Portrush, Northern Ireland: A Local’s Guide to History, Hidden Spots, Food and Where to Stay

Quick answer: is Portrush worth visiting? Yes. Portrush is a small Victorian seaside resort on a mile-long peninsula on the north coast of County Antrim, with three Blue Flag-standard beaches, the Royal Portrush links that hosted The Open in 1951, 2019 and 2025, a harbour full of restaurants, and the Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle and Bushmills all within about 8 miles. Give it two days as a base for the Causeway Coast, or longer if you want to surf, walk and eat well.

I live in Portrush now, in a house just above the East Strand right beside the Arcadia, and every night I fall asleep to the sound of the surf. Honestly, I still can’t quite believe it. Most of the Portrush guides you’ll find online are written by people who came for a weekend. This one is written by someone who can walk out the door and straight onto the beach.

I’m not new to this part of the world. I lived in Bangor for 2 years and in Donegal for three, and I’ve been to every corner of Northern Ireland and the Republic. I’ve also lived in ten countries and spent over 30 years writing about food and travel, so when I say Portrush is special, I’ve got plenty to compare it with! In this guide you’ll find the history, the rocks that changed science (yes, really), the secret spots, where to eat, where to stay and how to see the whole Causeway Coast from here.

Portrush Fast Facts

Where	North coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland (UK), in Causeway Coast and Glens council area
Name	From the Irish Port Rois, “port of the promontory”
Population	6,150 (2021 Census)
Setting	Old town built on Ramore Head, a peninsula about 1 mile (1.6 km) long
Beaches	West Strand (Mill Strand), East Strand (Curran Strand) and Whiterocks
Famous for	Royal Portrush Golf Club, surfing, Curry’s Fun Park (formerly Barry’s), the Ramore restaurants, the North West 200
Getting there	Train from Coleraine (change from the Belfast–Derry line); Ulsterbus 402 Causeway Rambler along the coast
Nearby	Dunluce Castle (about 3 miles), Bushmills, Giant’s Causeway (about 8 miles), Portstewart
Best for	Beaches, coastal walks, golf, food, a base for the Causeway Coastal Route
Money	Pound sterling (£), not euro

A Short History of Portrush

Portrush looks like a Victorian seaside resort, and mostly it is, but people have been living on this headland for around 6,000 years. That’s older than the pyramids.

Stone Age to Medieval Port

Flint tools found here in the late 19th century show that the site was used in the late Irish Mesolithic, with recent estimates placing that at around 4000 BC. A permanent settlement probably grew up in the 12th or 13th century, protected by the sea on three sides. There was a church on Ramore Head by then, and the papal taxation records of 1306 suggest it was reasonably wealthy. Nothing of it survives.

Two castles once stood here. Caisleán an Teenie, believed to have been at the tip of Ramore Head, was probably destroyed in the late 16th century; a second, Portrush Castle, may date from the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century. After the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the mid-1600s, Portrush shrank into a small fishing town.

The Railway Makes a Resort

Everything changed on 4 December 1855, when the railway arrived. It’s the same story as so many seaside towns I’ve known in England and Canada: the trains brought the crowds and the crowds brought the hotels. Within 25 years hotels and guesthouses had sprung up for every class of Victorian visitor, and by 1900 Portrush was one of the major resort towns in Ireland. The grandest was the railway-owned Northern Counties Hotel, built in the 1870s; today the Portrush Atlantic Hotel stands on its site. The Town Hall on Mark Street, home to the visitor information centre, was completed in 1872.

The harbour, built in 1827, mostly served passenger steamers from Scotland until 1939. Today it belongs to fishing boats, yachts, the lifeboat and the Ramore restaurants.

The World’s First Hydro-Electric Tram

In January 1883, the Giant’s Causeway, Portrush and Bush Valley Railway and Tramway opened from Portrush railway station to Bushmills, extended to the Causeway in 1887. It ran on electricity generated by water turbines at Walkmills, and it is widely credited as the first commercially run hydro-electric tramway in the world. Siemens supplied the technology after showing an early electric railway in Berlin in 1879. The tram ran until 1949; the Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Railway now uses the last two miles of its old track bed.

Barry’s, the Arcadia and the Showband Years

In 1926, Francesco Trufelli and Evelyn Chipperfield opened the amusement park that became Barry’s. Ask anyone who grew up in Northern Ireland about Barry’s and watch their face light up, it was the highlight of every childhood summer. Actor James Nesbitt worked there as a teenager. After it closed and was put up for sale, the Curry family from Salthill in Galway took a long lease and reopened it as Curry’s Fun Park in April 2022, keeping the Big Dipper.

