The Causeway Coast is the short, spectacular stretch of the north Antrim shore between Portstewart and Ballycastle. Its centrepiece, the Giant's Causeway, is Northern Ireland's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1986 as the "Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast": some 40,000 basalt columns left by volcanic eruptions about 60 million years ago. But the whole coast is worth your time, and it is protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Travelling east from the resort of Portrush, the coast road passes the clifftop ruin of Dunluce Castle, the whiskey village of Bushmills, and the Causeway itself. Beyond it come the fragment of Dunseverick Castle, the long sweep of White Park Bay, the little harbour at Ballintoy and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, swinging 30 metres above the sea. Kinbane Castle clings to a white headland before the road drops into Ballycastle, the ferry port for Rathlin Island. Inland, the beech avenue of the Dark Hedges is one of the most photographed places in County Antrim.
The best way to see it is on foot. The waymarked Causeway Coast Way runs from Portstewart to Ballycastle, past wide bays, sandy beaches, dramatic cliffs and offshore rocks. The western section, from Portrush past the Causeway to Carrick-a-Rede, is the finest; east of Ballintoy the route has been diverted onto roads until a coastal path is built, and many walkers finish at the rope bridge. Buses run along the coast road, which makes it easy to walk one stretch and ride back.
Be ready for crowds. The Giant's Causeway receives about a million visitors a year, and Carrick-a-Rede and the Dark Hedges get just as busy in summer. Come early or late in the day, or outside the high season. Note that you can walk down to the Causeway stones for free; only the National Trust visitor centre charges.
