Things to Do in Northern Ireland: 12 Experiences Worth the Trip
Walk out across a rope bridge a hundred feet above the sea, taste whiskey where it has been made for centuries, and finish the day with live music in a Belfast pub. The best things to do in Northern Ireland are not only places to look at. They are things you do, and they are what people talk about when they get home.
I am a guide, and I spend my working weeks on the roads between these places. This guide is about activities in Northern Ireland rather than a list of sights: the walks, the drives, the tastings, the islands, the stories and the days out with children. For each one you will find where to do it and the practical detail: the address, the opening times, what it costs and whether you need to book.
If you want the places themselves, ranked, see my must-visit attractions in Northern Ireland. For everything sorted by area, see Northern Ireland top attractions by region.
What Is in This Guide
1. Walk the Causeway Coast Cliff Paths
The north Antrim coast is one of the great coastal walks of Europe, and you do not need to be a serious hiker to enjoy it. At the Giant’s Causeway, walk down to the stones by the road, then come back up by the cliff path and the Shepherd’s Steps for the view along the bay from the top.
At Carrick-a-Rede, the walk out along the cliff to the rope bridge is half the pleasure, with Rathlin Island and, on a clear day, Scotland across the water. For something wilder, the Gobbins on Islandmagee is a guided path of bridges and tunnels cut into the cliffs just above the waves.
Wear proper shoes on all of them. The paths are uneven, the steps are steep and the weather on this coast changes quickly.
Visitor information
Giant’s Causeway. 44 Causeway Road, Bushmills, BT57 8SU. The stones and cliff paths are open at all times. The Visitor Experience, with parking, is from around £15 to £16 adult.
Carrick-a-Rede. 119a Whitepark Road, Ballintoy, BT54 6LS. Adult £16, child £8, family £40. Timed tickets, booking essential.
The Gobbins. The Gobbins Visitor Centre, Middle Road, Islandmagee, BT40 3SL. Adult £23.50, child under 16 £17.50. Guided tours only, booked ahead.
2. Drive the Causeway Coastal Route
The Causeway Coastal Route runs about 120 miles from Belfast to Derry, and the stretch along the Antrim coast through the Glens is one of the finest drives anywhere. The road hugs the sea from Larne to Cushendall, with the glens opening up on your left and Scotland on the horizon on your right.
For the full experience, take the narrow scenic road over Torr Head between Cushendun and Ballycastle. It is about 12 and a half miles of steep road with sharp bends, and from the top you can see the Mull of Kintyre. It is not suitable for coaches, caravans or large campervans, and if the mist is down, take the main road instead.
Visitor information
The route. Signed with brown tourist signs all the way from Belfast to Derry, mostly on the A2.
Torr Head. The scenic road leaves the main road at Cushendun. Free, open at all times, single track in places.
Planning. Allow two days to drive it properly. Our Causeway Coastal Route guide has every stop.
3. Taste Irish Whiskey at the Source
Northern Ireland has been making whiskey for centuries, and you can taste it where it is made. Old Bushmills, ten minutes from the Giant’s Causeway, is one of the oldest working distilleries in Ireland. The tour takes you past the copper pot stills and ends with a tasting, with a non alcoholic option for drivers.
In Belfast, Titanic Distillers has opened in the old pump house at Thompson Dock, the dry dock where Titanic was fitted out, and it is the first working whiskey distillery in the city in around ninety years. Their tours can be combined with a walk down into the dock itself.
Visitor information
Old Bushmills Distillery. 2 Distillery Road, Bushmills, BT57 8XH. Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm. Around £20 for the standard tour, card only, no under 8s. Tastings start at 11am.
Titanic Distillers. Thompson Dock, Queen’s Road, Belfast BT3 9DT. Signature Tour from £20, Dock Tour from £10, booked online.
4. Follow the Game of Thrones Trail
Northern Ireland was the main filming base for Game of Thrones, and the locations are spread across some of the best scenery in the country. The Dark Hedges, the beech avenue that became the Kingsroad, is the most famous, but Ballintoy Harbour, the Cushendun Caves and Carnlough Harbour all sit on the same stretch of the Antrim coast.
At Castle Ward in County Down, the farmyard that was Winterfell, you can dress the part and try archery in the courtyard where the Stark children shot. Even if you have never watched an episode, the trail takes you to beautiful places.
Visitor information
The Dark Hedges. Bregagh Road, Stranocum, BT53 8PX. Free and always open.
Ballintoy Harbour. Ballintoy, BT54 6NA. Free, with a car park, toilets and a harbour cafe.
Castle Ward. Strangford, Downpatrick, BT30 7BA. Adult £15, family £37.50, free for National Trust members. Archery is booked separately with Winterfell Tours.
Our Game of Thrones filming locations guide covers every site.
5. Climb a Mountain, from Cave Hill to Slieve Donard
Two walks give you the best views in the country. In Belfast, Cave Hill rises behind Belfast Castle, and the walk up to McArt’s Fort at the top takes about an hour up and back from the castle car park. On a clear day you can see the whole city, the docks, the lough and Scotland.