Just along the shore, the Arcadia began life beside a sheltered cove known as the Ladies Bathing Place, where Victorian bathing boxes stood in the 1890s. Local businessman R.A. Chalmers built the café in the 1920s, and by 1926 the Arcadia name was over the door. In the 1950s and early 1960s its ballroom was home to Dave Glover and His Orchestra, often called the original Irish showband. Later, The Stranglers played there with The Undertones supporting, a week before “Teenage Kicks” was released. The ballroom never had a drinks licence, which helped finish it off once licensed discos arrived in the 1970s and 80s.

I have to admit the Arcadia looks a bit rundown in the winter months and could use a good paint job. However the memories are strong here as it is where my parents met and danced the night away back in the day.

Golf’s Biggest Stage

Royal Portrush Golf Club is the only club outside Great Britain to host The Open Championship, in 1951, 2019 and 2025. The 2025 Open (the 153rd) ran from 17 to 20 July on the Dunluce Links; Scottie Scheffler won by four shots on 17 under par, and the week drew a record crowd of around 278,000 spectators. Rory McIlroy, who set the course record of 61 here as a 16-year-old amateur in 2005, finished tied seventh.

My husband went to inquire about joining or at least having a round of gold and was surprised by the absolutely miserable attitude of the staff. They were rude and indifferent and suggested he head for the much cheaper 9 hole course at Port Steward. It later became very apparent that even the locals depise the Club for its snotty attitude and focus on getting as much money out of the tourists as they could. My husband’s highest recommendation head to the fabulous links and parkside course at Ballycastle, which is around 20 minutes down the coast.

“Ballycastle’s hill-top golf course at the end of Glenshesk, one of County Antrim’s famous Nine Glens, is set amongst some of Northern Ireland’s most outstanding natural scenery. There is the rugged beauty of the Causeway Coast with northerly views across the bay towards the idyllic Rathlin Island with its three lighthouses. Gaze just beyond it on the clearest of days, and it’s possible to catch sight of Scotland’s Mull of Kintyre. The majestic Donegal Hills lie to the west of Ballycastle while to the south-east are the peaks and valleys of the Antrim Glens.” Ballycastle Golf Club.

The Rocks That Settled a Scientific War

Okay, confession time. I’m a total geology geek, I have been since I was making papier mâché volcanoes in grade 8, so I have to tell you about the most important rocks in Portrush. Most visitors walk straight past them on the Lansdowne shore without a second glance!

In the late 18th century, geologists were split into two camps. The Neptunists believed rocks like basalt had crystallised out of an ancient ocean. The Vulcanists (or Plutonists), following James Hutton, argued that such rocks had once been molten. In 1786, dark rocks were found on the east side of Ramore Head that seemed to contain fossil ammonites, and they looked exactly like basalt. Since nothing could survive molten rock, the Neptunists declared victory. The Reverend William Richardson described the “Portrush Rock” in 1799.

Then the Scottish geologist John Playfair, Hutton’s follower, visited in 1802 and showed what was really going on. The fossils sit in Jurassic mudstone, about 190 million years old, which was baked hard into a rock called hornfels when a huge sheet of molten dolerite, the Portrush Sill, pushed in beneath it around 60 million years ago. Heat had made the mudstone look like basalt. The Vulcanists won, and many geologists treat that moment as the point where field evidence began to drive the science. Some regard the Portrush rocks as one of the most important geological sites in the world.

The shore is now the Portrush National Nature Reserve, part of the Ramore Head and The Skerries Area of Special Scientific Interest, directly behind the Coastal Zone centre on Bath Road. It is free and open every day. Thieves have stolen fossil-bearing rock here in the past, so please look, photograph, and leave everything where it is. Once you know about the ammonites you’ll start spotting their spirals worked into railings and street furniture all over town. It’s like a little treasure hunt.

The West Strand has its own buried secret: under the sand lie peat beds with the fossilised remains of alder and birch trees that grew there around 9,000 to 7,000 years ago, which is why that beach is protected too.

Things to See and Do in Portrush

1. Walk Ramore Head

Locals call it “the point” and it’s one of my favourite places to walk. A paved, pram- and wheelchair-friendly path loops around the headland past the recreation grounds and the Lansdowne shore, with benches all the way. On a clear day you can see the Skerries, the Donegal hills, Rathlin and even Islay. Bring a flask of tea at sunset and you’ll see why people never want to leave.

