Things to do in County Antrim
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Old Bushmills Distillery
Bushmills is the world's oldest legal distillery, having been granted a licence by King James I in 1608. Bushmills whiskey is made with Irish barley and water from St Columb's Rill, a tributary of the River Bush, and matured in oak barrels. During ageing, the alcohol content drops from around 60% to 40%; the spirit lost through evaporation is known, rather sweetly, as 'the angels' share'. After a tour of the distillery you're rewarded with a free sample (or a soft drink), and four lucky volunteers get a whiskey-tasting session to compare Bushmills with other brands.
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Giant’s Causeway & Bushmills Railway
The Giant’s Causeway & Bushmills Railway follows the route of a 19th-century tourist tramway for 3km from Bushmills to below the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre. The narrow-gauge line and locomotives (two steam and one diesel) were brought from a private line on the shores of Lough Neagh. Trains run hourly between 11am and 5.30pm, departing on the hour from the Causeway, on the half-hour from Bushmills, daily in July and August, weekends only from Easter to June and September and October.
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Kelly's Complex
The North's top clubbing venue regularly features DJs from London and Manchester, and attracts clubbers from as far afield as Belfast and Dublin. Plain and small-looking from the outside, the TARDIS effect takes over as you enter a wonderland of five bars and three dance floors. It's been around since 1996, but Lush! is still one of the best club nights in Ireland.
The complex is on the A2 just east of Portrush, beside the Golf Links Holiday Park.
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Dunluce Castle
Views along the Causeway Coast between Portrush and Portballintrae are dominated by the ruins of Dunluce Castle, perched atop a dramatic basalt crag. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was the seat of the MacDonnell family (the earls of Antrim from 1620), who built a Renaissance-style manor house within the walls. Part of the castle, including the kitchen, collapsed into the sea in 1639, taking seven servants and that night's dinner with it.
A narrow bridge leads from the mainland courtyard across a dizzying gap to the main part of the fortress. Below, a path leads down from the gatehouse to the Mermaid's Cave beneath the castle crag.
Dunluce is 5km east of Portrush, a one-h…
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Carrickfergus Castle
The central keep of Ireland's first and finest Norman fortress was built by John de Courcy soon after his 1177 invasion of Ulster. The massive walls of the outer ward were completed in 1242, while the red-brick gun ports were added in the 16th century. The keep houses a museum and the site is dotted with life-size figures illustrating the castle's history.
The castle overlooks the harbour where William of Orange landed on 14 June 1690, on his way to the Battle of the Boyne; a blue plaque on the old harbour wall marks the site where he stepped ashore, and a bronze statue of the man himself stands on the shore nearby.
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Cellar Restaurant
This cosy little basement restaurant with intimate wooden booths and a big fireplace is the place to sample Ulster produce – locally caught crab claws grilled with garlic butter, and Carrick-a-Rede salmon are both on the menu, along with Irish beef and lamb, and lobster from Rathlin Island. There are also good vegetarian dishes such as baked peppers stuffed with mushroom and shallot.
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Upstairs@Joe’s
This new restaurant above McCollams pub prides itself on promoting local produce, with dishes such as seafood chowder with wheaten bread, medallions of Irish beef with Béarnaise sauce, and lamb chops with parsnip puree and rosemary jus – all sourced within County Antrim. Actor Liam Neeson has eaten here during visits to his home town of Ballymena.
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Quay 26
Seafood is the main item on the menu at this minimalist, modern restaurant with a view across the marina to the cliffs of Fair Head – mussels in white wine and garlic, grilled sea bream, and smoked haddock with bacon, chive and cheese mash. There’s also Irish venison, lamb shank, and roast veggie linguini for those who don’t fancy the fish.
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Mary McBride's Pub
The original bar here (on the left as you go in) is the smallest in Ireland (2.7m by 1.5m) but there's plenty of elbow-bending room in the rest of the pub. The food – standard pub grub – is good and there's Guinness on tap, as well as occasional live music at weekends.
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Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
The main attraction on this stretch of coast is the famous (or notorious, depending on your head for heights) Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. The 20m-long, 1m-wide bridge of wire rope spans the chasm between the sea cliffs and the little island of Carrick-a-Rede, swaying gently 30m above the rock-strewn water.
