Golf in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has two of the greatest golf courses on the planet. Royal Portrush hosted The Open Championship in 2019 — the first time in 68 years — and Royal County Down is consistently ranked among the world's best. Most people who come for the golf end up surprised by everything else. The coast is stunning, Belfast has become one of the best food cities in these islands, and the welcome is genuinely warm.

Royal Portrush is the one everyone wants. Book months ahead and expect to pay for it — it's worth every cent. Book direct through the club. Portstewart Old Course is a fifteen-minute drive and often overlooked, which is a mistake. Dunluce Links gets the headlines but Portstewart is the one locals play. Further along the Antrim coast, Ballycastle is a gem — a links with views of Rathlin Island and the Scottish coast on a clear day.

Down at the other end of the province, Royal County Down in Newcastle is something different entirely — mountains behind, Dundrum Bay in front, arguably the most beautiful links setting in the world. Book direct, well in advance. Ardglass and Kirkistown Castle are solid supporting acts if you have a spare afternoon on the Ards Peninsula.

Portrush for the north coast — two nights minimum. It's a small town but you're on the doorstep of the best golf. Newcastle for Royal County Down — stay at the Slieve Donard and walk to the first tee. Belfast is worth a night at the start or end to do it justice.

Portrush

The Adelphi Portrush is the best in town — well-run, comfortable, central. The Portrush Atlantic Hotel is a solid option with sea views at a lower price point. For something special, The Fullerton Arms in Ballintoy is a fifteen-minute drive — a beautifully restored coaching inn right on the Causeway Coast.

Ballymena (inland base)

Galgorm Hotel & Spa is the go-to for a night of comfort between courses — a riverside estate hotel with one of the best spas in Ireland. Worth it after a long day on the links.

Newcastle / County Down

Slieve Donard Hotel & Spa is the obvious choice — right beside Royal County Down, Victorian grandeur, mountain backdrop. The Burrendale Hotel is a quieter alternative if the Donard is out of budget.

Belfast

Three excellent options: The Merchant Hotel for opulence, Grand Central Hotel for location and rooftop views, or Titanic Hotel Belfast if you want something genuinely unique — it's built inside the original Harland & Wolff drawing offices.

Portrush

55° North on Causeway Street is the best restaurant in town — proper food, great views. Ramore Wine Bar is reliable and busy. After golf, The Harbour Bar for a pint looking out at the water.

Bushmills

Eat at The Bushmills Inn — a proper old coaching inn with turf fires and good food. Then do the distillery tour. Bushmills is one of the world's oldest licensed whiskey distilleries, with records dating to a 1608 licence grant, and it's five minutes from the Giant's Causeway.

Belfast

The Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street is a Victorian gin palace owned by the National Trust — have one drink there regardless of what else you do. For food, Ox on Oxford Street is exceptional. Coppi in the Cathedral Quarter for pasta. The Dirty Onion for something livelier.

Newcastle

Mourne Seafood Bar is the best in the area — fresh shellfish, relaxed, unpretentious.

The Giant's Causeway is twenty minutes from Portrush and one of the genuinely unmissable things in Ireland. Go early in the morning before the coach tours arrive. The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge is nearby and worth the walk. Dunluce Castle — a ruin perched on a cliff above the sea — is dramatic and worth twenty minutes.

The Causeway Coastal Route is one of the best drives in Europe. If you're moving between Portrush and Belfast, take the coast road, not the motorway — it adds forty minutes and is absolutely worth it. Along the route, the Dark Hedges near Stranocum — an avenue of ancient beech trees — are worth a short detour. Ballintoy Harbour and Cushendun Caves were used as filming locations for Game of Thrones and are recognisable even to people who have never watched a frame of it. The coastal scenery here is extraordinary regardless of the TV connection.

In Belfast, Titanic Belfast is the most visited paid attraction in Ireland — a genuinely world-class museum built on the slipway where the ship was launched. Allow two to three hours. Anyone staying a night in the city should go.

In the Mourne Mountains near Newcastle, the scenery is quiet and beautiful — good for an evening walk after a round at Royal County Down.