2. East Strand and Whiterocks

This is my beach, and I’m not one bit sorry for bragging about it. The East Strand, also called Curran Strand, starts at the Arcadia and runs about 2.5 km past the dunes of Royal Portrush, merging into Whiterocks. It is the surfers’ beach, the dog-walkers’ beach, and on early mornings the racehorse trainers’ beach: trainers exercise horses along the sand between Whiterocks and the East Strand. A free parkrun runs here on Saturday mornings.

At Whiterocks, the cliffs turn to white limestone, carved into caves and arches with names like Shelagh’s Head, the Wishing Arch, Elephant Rock and the Lion’s Paw. Some caves under the road can only be reached from the sea. The cliff path is part of the Causeway Coast Way and Ulster Way, and it leads east to the Magheracross viewpoint, with Dunluce Castle beyond.

3. Magheracross Car Park and Viewpoint

If you only stop once on the drive from Portrush to Bushmills, make it Magheracross. It’s a purpose-built viewing platform with its own car park on the Dunluce Road, just outside town and only about a quarter of a mile from Dunluce Castle. Look one way and you get the white cliffs and dunes of Whiterocks with the Skerries out to sea; look the other and there’s Dunluce Castle clinging to its rock. It officially opened in July 2021 as a stopping place and trailhead on the Causeway Coastal Route, so it’s also a handy spot to join the cliff path down towards Whiterocks. Most people zoom straight past it on the coast road, which is a real shame, because it’s one of the best free views on the whole coast. Go at sunset if you can!

I’ve been many times and there is plenty of parking although it does get crowded in season.The are is accessible with paved paths to the 2 viewpoints but it can be absolutely freezing in the fall and winter months as the winds whip over those green hills off the North Sea.

4. West Strand (Mill Strand)

The town beach on the harbour side, with a promenade, views to Portstewart and Inishowen, and the best sunsets. Watch for the resident harbour porpoises just offshore.

5. Portrush Coastal Zone and Nature Reserve

Housed in an old Victorian bath house at 8 Bath Road, this free DAERA marine centre has touch pools with crabs, starfish and anemones, a whale bone, and a viewing platform where seals, harbour porpoises, bottlenose dolphins and occasionally minke whales are spotted. It opens seven days a week from June to September; school and group tours can be booked all year. The fossil shore is right behind it.

6. Curry’s Fun Park

Northern Ireland’s largest indoor fun park, on the old Barry’s site, still with the Big Dipper. For 2026 it added a spinning coaster (opened 9 May 2026) and a Freefall drop ride. Seasonal: check opening days before you go.

7. The Arcadia

Now a seasonal beach café downstairs with a gallery for local artists and a studio upstairs running yoga, Pilates and tai chi, plus a children’s play park and paddling pools outside. Doing a yoga class with the Atlantic crashing outside the window is about as Portrush as it gets.

8. Royal Portrush Golf Club

Two links courses, the Dunluce and the Valley. Visitors can book tee times. For 2026 (1 April to 31 October) the green fee is £420 on the Dunluce Links and £200 on the Valley Links, paid in full when you book and non-refundable. Groups of four can ask about a Golf Ireland rate. Even non-golfers should walk the beach below the dunes to see how the course sits in the landscape.

9. Get Out on the Water

Surfing: Portrush Surf School, based at Portrush Yacht Club on the harbour, is run by head coach Martin “TK” Kelly, an 11-time Irish national champion, and runs three-hour group lessons (two hours in the water) with hot showers afterwards. Troggs Surf School and Alive Surf School also teach locally, and Xplore Outdoors runs coasteering, kayaking and bodyboarding from the East Strand watersports centre. Freedive Northern Ireland offers guided snorkelling around the Skerries.

From the harbour, Causeway Boats runs sightseeing and fishing trips (from around £25), and operators run seal snorkel trips to the Skerries and snorkelling tours of the hidden sea caves at Whiterocks and Dunluce. Divers head for the Blue Pool and for wrecks including HMS Drake. Check current operators and prices in spring; boat trips change year to year.

10. The Playhouse

Upstairs at Kiwi’s on Main Street is the old Majestic Cinema, opened on 7 April 1939 with seats for 792. Restored as The Playhouse Portrush, it shows classic films and live sport and is one of the last working 1930s cinemas in Northern Ireland.

