Walks in Northern Ireland: The Mournes, the Causeway and the Glens
Northern Ireland packs a granite mountain range, a basalt coastline and nine glens into an area you can cross in two hours. Here’s where the walking actually is, sorted by region, with the 201 sites we list across the province mapped against it.
Published 18 August 2026
The walking here divides neatly into three. The Mournes in the south-east are the only real mountains: steep, granite, and hemmed by a wall you can navigate by. The Causeway Coast in the north is cliff-top path over basalt. And the Glens of Antrim between them are the wooded, waterfall-heavy middle ground. Pick a region and stay in it; the temptation to do all three in a weekend is how people end up spending the weekend driving.
The Mournes
Twelve summits over 600 metres inside a range roughly eight miles across, with Slieve Donard at 850 m the highest point in Northern Ireland. Almost everything starts from Newcastle or the Silent Valley.
Slieve Donard
The obvious objective, and a genuine mountain day: the standard route climbs from Donard Park in Newcastle alongside the Glen River, joins the Mourne Wall at the col and follows it to the summit cairn. Expect five to six hours return and a stiff, relentless climb. This is not a stroll, and the summit clags in more often than not. On a clear day you can see Scotland, the Isle of Man and Donegal.
The Mourne Wall
The wall itself is the range’s defining feature: dry-stone, roughly 22 miles long, built across fifteen summits to enclose the Belfast water catchment. Walking its full circuit is a serious undertaking usually done as a challenge event. Most people take a section: the stretch from the Silent Valley over Slieve Binnian is the classic bite-sized version.
The gentler Mourne options
- Tollymore Forest Park: river paths, stone bridges and a viewpoint over Dundrum Bay, from 5.2 km.
- Castlewellan Forest Park: a flat 3.9 km lake circuit, the best low-effort walk in the range.
- Bloody Bridge: a short river valley walk up from the coast road south of Newcastle, with the option to continue toward Donard the hard way.
Where to stay for the Mournes
29 sites sit within ten miles of Newcastle and the northern Mourne foothills.
See all 29 sites (23 more not shown here).
The Causeway Coast
The Causeway Coast Way runs along the north Antrim shore between Portstewart and Ballycastle, taking in Portrush, Dunluce, the Giant’s Causeway itself, Carrick-a-Rede and White Park Bay. It is roughly 33 miles end to end and is usually walked over two or three days, though the strongest sections work perfectly well as day walks with a car at each end.
The best single stretch is the cliff path between the Giant’s Causeway and Dunseverick, high, exposed, and with the columns behind you rather than under your feet. For the driving version of the same coastline, see the Causeway Coastal Route.
| Section | Roughly | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Portstewart to Portrush | 5 miles | Strand and dunes, flat, easy |
| Portrush to Portballintrae via Dunluce | 5 miles | Beach and low cliff, castle ruin |
| Portballintrae to Giant’s Causeway | 3 miles | Dunes then the approach to the columns |
| Giant’s Causeway to Dunseverick | 5 miles | The best of it: high cliff path |
| Dunseverick to Ballycastle via Ballintoy | 10+ miles | White Park Bay, Carrick-a-Rede, headlands |
Where to stay for the Causeway Coast
49 sites within ten miles of the coast between Portstewart and Ballycastle, the densest cluster of glamping in Northern Ireland.
See all 49 sites (43 more not shown here).
The Glens of Antrim
Nine glens running down to the Antrim coast, of which Glenariff is the one with the waterfall walk everybody photographs, a boardwalked gorge path through Glenariff Forest Park past a run of falls. Add Glenarm and Cushendun for villages, and the Torr Head road for the drive between them.
The glens sit between the Causeway coast and Belfast, which makes them the natural stop on the way to or from the north, a two-hour walk rather than a day.
Getting the base right
Across the province we list 201 sites, which is more than any single county in Great Britain on our data. The concentration is in the two places you would hope: County Down for the Mournes, and the Antrim coast for the Causeway. Hot tubs are unusually common here: over half of Northern Irish sites advertise one, against roughly a third nationally.
Common questions
- What is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland?
- Slieve Donard in the Mournes, at 850 metres. The usual route climbs from Donard Park in Newcastle and takes five to six hours there and back.
- How long is the Causeway Coast Way?
- Roughly 33 miles between Portstewart and Ballycastle, normally walked over two or three days. Individual sections make good day walks.
- What is the Mourne Wall?
- A dry-stone wall around 22 miles long, crossing fifteen summits, built to enclose the Belfast water catchment. Walkers use it as a navigation handrail across the high ground.
- Where is the best waterfall walk in Northern Ireland?
- Glenariff Forest Park in the Glens of Antrim, a boardwalked gorge path past a series of falls, and an easier day than anything in the Mournes.
Keep reading
- Northern IrelandTollymore Forest Park: Walks, Bridges and Where to StayA walker’s guide to Tollymore Forest Park in the Mournes, the river, mountain and Drinns trails, what each one costs you in time, and the glamping sites within a few miles.
- Northern IrelandThe Causeway Coastal Route: Driving It in StagesHow to drive the Causeway Coastal Route between Belfast and Derry, the stages, the stops worth stopping for, how long to give it, and the glamping sites along the way.
- Northern IrelandCastlewellan Forest Park: The Lake, the Peace Maze and the WalksWhat to do at Castlewellan Forest Park in County Down, the lakeside circuit, the Peace Maze, the arboretum and the mountain-bike network, plus glamping within ten miles.
- Northern IrelandThe Best Beaches in Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland’s best beaches, from Benone’s seven-mile strand to the hidden coves of the Ards Peninsula, with what each one is actually good for, and glamping nearby.