Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Portrush's pleasant and easily walkable town center features sea views in every direction.
On one side are the harbor and most of the restaurants, and on the other are Victorian
townhouses and vast, salty vistas. The tip of the peninsula is filled with tennis courts,
lawn-bowling greens, putting greens, and a park.
Thetownisbusywithstudentsduringtheschoolyear.JulyandAugustarebeach-resort
boom time. June and September are laid-back and lazy. There's a brief but intense spike in
visitors in late May for a huge annual motorcycle race (see “Helpful Hints,” later). Fam-
ilies pack Portrush on Saturdays, and revelers from Belfast crowd its hotels on Saturday
nights.
Tourist Information
The TI is moving in 2014, and will likely be found at the very central Town Hall—ask
around (July-Aug daily 9:00-18:00; April-June and Sept Mon-Fri 9:30-17:00, Sat-Sun
12:00-17:00; March and Oct Sat-Sun 12:00-17:00, closed Mon-Fri; closed Nov-Feb; tel.
028/7082-3333). Get the Collins Northern Ireland road map (£5), the free
Visitor Attrac-
tions
brochure, and—if you're Belfast-bound—a free Belfast map.
Arrival in Portrush
The train tracks stop at the base of the tiny peninsula that Portrush fills (no baggage stor-
age at station). All of my listed B&Bs are within a 10-minute walk of the train station. The
bus stop is two blocks from the train station.
Helpful Hints
Crowds:
Over a four-day weekend in late May, thousands of diehard motorcycle fans
converge on Portrush, Port Stewart, and Coleraine to watch the
Northwest 200 Race.
Fearless racers scorch the roads at 200 miles per hour on the longest straightaway in
motorsports. Accommodations fill up a year ahead, and traffic is the pits (dates and
details at
www.northwest200.org
).
Phone Tips:
To call the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland, dial 00-353, then the
area code without its initial 0, and finally the local number. To call Northern Ireland
from the Republic of Ireland, dial 048, and then the local eight-digit number.