11. Walk the Port Path to Portstewart

The Port Path is the waymarked coastal walk between the East Strand in Portrush and Portstewart Strand, about 7 miles end to end on cliff paths, promenade, grass and beach. It passes Ballyreagh Castle, St Patrick’s Well, an old ice house once used to keep salmon, and Portnahapple, a natural sea pool. Expect some steps and uneven ground. Walk out to Portstewart, treat yourself to an ice cream on the prom, and catch the 140 bus back. You’ve earned it.

12. Go Shopping at The White House

As someone who writes a lot about the people behind history, I adore this one. The White House on the corner of Main Street has one of the best stories in town. Henry Hamilton left Portrush for America in 1875, leaving his clothes by the River Bann so that people would think he had drowned and his debts would die with him. Around 15 years later he came home rich, married his old sweetheart, opened The White House in 1891, and invited his former creditors to dinner, where each found an envelope beside their plate with the money he owed them.

The store sold Irish linen, lace and china to customers said to include British royalty, ran a worldwide mail-order catalogue, and did a roaring trade with American GIs in the Second World War. It still trades today. For local art, visit the gallery of Adrian Margey and Evana Bjourson on Mark Street, or Frankie Creith Art on Main Street.

13. Take a Food Tour or Catch Your Breakfast

Portrush Tasty is a Friday-night food tour (over-18s, seasonal from June) led by local food ambassador Wendy Gallagher of Causeway Coast Foodie Tours. It starts at the Town Hall and includes a craft beer tasting at Lacada, Portrush‘s own brewery, and a two-course dinner at Kiwi’s. Causeway Boats runs a sunrise “catch your breakfast” fishing trip from the harbour, with the catch cooked for you afterwards. Everyone who reads my blog knows I can’t resist a food tour, and after 20 years as a food product developer these are the first things I’d book.

Secret Spots and Unusual Places Locals Love

These are the places that don’t make the usual top-ten lists, and they’re the ones I’ll be taking my friends and family to when they visit.

1. The Devil’s Washtub. A narrow rocky inlet near the tip of Ramore Head, just in front of the park on the path up the head. On a stormy day the waves are squeezed into the channel and explode into spray. Watch from the path; do not go down to it. Nobody knows for sure where the name came from, but one look at it in a storm and you’ll understand.
2. The fossil shore at Lansdowne. The rocks that settled the Neptunist–Vulcanist argument, described above. Go at low tide and look for the faint spirals of ammonites in the dark hornfels.
3. The Blue Pool. A deep natural inlet beside the Coastal Zone where Portrush swimmers have been jumping and diving since the 1920s and 30s, when crowds gathered on the rocks to watch. Only for strong, confident swimmers in calm water.
4. The old lifeboat house. Portrush’s lifeboat slipway was built near Portandhu in 1892 and the boathouse in 1900. You can still see it by the Lansdowne car park; it now houses Shanty, a casual restaurant.
5. The Second World War listening post. Ramore Head was home to a wartime wireless listening station, one of the “Y stations” that intercepted enemy transmissions and passed them to Bletchley Park. Nothing obvious remains, which is part of the intrigue: stand on the head and imagine the operators with their headphones, listening to the Atlantic war.
6. The Ladies Bathing Place. The small sheltered cove beside the Arcadia, where Victorian women and children bathed away from the main beach. It is right below my window.
7. “To the People of the Sea”. Holger Lonze’s sculpture on the grassy bank above the East Strand, a tribute to Portrush’s seafaring people and the boat building that once happened on that spot.
8. Racehorses at dawn. Get to the East Strand early and you may share the sand with trainers galloping horses through the shallows. It’s a gorgeous sight and hardly anyone on holiday ever sees it.
9. A drink in a 1939 cinema. Kiwi’s Brew Bar fills the ground floor of the Art Deco Majestic. Ask the staff for a local craft beer recommendation; they will not let you down.
10. The buried forest. Stand on the West Strand knowing there are 9,000-year-old tree remains in the peat beneath your feet.
11. Harbour porpoises from the platform. The Skerries and Causeway marine Special Area of Conservation was the UK’s first marine protected area for harbour porpoise. Bring binoculars to the Coastal Zone viewing platform or Ramore Head on a calm day.

Portrush with Kids and on Rainy Days

Portrush was built for family holidays, and it still delivers when the rain comes in sideways off the Atlantic. And trust me, it will at some point!

