Bushmills is a village historically in County Antrim, near the coast 60 miles north of Belfast. Its two big attractions are the Old Bushmills Distillery within the village, and Giant's Causeway 3 miles northeast, so in summer it's very touristy. With a population in 2021 of 1234, Bushmills is now part of Causeway Coast and Glens District, as the counties are no longer units of government.
The local attractions reflect the basalt bedrock, which crops out in magnificent columns along the coast. Inland the basalt creates the distinct mineral content of St Columb's Rill, the stream that arises in the boggy hills 5 miles southeast, to flow into the River Bush at Bushmills. This once supplied five distilleries, which used peat from the bogs as fuel: the Old Distillery is their sole survivor.
The Visitor Information Centre on Main St is open Mar-Oct M-Sa 9AM-5PM. There's another at Giant's Causeway.
Get in
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Trains between Belfast and Derry stop at Coleraine, with a branch line to Portrush; change for the bus to Bushmills.
Ulsterbus 402 runs from Coleraine to Portrush, Dunluce (for castle), Portballintrae, Bushmills, Giant's Causeway, Ballintoy (for Carrick-a-Rede bridge) and Ballycastle. It runs every 30 min daily.
Bus 172 from Coleraine bypasses Portrush and heads straight to Bushmills, then follows the same route to Ballycastle. There are four M-F and two Sa Su.
By road from Belfast take M2 / A26 to Ballymoney then B62 / B17 north into the village. If the weather's fine and you've got all day, take the scenic coast road from Belfast via Carrickfergus, Larne and the Antrim Glens.
Day-trips from Belfast (and even from Dublin) run to the distillery, Giant's Causeway, and the other major sights nearby. If you don't have your own transport this is a good option.
Get around
[edit]Bus 402 / 172 links all points of interest along the coast. They're also within cycling range or a long hike.
March-Oct a shuttle bus plies between Bushmills and Giant's Causeway. It runs every 20 min from the free P&R car park on Main St.
See
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- Market Square in the village centre was built in the 1840s. The clock tower, loosely modelled on a traditional Round Tower, was added in 1874.
- 1 Old Bushmills Distillery, 2 Distillery Rd BT57 8XH, ☏ +44 28 2073 3218. M–Sa 10AM-5PM, Su 11AM-5PM. It claims to be the oldest whiskey distillery in the world, though not in continuous production. Businesses have risen and fallen here since 1608, but the present distillery is from 1885; several Scottish distilleries have had longer continuous business. Tours and tasting sessions are available all year, though production pauses in July for annual maintenance. The company has been owned since 2014 by Jose Cuervo the Mexican tequila firm. Tour: adult £15, conc £12, child £6.
- 2 Portballintrae is the village, small cove and breezy promenade north of Bushmills. A few whitewashed fishermen's cottages remain but it's become encrusted by modern buildings and second homes. Lissanduff Earthworks are a pair of Iron Age structures east side of the village, known locally as "the cups and saucers". One's dry, the other wet as there's a spring in its centre; in ritual this may have symbolised birth and death, famine and harvest, or just the changeable Antrim weather.
- 3 Dundarave House is a grand mansion built in 1846 by Lanyon, in extensive grounds. There's talk of developing a golf resort but nothing's come of that. It's available for hire to shoot films, game birds, fish and anything else that breaks cover but is not open for tours.
- 4 Giant's Causeway - see separate page for Northern Ireland's top attraction, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an imposing cascade of basalt columns along the coast.
- 5 Dunluce Castle: see Portrush.
- 6 Dunseverick Castle and Carrick-a-Rede Bridge are a few miles east, see Ballycastle.
- 7 The Dark Hedges are a tunnel of ancient beech trees along Bregagh Road, see Ballymoney.
Do
[edit]- Cinema: The Still Room is a small cinema within Bushmills Inn, open to non-residents, see Sleep.
- 1 Giant's Causeway and Bushmills Railway, 24 Ballaghmore Rd, Bushmills BT57 8YS, ☏ +44 28 2073 2844. Sa Su. A 3-foot (914-mm) gauge heritage railway that trundles for two miles through the sandhills to the Causeway. When it opened in the 1880s it came all the way from Portrush. It operated as a tram, powered from an overhead line, until closed and dismantled in 1949. This section of line was re-opened in 2002, hauled by three industrial steam locomotives plus since 2010 a specially-made diesel tram. Trains run three times a day. You could day-trip in either direction, but the idea is to park free at Bushmills Station and avoid the crowded expensive car park at the Causeway.
- 2 Bushfoot Golf Club is just east of Portballintrae. It's a nine-hole links, twice round is 6075 yards, par 70.
