Castlerock sits at the quieter western end of the Causeway Coast, past Portstewart, where the coast road heads on toward Derry~Londonderry. It’s smaller and less built-up than Portrush or Portstewart, which is a large part of its appeal — a genuine village rather than a resort town, with two of the region’s more understated attractions right on its doorstep.
The beach
East Castlerock Beach is a long, proper sandy beach, popular for both swimming and surfing, backed by dunes rather than a promenade. It has the same wide, open feel as the beaches at Portrush and Portstewart, just with noticeably fewer people on it.
Nearby
Castlerock is the natural base for two genuinely worthwhile stops that don’t fit neatly anywhere else on this coast:
- Mussenden Temple & Downhill Demesne — the clifftop rotunda built by the Earl Bishop, a short drive along the coast
- Hezlett House — a genuinely remarkable 1691 thatched cottage, just outside the village
Getting there
Castlerock sits on the coast road and rail line between Portstewart and Downhill/Derry~Londonderry — see our getting there page for the wider rail options along this stretch. It’s a longer detour from the Giant’s Causeway than most of what’s on this site, best combined with Mussenden Temple and Hezlett House as a westward extension of your trip rather than a stop on the way to somewhere else.