• Curry’s Fun Park: largely indoors, with the Big Dipper, dodgems and arcades. Seasonal.
• Portrush Coastal Zone: free touch pools and sea creatures, open daily June to September.
• The Arcadia play park: paddling pools, giant sand toys, rope swings and climbing frames on the East Strand.
• Ramore Head adventure playground and the grassy recreation grounds for a picnic.
• The Playhouse for a classic film on a wet afternoon.
• Wacky Workshop in Portrush for soft play (under-10s) and Elementary Escape Rooms for ages 9 and up.
• The Jet Centre in Coleraine, about 10 minutes away, for bowling, cinema and mini-golf.
• North Coast Alpacas, a family farm nearby offering alpaca walks and sunset treks.
• Rock pooling at low tide around Ramore Head and the Lansdowne shore, and the free Saturday parkrun for older kids.

What’s Closed: Don’t Get Caught Out

Plenty of Portrush guides still send visitors to places that no longer exist. As a local, here is what has changed:

• Waterworld, the harbourside swimming and slides complex, closed permanently in 2018.
• The Dunluce Centre entertainment centre closed in 2013.
• Barry’s Amusements is now Curry’s Fun Park (since 2022). Same site, same Big Dipper.
• The Portrush Countryside Centre is now the Portrush Coastal Zone.
• The Northern Counties Hotel is long gone; the Portrush Atlantic Hotel stands on its site.

Where to Eat in Portrush

After 30 years in food, I’ll be honest, I judge a town by what’s on its plates. For a small seaside town Portrush has a fabulous food scene, and the harbour is the heart of it.

The Ramore Restaurants, The Harbour

The Ramore complex at 1 The Harbour is a Portrush institution, a cluster of restaurants and bars under one roof:

• Ramore Wine Bar for a lively room, a big menu and its famous dessert station.
• The Mermaid Kitchen and Bar for fresh fish and local specials in a relaxed setting.
• Neptune & Prawn for Asian-inspired sharing plates, with an upstairs cocktail bar and some of the best sunset views in town.
• Basalt for steaks and pasta with harbour views.
• Coast for stone-baked pizza, pasta and Ramore burgers; the family-friendly choice.
• Harbour Bar and Bistro: one of the oldest bars in Portrush, with a well-kept pint of Guinness out front, a gin bar upstairs and a wood-fired bistro behind serving steaks from JD Hart & Sons Butchers. Every Sunday the Harbour has a Sunday Dinner Carvery which is packed out.

Special Occasions

• Dunluce Lodge: the north coast’s five-star hotel serves seasonal Causeway Coast produce; executive chef Stephen Holland won Chef of the Year at the LCN Awards 2026.
• Red Sail Room at the Portrush Adelphi on Main Street.
• The Port Kitchen & Bar at the Portrush Atlantic Hotel, with harbour and ocean views.
• Top Blade, a steakhouse at 4 Castle Erin Road.

Casual, Local and Unusual

Babushka Kitchen Cafe, South Pier: a tiny café on the harbour wall over the West Strand, open since 2014, with sourdough from Ursa Minor in Ballycastle, local producers, home baking and plant-based options. Later in the week it becomes a natural wine bar with small seasonal plates. Grab a deckchair on the pier if you can.

Shanty, Ramore Avenue: casual food in the old lifeboat station.

Kraken, 25 Lansdowne Crescent: fish and chips by the Lansdowne shore. Eat them sitting on the wall looking out at the Skerries, there’s no better dining room.

Slabz, Main Street, recently opened and serving fantastic sub style sandwiches with everything from Pastrami to vegan.

Saffron, 126 Main Street, for Indian food.

The Quays Bar & Restaurant, near Curry’s, for steaks and seafood.

My Pie, Main Street next to Slabz, a great takeout for handheld pies and sausage rolls. You can add mashed potatoes, mushy peas and more.

Indigo Cafe (21 Eglinton Street), Cafe Tilly and Anne’s Cafe for coffee, toasties and home baking.

The Arcadia café for coffee on the East Strand in season.

Local food to try: Portrush is a seafood town, so make the most of it. Look for local crab, chowder and fish specials, a proper Ulster fry with soda and potato bread, and Bushmills whiskey on the drinks list. Booking ahead in summer, during the North West 200 and at weekends is essential for the Ramore and the hotel restaurants.

Pubs, Coffee and Nightlife

Harbour Bar: the old front bar for Guinness and conversation, with live music upstairs in the gin bar most evenings.

Kiwi’s Brew Bar, 47 Main Street: craft beer from small independent brewers, live music and comedy nights, in the old Majestic cinema.

The Playhouse, upstairs in the same building, for classic films and big matches.