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Andrew Jackson Centre
The parents of the seventh US president left Carrickfergus in the second half of the 18th century. His ancestral home was demolished in 1860, but a replica thatched cottage complete with fireside crane and earthen floor now houses this memorial on the coast, 2km north of the castle. It has displays on the life of Jackson, the Jackson family in Ulster and Ulster's connection with the USA, and is open by appointment only; contact the tourist office in advance.
Next door is the US Rangers Centre, with a small exhibition on the first US rangers, who were trained during WWII in Carrickfergus before heading for Europe.
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Windrose
This stylish, modern bar-bistro, with a more formal restaurant upstairs (mains £15 to £25, dinner only), serves a range of dishes from fisherman's pie and mussels to steaks and stir-fries. The outdoor terrace overlooking the forest of yacht masts in the marina is a real sun-trap on a summer afternoon.
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Waterworld
Waterworld, by the harbour, has indoor swimming pools, waterslides and spa baths for children to play in (adult/child under eight years £4.50/2.50, family tickets for three/four/five persons £11.75/15.60/19.50), and ten-pin bowling (from £8 per lane; open till 9pm).
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Wysner's
Popular with locals and visitors alike, Wysner's has a café at street level serving hearty lunches such as sausages with bacon-and-leek mash and onion gravy, and a restaurant upstairs with more sophisticated fare – steak, salmon or scallops – in the evenings.
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Pantry
Housed in a former printer's shop with a lovely original black-and-white mosaic floor, this brisk and cheerful cafe serves a wide range of sandwiches, from pitta to panini and bagels to baguettes, as well as cappuccino and homemade cakes. It's uphill from the Diamond.
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Harry's Restaurant
With its cosy lounge-bar atmosphere and friendly welcome, Harry's is a local institution, serving breakfast 10am to noon, pub grub from noon to 6pm – battered cod with mushy peas, burger or Caesar salad, for example – plus an à-la-carte dinner menu in the evenings that ranges from steak to lobster.
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Troggs Surf Shop
Portrush is the centre of Northern Ireland's surfing scene – the Portrush Open in March is a regular feature on the Irish Surfing Association competition calendar, and the UK Pro Surf Tour held a contest here for the first time in 2007. From April to November the friendly Troggs Surf Shop offers bodyboard/surfboard hire (per day £5/10) and wetsuit hire (per day £7), surf reports and general advice. A two-hour lesson including equipment hire costs £25 per person.
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Harbour Bistro
Quality grub – juicy steaks, homemade burgers, spicy chicken, oriental dishes and vegetarian meals – a family-friendly atmosphere (there's a kids menu) and a harbour-side location make the Harbour one of Portrush's most popular eating places.
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Café 55
Tucked beneath 55 Degrees North, this licensed cafe serves good coffee plus breakfast rolls and pancakes (10am to 11.30am) on an outdoor terrace; it also has daily lunch specials such as fish pie, and an evening menu in summer.
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Dunluce Centre
There’s many family-oriented fun at the Dunluce Centre, a hi-tech, indoor adventure playground especially for kids, with interactive games, a computerised treasure hunt and a ‘turbo-tour’ motion-simulator ride.
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Bushmills Inn Restaurant
The inn’s excellent restaurant, with intimate wooden booths set in the old 17th-century stables, specialises in fresh Ulster produce and serves everything from sandwiches to full á-la-carte dinners.
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Arthur Cottage
The ancestors of Chester Alan Arthur (1830–86), 21st president of the USA, lived in an 18th-century thatched cottage in Cullybackey, about 6km northwest of Ballymena.
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RSPB West Light Viewpoint
RSPB West Light Viewpoint provides stunning views of the neighbouring sea stacks, thick with guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills and puffins from mid-April to August.
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Roark's Kitchen
This cute little chalk-built tearoom on the quayside at Ballintoy serves teas, coffees, ice cream, home-baked apple tart and lunch dishes such as Irish stew or chicken and ham pie.
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Theresa's Tearoom
The cosy village tearoom beside the bridge offers tea and cakes, sandwiches and salads, and hot lunch dishes such as fish and chips, grilled chicken and vegetable tortilla wraps.
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