The ten best locations to go for a walk in Northern Ireland

With hundreds of miles of dramatic coastline, wild hills and mountains, magical forests and numerous beautiful rivers and lakes, Northern Ireland is something of a walkers’ paradise. Here is a selection of the best routes the province has to offer, including distance, duration and difficulty.

1) Ballintoy and Portbraddan, Co Antrim

5 miles/8km | 3–3.5 hours | moderate (return)

Set in the midst of Antrim’s famous Causeway Coast, Ballintoy is a small village whose name translates as ‘town of the north’. The title is apt; Scotland’s Mull of Kintyre is visible on the Atlantic horizon.

The village jewel is its harbour, a time-honoured haven for fishing boats, constructed from limestone blocks and protected by a jumble of off-shore stacks. So evocative is the location, it was chosen as the setting for the Iron Islands in HBO’s popular TV series Game of Thrones.

Yet long before its small-screen fame, this coastline was celebrated by walkers and naturalists. The signed Causeway Coast Way stretches off in both directions, providing 33 miles of superlative coastal hiking.

Less than two miles east along the path lies the unique and thrilling Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. The route west towards Portbraddan is even better, and an out-and-back hike in this direction is not to be missed.

2) Slieve Binnian, Co Down

6 miles/ 9.7km | 4.5 hour | challenging

Severe weather during the last ice age sculpted Slieve Binnian into the most distinctive peak in the Mourne Mountains.

The scenic splendour of these mountains is well known. After all, this is the landscape that in part inspired CS Lewis to create Narnia. It’s also worth watching out for winter wildlife. The most commonly spotted wild mammal is the hare, which can reach up to 48kph in full sprint. During particularly snowy winters, some upland hares change to a white or partially white coat.

3) Glenariff Forest Park, Co Antrim

1.8 miles/2.9 km | 1 hour | easy-moderate

The Rivers Glenariff and Inver have cut right through this spectacular steep-sided gorge – the Queen of the Glens.

These rivers can be lively and dramatic as they tumble over boulders and a series of three impressive waterfalls. But then they become suddenly calm and tranquil, flowing lazily through oak and beech woodland, sunlight streaming through the fresh new leaves.

4) Slieve Bearnagh, Co Down

7 miles/11.3km |4-5 hours | moderate-challenging

“It made me feel that at any moment a giant might raise its head over the next ridge,” wrote CS Lewis of the majestic Mournes.

The Mountains of Mourne loom large behind the resort town of Newcastle. The beaches and dunes here are superb for walking, but Newcastle’s jewel in the crown sits inland; a fulfilling circuit of two of the Mournes’ most notable summits, Slieve Bearnagh (739m) and Slieve Meelmore (682m).

Take on this tough upland walk, following a 100-year-old wall over peaks and cols.

5) Tollymore Forest Park, Co Down

3 miles/4.8km | 2 hours | easy-moderate

The River Shimna rises on the rutted slopes of the Mourne Mountains, gurgling over granite and heather before dropping into the shadowy depths of Tollymore Forest.

The slopes around the Shimna River are home to a remarkable number of tree species, including oak, beech, ash, birch, larch, Sitka spruce, yew and willow. Field maple, Himalayan cedar, eucalyptus, Douglas fir, Monterey pines, monkey puzzle and giant redwoods can also be found.

Climb through lush woodland along the Shimna River, past the Hermitage and on to Parnell’s Bridge.

6) Murlough National Nature Reserve, Co Down

4.7 miles / 7.6 km | 2.5 hours | easy

Situated 3.5 miles north-east of the coastal town of Newcastle in Co Down, Murlough National Nature Reserve is a wildlife-watchers’ dream. Its range of habitats play host to a vast diversity of flora and fauna, and the long, sandy beach is the focal point of a fantastic walk, overlooked, oncemore, by the iconic Mourne Mountains.

7) Cove Cave, Co Down

5.6 miles/9km | moderate | 3 hours (return)

Caves conjure mystical, murky thoughts of bats, dragons and trolls. But your ancestors sheltered here, made fire here, and would have gazed out from within the pitted walls of their refuge, an unpolished frame for the rivers, woods and mountains beyond.

These doors into the earth can be found across the UK. Some are well-known, revered for their great atriums, others are more elusive, secreted among quiet hills like dozing shadows.

One such hollow sits high within a rocky escarpment on the western slopes of the Annalong River valley in the Mourne Mountains. This six-mile, there-and-back-again walk takes you right to it, an exhilarating quest for friends and families with adventure in mind.

8) The Causeway Coast, Co Antrim

6 miles/9.7km | 4 hours | moderate

The undeniably impressive Giant’s Causeway is Northern Ireland’s most popular tourist attraction. But step off the beaten track and you’ll be able to marvel at this coast’s geology, mythology and breathtaking views in virtual solitude.

This six-mile walk starts east of the Giant’s Causeway at the shoreline hamlet of Portbradden, meaning ‘Port of the Salmon’. Historically a famous fishing spot, it still has a working slipway.

More unusual is the blue and white St Gobban’s church. Known as Ireland’s smallest church, it is in fact a local man’s tribute to Gobban, a 7th-century Benedictine monk, whose actual church is a ruin half a mile away at Templastragh.

9) The Mourne Way, Co Down

23 miles/37km | 2 days | challenging

Founded in the 1970s by Wilfred Capper, the Ulster Way walking route circled all six counties of Northern Ireland. At 665 miles long, the original route proved awkward to maintain, but the best parts have now been re-packaged into 15 ‘quality sections’, or Waymarked Ways.

Together these provide signed walking routes across many of the best landscapes in the province. If you’d like a taster, the Mourne Way in Co Down takes two days to complete and is a great place to start. Like all the routes, the trail is linear, fully signed and predominantly off-road.

10) Slemish, Co Antrim

1.2 miles/1.9km | 1 hour | moderate

Slemish is a name familiar to most inhabitants here. Rising abruptly from its flat surrounds, the hill is an unmissable landmark of Co Antrim.

Walkers know it as a short, steep climb that provides vast views, but there are so many stories associated with the hill, even those who have never seen it can recall its myths and legends.

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