The Springhill Bar: right behind our house is a traditional pub with a stone fireplace and music sessions, a short walk from the East Strand. One night 14 musicians were playing and singing it was a phenomenal event which is apparently a regular occurence.

Elephant Rock, 17 Lansdowne Crescent: a cocktail bar and terrace with ocean views.

Neptune & Prawn’s upstairs cocktail bar for sunset.

Babushka natural wine bar evenings later in the week.

Portrush has a lively nightlife in summer, especially during race week. Outside July and August the town is much quieter, which suits those of us who live here just fine.

Where to Stay in Portrush

The 2025 Open sparked a real hotel boom in Portrush, and there’s more choice now than there has been in decades. Prices climb sharply during the North West 200 in May, the July holidays and any big golf event; book early.

Hotel	Style	Best for
Dunluce Lodge	Five-star, 35 suites, opened 2025 on the edge of Royal Portrush’s 4th fairway; Small Luxury Hotels of the World	Luxury, golfers, special occasions
Marine & Lawn	34 rooms on Main Street was the Adelphi, reopened 21 April 2025 under Marine & Lawn	Stylish town-centre stay, walking to everything
The Marcus Portrush	Tapestry Collection by Hilton, in a restored Victorian building at 39–41 Main Street	Boutique feel, central
Portrush Atlantic Hotel	73 Main Street, on the site of the 1870s Northern Counties Hotel, with Atlantic views	Families, sea views, value
The Port Hotel	Family-run, 17 en-suite rooms in the town centre	Character on a budget
Royal Court Hotel	On the coast road above Whiterocks	Whiterocks, quiet, pet-friendly
Bank Apartments	Self-catering in a listed building built in 1898 for the Belfast Banking Corporation, 60 Main Street	Self-catering in style
Self-catering and B&Bs	Victorian townhouses and seafront apartments across the peninsula	Groups, longer stays, dogs

Which Part of Portrush?

• Main Street and the harbour: walk to every restaurant and both beaches; livelier at night.
• Lansdowne and Ramore Head: Victorian crescents facing the Skerries, quieter, beautiful sunrises.
• East Strand side (where I live): the sound of the surf all night and the beach on your doorstep, five minutes from town. I’m biased, but I think it’s the best spot.
• Dunluce Road and Whiterocks: for golfers and anyone with a car who wants space and views.

For more castle stays and grand hotels across the island, see my guide to castle hotels in Ireland.

What Portrush Costs

Portrush can be a budget seaside trip or a very expensive golf break, depending on what you do. Many of the best things here are free.

Item	Typical cost (2026)
Beaches, Ramore Head, Port Path, fossil reserve, parkrun	Free
Portrush Coastal Zone	Free
Whiterocks car park	Free
East and West Strand car parks	Charged in season
Dunluce Castle	About £6 adult
Boat sightseeing trip	From around £25
Royal Portrush Valley Links green fee	£200
Royal Portrush Dunluce Links green fee	£420
Hotels	Lowest in winter; highest during the North West 200, July and August and golf events

Money tip: stay in October to March and eat at the cafés and chippies at lunch; book the Ramore or a hotel restaurant for your one big dinner.

Portrush Events Calendar

When	Event
Saturday mornings, all year	Free timed parkrun on the East Strand to Whiterocks and back
Early May (4–9 May in 2026)	North West 200 motorcycle road races on the Portrush–Portstewart–Coleraine “Triangle”, running since 1929
Late May (23 May in 2026)	Portrush Raft Race in aid of RNLI Portrush, with a junior race, swims and family activities
June	The Causeway, an annual event starting from the East Strand and finishing in Bushmills
July and August	Peak season; RNLI lifeguards on the main beaches; Arcadia open into the evening
Championship years	The Open returned in 2019 and 2025; future dates are set by The R&A

Day Trips from Portrush

Portrush is the best base on the Causeway Coastal Route. Everything below is on the Ulsterbus 402 Causeway Rambler route or a short drive away.

Dunluce Castle (about 3 miles): the clifftop ruin of the MacQuillans and MacDonnells, where the castle kitchens are said to have fallen into the sea one stormy night in 1639. I’ve visited Dunluce myself many times and it’s every bit as dramatic as the photos. Adult entry is around £6; arrive at opening to beat the crowds. It has had temporary closures, including in early 2026, so check the official listing before you go. Read the banshee story in my haunted castles in Ireland guide.