In County Down, Slieve Donard is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland, rising straight from the sea at Newcastle in the Mourne Mountains. It is a proper hill day, so go prepared, and the reward is a view over the whole range and down the coast.
Visitor information
Cave Hill. Start at Belfast Castle, Antrim Road, Belfast BT15 5GR. Free, including the car park. The country park is open access.
Slieve Donard. The walk starts from the free Donard car park in Newcastle, BT33 0EU. A full day walk in mountain conditions.
6. Spend a Day on the Beach
Northern Ireland has some of the finest beaches in these islands, and the north coast has the best of them. Portstewart Strand is two miles of sand backed by dunes, with the rare luxury of being able to park on the beach itself. Whiterocks, just east of Portrush, is the surfers’ beach, with chalk cliffs and lifeguards in summer.
White Park Bay, near Ballintoy, is the wildest and the quietest, a long arc of pale sand with cattle wandering on it. It is a beach for walking and fossil hunting, not swimming, because of the rip currents.
Visitor information
Portstewart Strand. 118 Strand Road, Portstewart, BT55 7PG. Beach open dawn to dusk. Parking on the strand £8.50 per car, card only, free for National Trust members. Details on the National Trust website.
Whiterocks Beach. Off the Causeway Coastal Route on the east side of Portrush. Free parking, toilets, and RNLI lifeguards in July and August.
White Park Bay. Whitepark Road, on the A2. Free National Trust car park. No swimming, because of rip currents.
7. Play Golf on the Links
Golfers come from all over the world for the links courses of Northern Ireland, and Royal Portrush is the one they want most. It is the only club outside Great Britain ever to host The Open, in 1951, 2019 and 2025, and the Dunluce Links runs through the dunes above the Atlantic.
Visitors can play, but on the club’s terms. There is no instant online booking, and the visitor tee times are limited, so book well ahead. The Valley Links next door is a full championship course in its own right.
Visitor information
Royal Portrush Golf Club. Dunluce Road, Portrush, BT56 8JQ. From 1 April to 31 October, Dunluce Links £420 and Valley Links £200 per person. Book through the club’s tee reservations team.
Our Royal Portrush guide has the visitor tee times, and our golf transfers get you and your clubs between courses.
8. Go Underground and Into the Forests
In Fermanagh, the Marble Arch Caves take you into a world of underground rivers and chambers in a UNESCO Global Geopark, and when the water allows, the tour includes a boat trip through the caves.
Above ground, the forest parks are some of the best walking in the country. Glenariff, the Queen of the Glens, has the finest waterfall walk in Northern Ireland, and Tollymore, at the foot of the Mournes, has the Shimna River, stone bridges and follies along its paths.
Visitor information
Marble Arch Caves. 43 Marlbank Road, Florencecourt, BT92 1EW. Guided tours only. Adult £16.50 online, child £8.50, family of four £41.50. Booking advised.
Glenariff Forest Park. 98 Glenariff Road, Ballymena, BT44 0QX. Parking £5 per car.
Tollymore Forest Park. Bryansford Road, Newcastle, BT33 0PR. Daily from 10am until sunset. Parking £5 per car.
9. Take a Boat to an Island
Rathlin Island lies about six miles off Ballycastle, and the ferry crossing is part of the adventure. From late April to early August, the RSPB Seabird Centre at the West Light is the place to see puffins, along with thousands of other seabirds on the cliffs. It is four and a half miles from the harbour, so check the ferry and the island minibus times before you go.
In Fermanagh, Devenish Island on Lower Lough Erne holds a sixth century monastic site with one of the finest round towers in Ireland, reached only by boat from Enniskillen.
Visitor information
Rathlin Island Ferry. From Ballycastle Harbour. Adult return £16.80, child return £8.40. Book ahead, as space is limited.
Devenish Island. Free to visit. Erne Water Taxi runs tours from the Enniskillen Castle jetty through the visitor season.
10. Learn the Story of the Troubles
For many visitors, understanding the recent history of Northern Ireland is the most important thing they do here. In Belfast, the murals and peace walls on the Falls Road and the Shankill Road are a living record of the Troubles, and the peace walls are still standing.
In Derry, the Museum of Free Derry tells the story of the civil rights movement and Bloody Sunday through the people who lived it. Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, which held prisoners for 150 years until 1996, adds another side of the story. This is where a local guide makes all the difference, because the context is everything.
Visitor information
Belfast murals and peace walls. Cupar Way, between the Falls and the Shankill in west Belfast. Free and open streets. Our Belfast city tour covers them with a local guide.
Museum of Free Derry. 55 Glenfada Park, Derry, BT48 9DR. Adult £10, student £7, children 12 and under free with their family.
Crumlin Road Gaol. 53 to 55 Crumlin Road, Belfast BT14 6ST. Guided tours daily, adult £17.50 online.