Buy
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- Centra at 56 Main St is open daily 7:30AM-10PM.
- GOTOM: Game of Thrones Official Merchandise is touted all along this touristy stretch of the Antrim coast. Between 2011 and 2019 they even made a TV fantasy series to help shift it.
Eat
[edit]- Destination at 51 Main St is open daily 11AM-9PM.
- Lorna's Kitchen at 57A Main St is open M-Sa 8:30AM-3PM.
- Market Square at 62 Main St is open daily 9:30AM-5:30PM.
- Bistro at the Courthouse at 75 Main St is open Tu-Su 10AM-4PM.
- Flash In The Pan, 77 Main St BT57 8QB, ☏ +44 28 2073 1630. Daily noon-10PM. Reliable place for fish & chips and similar fast food.
- Tartine, 140 Main St BT57 8QE, ☏ +44 28 2073 1044. W-Su 5-8PM. Stylish cuisine within the Distillers Arms.
Drink
[edit]- Bush House Bar is at 70 Main St, open M-Sa noon-11PM, Su noon-10PM.
- Bushmills Whiskey comes in some eight varieties plus occasional limited editions. The standard offering is Bushmills Original or White Label, a blend of mostly grain whiskeys. Black Bush and Red Bush contain more malt whiskey, and then there's a range of pure malts, with the price escalating accordingly. The taste is distinctive - never let it be said that Bushmills churns out bland commercial products - and it doesn't suit everyone. Try a nip or three, purely in a spirit of scientific enquiry, before you splash out on bottles.
Sleep
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- 1 Bushmills Inn, 9 Dunluce Rd BT57 8QG, ☏ +44 28 2073 3000, [email protected]. Upscale hotel and restaurant, gets great reviews for comfort, service and dining. It even includes a cinema. B&B double £350.
- Bushmills Hostel, 49 Main Street BT57 8QA (by Bushmills Inn), ☏ +44 28 2073 1222. In village centre, open April-Sep. Dorm £35.
- Bushmills Townhouse is a small hotel at 45 Main St.
- 2 Portcaman House, 11 Priestland Rd BT57 8QP, ☏ +44 7967 342958. Smart clean B&B west bank of the river. B&B double £120.
- Causeway is a B&B southwest of the village at 42 Priestland Rd.
- Breaside is a B&B at 14 Castlecatt Rd.
- Cottesmore is a B&B at 24 Castlecatt Rd.
- 3 Ballyness Caravan Park, 9 Castlecatt Rd BT57 8TN, ☏ +44 28 2073 2393. Open Mar-Oct for tourer caravans, with 50 hard-standing pitches and hook-ups. No camping. Tourer £35.
- 4 Bayview Hotel, 2 Bayhead Rd, Portballintrae BT57 8RZ, ☏ +44 28 2073 4100. Smart hotel with restaurant on the sea front. B&B double £240.
- 5 Gray's Hotel (formerly Smugglers Inn), 306 Whitepark Rd, Bushmills BT57 8SL, ☏ +44 28 2073 1577. Friendly small hotel with restaurant 1 km south of Causeway. B&B double £140.
- 6 Carnside, 23 Causeway Rd, Bushmills BT57 8SU, ☏ +44 28 2073 1337. Pleasant guesthouse by the Causeway. B&B double £100.
- 7 Finn McCool's Giant's Causeway Hostel, 32 Causeway Rd, Bushmills BT57 8SU, ☏ +44 7488 596602. Hostel by the Causeway with dorm and private rooms, cleanliness varies.
- 8 Causeway Hotel, 40 Causeway Rd, Bushmills BT57 8SU, ☏ +44 28 2073 1210. Upmarket comfy hotel right by the Causeway, great service. B&B double £200.
Connect
[edit]- As of March 2026, Bushmills and its approach roads have 4G from EE, Three and Vodafone, and 5G from O2.
- Red phone boxes: perhaps some 200 of these remain across Northern Ireland, though they're steadily falling victim to decay and to theft by flaky antique dealers. There's a display model within the distillery, one on commercial premises on the main road west side of the village, and another two miles south on Castlecatt Road, at the junction with Cozies Rd and Haw Rd - you might go that way for The Dark Hedges and Ballymoney. A restoration society has been set up to preserve these phone boxes that they call "iconic", but which are sorry shells that even a drunk with a full bladder wouldn't make use of. Don't be expecting any high speed connectivity here.
Go next
[edit]- Portrush and Portstewart are pleasant small coast resorts to the west.
- Ballycastle is where the tourist hordes thin out but the natural wonders continue - Fair Head is an impressive line of dolerite cliffs, then the Antrim Glens lie south.
- Rathlin Island is reached by a short ferry ride from Ballycastle.