Bushmills: home of the Old Bushmills Distillery, licensed in 1608. See my Irish whiskey tours guide.

Giant’s Causeway (about 8 miles): the UNESCO basalt columns, about 15 minutes by car.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and Ballintoy for the rope bridge and the harbour used as the Iron Islands in Game of Thrones.

Ballycastle for the Rathlin Island ferry, where you can head to see Puffins in season.

Ballygally Castle Hotel on the Tour of Doors – Game of Thrones which Depicts the Battle of the Bastards and Stark/Bolton themes.

Portstewart, the next town west, for its promenade, the National Trust strand you can still drive onto, and Morelli’s ice cream. Walk there on the Port Path.

Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne on the cliffs beyond Castlerock.

See all my picks in Northern Ireland tourist attractions, or plan a longer trip with my Belfast and Northern Ireland travel guide.

Distances from Portrush

From Portrush to	Approx. distance by road
Portstewart	3 miles
Dunluce Castle	3 miles
Coleraine	6 miles
Bushmills	6 miles
Giant’s Causeway	8 miles
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge	15 miles
Ballycastle	18 miles
The Dark Hedges	17 miles
Derry~Londonderry	35 miles
Belfast	60 miles

Distances are rounded; sanity-check against Google Maps before publishing.

Getting to and Around Portrush

• By train: Portrush station, opened in 1855, is the end of a short branch line from Coleraine. Coleraine sits on the Belfast–Derry line, which I think is the most spectacular train journey into Derry; change there for Portrush.
• By bus: the Ulsterbus 402 Causeway Rambler runs from Coleraine through Portrush (stop: Dunluce Avenue) to Dunluce, Portballintrae, Bushmills, the Giant’s Causeway, Ballintoy and Ballycastle. Check Translink for current times.
• By car: about 1 hour 15 minutes from Belfast. Charged parking applies at the East Strand (around 637 spaces) and West Strand in season; Whiterocks has a free car park. If you are driving north from the Republic, read my guide to renting a car in Ireland, North and South.
• On foot: the town is small and walkable. The best walk of all is along the sand from the Arcadia to Whiterocks, then up the cliff path.
• Airports: Belfast International, Belfast City and City of Derry are all within roughly 90 minutes.

Accessible Portrush

Portrush is one of the more accessible seaside towns in Northern Ireland, because so much of it is flat promenade.

• East Strand is an inclusive beach run with the Mae Murray Foundation, with free loans of beach equipment including all-terrain wheelchairs and mobility aids. There are concrete ramps onto the sand at both ends of the promenade, plus accessible toilets and parking.
• West Strand has accessible toilets, parking and a level promenade; Whiterocks has accessible parking and toilets.
• Ramore Head has a paved, gently sloping path with benches, suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
• Portrush Coastal Zone has accessible toilets.
• Watch for: steep steps down from Main Street to the Arcadia cove, uneven rock at the fossil shore and Blue Pool, and dogs being restricted on the main beaches from 1 June to 15 September. Dunluce Castle admits assistance dogs only.

More detail in my Accessible Northern Ireland guide.

Best Time to Visit Portrush

May, June and September are the sweet spot: long light evenings, open cafés and room on the beach. July and August are busy, loud and fun, with lifeguards on duty and everything open. Winter is wild and beautiful: storms at the Devil’s Washtub, empty sands, surfers in thick wetsuits, and hotels at their cheapest, though some seasonal places close. Whatever the month, pack a waterproof. The weather here changes by the hour. Coming from a Canadian winter I can handle it, but I still love listening to a good storm from my bed!

A Two-Day Portrush Itinerary

Day 1: The Town

1. Coffee and breakfast at Babushka on the South Pier.
2. Walk the West Strand promenade, then loop Ramore Head past the Devil’s Washtub.
3. Coastal Zone touch pools, then the fossil shore behind it at low tide.
4. Fish and chips from Kraken on the Lansdowne wall.
5. Afternoon on the East Strand: walk to Whiterocks and the Wishing Arch.
6. Sunset drinks upstairs at Neptune & Prawn, dinner at the Ramore, a nightcap at the Harbour Bar or Kiwi’s.

Day 2: The Causeway Coast

1. Early bus or drive to Dunluce Castle for opening time.
2. Old Bushmills Distillery.
3. Giant’s Causeway, then on to Carrick-a-Rede and lunch in Ballintoy.
4. Back to Portrush for a beach walk at dusk and dinner on Main Street.

Building a bigger trip? My Ireland itinerary hub has routes that include the Causeway Coast.

