You’ll find Dunluce Lodge in Northern Ireland’s seaside town of Portrush, with sweeping views of the Causeway Coast and North Atlantic.
Planes
International flights will most likely touch down in Belfast, where staff can arrange for private transfers to make the hour-long drive to Dunluce Lodge, for an additional charge. If you’re flying from within the UK, Derry Airport is a slightly closer 45-minute drive.
Trains
There are daily direct routes to Coleraine from Portrush Station, and during the weekends services also run to Belfast and Derry. It’s a five-minute drive from the station to Dunluce, and transfers can be organised free of charge.
Automobiles
A car isn’t essential, but it will come in handy, especially if you’re hoping to drive part of the Causeway Coastal Route. There’s free parking at the hotel, and a round-the-clock valet service.
Other
There's a helipad around one mile from the hotel; free transfers are available from there.
Worth getting out of bed for
With your wedges in tow, catch one of the hotel’s free transfers to the links at Royal Portrush or Portstewart to chip with the champions. And if your form isn’t quite up to par, there’s a driving range nearby and a private putting green at Dunluce for judgment-free practice.
You don’t need to be a golfer to make the most of your coastal locale: in-the-know guides are on call for private tours, and summits up Binevenagh Mountain and Ramore Head offer scenic snapshots. Suspended 100-feet above sea level, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge is one for the adrenalin-seekers (and well worth the nerve-wracking wander across). For most, Giant’s Causeway tops to-see lists, courtesy of its striking 40,000 basalt columns; and naturalists will find their nirvana on Rathlin Island, a 40-minute ferry ride from Portrush.
Hiking and biking trails loop around coastal paths, and during the summer, surfing, paddleboarding, kayaking and snorkelling fill sand-packed agendas at Whiterocks Beach and the East and West Strand Beaches. For revered drams, whiskey tastings are held at the distinguished, 18th-century Old Bushmills Distillery and wine tastings can be arranged in the hotel’s bottle-bordered vault.
Local restaurants
With a setting in an old yacht club, along a secluded stretch of the River Bann, it makes sense that menus at locally adored Lir showcase the morning catch. Traditional Irish cuisine is elevated with sustainably sourced, regional produce and brasserie-like interiors at Tartine in Bushmills’ Distillers Arms. And for a change of flavour, Amici Ristorante plates soul-warming Italian classics in a rustic, farmhouse setting.
Local cafés
Let warming scents of homemade focaccia guide you to Arbor — an artisan bakery in Portrush’s charming outskirts, where habitués gather throughout the day for syrup-dosed French toast, soft-tortilla tacos, smoked chicken and parmesan-packed sandwiches, lemon meringue cakes and artisan coffee blends.
Local bars
Guinness may well be on your hit list alongside whiskey and thankfully, Portrush’s historic Harbour Bar has been pouring its pints perfectly since 1850.
