Portstewart to Portballintrae

 Fine coastal walking with some marvels and delights, somewhat spoilt by a lot of development. A parade of beauty and interest: huge white beaches, fantastically eroded chalk cliffs, sea birds and possibly whales, Victorian resorts, a thrillingly sited castle.

This route can be walked in either direction, but west to east is most normal.

Port Stewart is a nice Victorian resort with fine beaches either side and a nice centre around its harbour. You leave the town walking through a golf course, a tad bathetic but saved by the beauty of the shoreline. In due course you get above low cliffs for an excellent walk, albeit always within the sight of development. Portrush appears across a bay, then you are in its suburbs (you meet lots of these on this walk). The beach below the centre of town is wide and firm, with a pretty little harbour and a low headland beyond with huge views along the coast, looking west the whole way to Donegal.

A short walk back along the eastern shore gets you to the enormous Curran Strand beach, a  [4 mile stretch of wide, firm sand with huge sand dunes heaped up behind it. Just offshore are the interesting, low Skellig islets.

Just before the end of the beach, head up into the dunes, to climb onto the hillside above the beach end. The next couple of kilometres would be wonderful walking, but for being right beside the main road. This being Northern Ireland, the road is not as heavily used as elsewhere, but even so it is a drag. There are many delights, though: wildly eroded chalk cliffs, complete with holes and arches; a geologically fascinating layering of lava over chalk in the cliffs (old quarries) to our right; the absurdly romantically sited Dunluce castle on its cliff-top.

The approach to Portballintrae has fine views across its bay, somewhat marred by development, but the village around its harbour has some charm, although it has been heavily developed in recent years.

https://walkni.com/walks/causeway-coast-way/ is an excellent source of information, including downloadable maps, accommodation and food, public transport and taxis and tourist information contacts.