Portrush FAQs

What is Portrush best known for?

Portrush is best known for its three beaches (West Strand, East Strand and Whiterocks), Royal Portrush Golf Club, which hosted The Open in 1951, 2019 and 2025, Curry’s Fun Park (formerly Barry’s), the Ramore restaurants and being the best base for the Giant’s Causeway.

Is Portrush in Northern Ireland or Ireland?

Portrush is in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. It uses pounds sterling, not euros.

How far is Portrush from the Giant’s Causeway?

About 8 miles, roughly 15 minutes by car. The Ulsterbus 402 Causeway Rambler runs from Portrush to the Causeway, stopping at Dunluce Castle and Bushmills.

Can you swim at Portrush?

Yes. West Strand and East Strand have seasonal RNLI lifeguards in July and August, and Whiterocks is popular too. The Blue Pool beside the Coastal Zone is a traditional deep-water jumping spot for strong, confident swimmers only, in calm conditions.

Where are the fossils in Portrush?

In the Portrush National Nature Reserve on the Lansdowne shore, directly behind the Coastal Zone on Bath Road. Ammonite fossils sit in baked Jurassic mudstone (hornfels). It is free and open daily; collecting is not allowed.

What happened to Barry’s Amusements?

Barry’s, founded in 1926 by Francesco Trufelli and Evelyn Chipperfield, closed and was put up for sale. The Curry family, who run Curry’s Fun Park in Salthill, Galway, took a long lease and reopened it as Curry’s Fun Park in April 2022. The Big Dipper is still there.

What is the best area to stay in Portrush?

Stay on or near Main Street and the harbour to walk everywhere, Lansdowne for quiet Victorian sea views, the East Strand side to be beside the surf beach, or out on Dunluce Road for golf and space. Dunluce Lodge is the five-star option.

Is Portrush accessible for wheelchair users?

Largely, yes. East Strand is an inclusive beach with free all-terrain wheelchair loans, ramps, accessible toilets and parking, and the Ramore Head path is paved and gently sloping. Some steps and rocky areas are not accessible.

Can you get to Portrush by train?

Yes. Take the Belfast–Derry line to Coleraine and change for the short branch to Portrush, which ends in the town centre near the West Strand.

When is the best time to visit Portrush?

May, June and September offer long days with fewer crowds. July and August are busiest. Book well ahead for the North West 200 in early May and any major golf event.

What is the best beach in Portrush?

It depends what you want. West Strand is the sheltered town beach with the best sunsets; East Strand is the long surf and walking beach with the Arcadia at one end; Whiterocks has the dramatic limestone caves and arches. All three regularly hold Blue Flag awards.

Is Portrush or Portstewart better to stay in?

Portrush has more restaurants, hotels, nightlife and amusements and is closer to the Giant’s Causeway. Portstewart, 3 miles west, is quieter, with a long promenade and a big National Trust strand. They are linked by the Port Path and a frequent bus, so you can easily enjoy both.

How much does it cost to play Royal Portrush?

For 2026 (1 April to 31 October), green fees are £420 for the Dunluce Links and £200 for the Valley Links, paid in full at booking.

Is Waterworld in Portrush still open?

No. Waterworld closed permanently in 2018, and the Dunluce Centre closed in 2013. Barry’s Amusements now operates as Curry’s Fun Park.

What is there to do in Portrush when it rains?

Curry’s Fun Park, the free Portrush Coastal Zone, a classic film at The Playhouse, soft play and escape rooms in town, a pint and live music in the Harbour Bar or Kiwi’s, or bowling and cinema at the Jet Centre in Coleraine.

Is Portrush expensive?

Not by UK seaside standards. The beaches, walks, Coastal Zone and fossil reserve are free and Whiterocks parking is free. Costs rise during the North West 200, peak summer and golf events, and Royal Portrush green fees are among the highest in Ireland.

Are dogs allowed on Portrush beaches?

Yes, outside summer. Restrictions apply on the main beaches from 1 June to 15 September, so check the signs at each beach.

Final Thoughts from a Portrush Local

Portrush isn’t a polished resort and it doesn’t pretend to be. It’s amusements and ammonites, Victorian crescents and surf shacks, a five-star hotel and a chippy on the sea wall, all on one little peninsula. By all means come for the Giant’s Causeway, everyone does. But stay a night or two, walk out to the point when the wind is up, and listen to the waves rolling in over the East Strand. That sound is the reason I live here, and I hope you’ll fall for it too.