne Way – 23 miles (37 km) through the granite of the Mourne Mountains, a proper hill day.
• Moyle Way – around 20 miles from Glenariff Forest Park to Ballycastle through the Glens of Antrim, boggy and quiet.
• The Sperrins – linked sections including Lough Bradan to Gortin (34 miles), Gortin to Moneyneany (23 miles) and Moneyneany to Dungiven (13 miles), across some of the emptiest upland in the North.
• Florencecourt to Belcoo – a 10-mile section in Fermanagh’s lakeland, on the edge of the Marble Arch Caves Geopark.

Getting around

Major trailheads – Belfast, Ballycastle, Portstewart, Downpatrick – are served by the Ulsterbus network, which is how most section-walkers get to and from the ends of a day’s walk. Where the route follows public roads, that same bus network, or a short taxi, saves you the tarmac. Look for yellow way-markers and information boards at official trailheads; on some sections the marker is a fern symbol or a name on a blue disc rather than the older walker-and-rucksack.

Practical information

The path itself is free, and so are the coastal walks and forest parks it passes through.

• Navigation – the WalkNI site (walkni.com/ulster-way) keeps the most up-to-date section notes and maps, and the HiiKER app has downloadable GPX tracks. In the Sperrins and Mournes, still carry an OS map and compass: phone signal drops out in the valleys and on the headlands.
• Accessibility – the coastal and towpath sections have relatively even surfaces; the mountain sections involve steep, exposed and boggy ground and aren’t suitable for buggies or limited mobility.
• Facilities – towns along the route have hostels, B&Bs, cafés and pubs, and several sections pass forest parks with parking and toilets.

Seasonal advice

Spring and summer are best for the longer mountain stages, when the days are long. Autumn colours the Sperrins and Mournes but comes with rain and short daylight. In winter, stick to lowland and coastal sections – snow and ice make the upland passes genuinely hazardous, and some forest tracks close for work.

Sample legs

Broken into regional legs, the loop is manageable:

1. North coast (2–3 days) – Causeway Coast Way from Portstewart to Ballycastle, then the Moyle Way inland to Glenariff. Moderate, with good seaside beds.
2. Mournes and Fermanagh (4–5 days) – the Mourne Way through the granite peaks, then west to the Fermanagh lakeland sections. For experienced hill-walkers.
3. Sperrins (3–4 days) – the linked Sperrin sections through the Glenelly Valley, a mix of forest track, hill and quiet lane.

Nearby Antrim attractions

Walking the northern sections, these County Antrim stops are worth a detour:

• Antrim Coast and Glens – the AONB of sea cliffs, glens and coves the Moyle and Causeway sections cross.
• Ballycastle – harbour town and the gateway to the Moyle Way, with seafood and boats to Rathlin.
• Ballycastle Heritage Trail – a short circular walk on the town’s archaeology and fishing history.
• Antrim Castle – 17th-century estate ruins and gardens near Lough Neagh.

For planning, start with the WalkNI section pages: they list each Quality Section with its distance, grade and how to reach both ends by bus. If in doubt where to begin, the Causeway Coast Way in a settled spell is hard to beat.