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<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re driving along the coast road from the east, Portstewart is the first town you come to in Co Derry. It\u2019s 61 miles from Belfast by the shortest route; 87 miles by the prettiest.<\/p>\n
The sun was shining as I cruised along the promenade, then down Strand Road to descend beside the golf course and drive straight on to the beach.<\/p>\n
It was a Tuesday afternoon in late May and cars were parked along Portstewart\u2019s grand strand of blonde sand. The Inishowen peninsula in Co Donegal loomed large in the west, and a single freighter painted orange slid along the northern horizon.<\/p>\n
A birthday party was being catered from the side of a van; a group of whooping wild swimmers was making sure we all noticed them; a kayaker headed out equipped for a fishing expedition; and a chilled-out surfer looked happy to be sitting on his board out there on the flat water.<\/p>\n
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The beach is just 61miles from Belfast<\/p>\n
ALAMY<\/p>\n
There were dog walkers too, footballers, the folding-chair-and-Thermos-flask pensioners, and a man in shirt sleeves, his tie loose, asleep at the wheel of his company car.<\/p>\n
Dave The Dog couldn\u2019t wait. He exited the camper van through the window and was chatting up a dachshund when I caught up, barefoot in the spindrift. It\u2019s just less than a two-mile walk from Portstewart\u2019s eastern end to where the River Bann, flowing 99 miles from Slieve Muck in the Mourne Mountains and through Lough Neagh, meets the sea. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Read the full list of our 50 best beaches in the UK<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n The outflow is protected by storm-battered concrete walls keeping open a channel that is perhaps more important for salmon than shipping. In Coleraine, five miles inland, you can see the monsters climbing the weir during their run upstream.<\/p>\n Castlerock lies on the far bank: 200 metres as the crow flies and 11 miles on foot via Coleraine\u2019s Millennium Footbridge. Nearly a decade ago a plan was hatched to build a bridge here, thus bringing an end to the so-called Bann Divide, but it hasn\u2019t happened, so I doubled back along the south side of dunes that are said to be 6,000 years old.<\/p>\n Portstewart is backed by a golf course<\/p>\n ALAMY<\/p>\n Dave was on the lead because of ground-nesting ringed plovers, which was a relief for the kindergarten of baby rabbits we surprised at the river\u2019s edge. By the time I got back to where I started, I\u2019d become smitten with the strand\u2019s wild beauty and its easygoing vibe. I wondered to myself, does Portstewart have the charm, the pride and, most importantly, the chips necessary to be the Times and Sunday Times Beach of the Year?<\/p>\n The answer is yes. Harry\u2019s Shack at the back of the beach serves not only a cracking haddock and chips but also Carlingford oysters, fish tacos, Ardglass lobster, and sunset cocktails \u2014 the spiced arancello spritz is delicious (mains from \u00a318; harrysshack.app). <\/p>\n As I passed Saint Patrick\u2019s holy well and followed the coastal path around Portstewart Point, it struck me that this is a town of believers. Slogans painted on the sea wall proclaim, \u201cThe sea is His and He made it\u201d and, \u201cYe must be born again.\u201d And the seafront lies beneath the stern crenellations of the Dominican College school. But Portstewart wasn\u2019t always so pious.<\/p>\n \u2022 100 of the Best Places to Stay in the UK<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n The white castle bought by nuns in 1917 began life as a seaside party palace. Known as O\u2019Hara\u2019s Castle, it was built in 1834 by Henry O\u2019Hara, last squire of Craigbilly and a hellraiser who gambled away his 600-year-old estate and ended up mucking out stables in London, then dying penniless. <\/p>\n Before the whiskey and the cards got the better of him, though, he collaborated with the local landlord John Cromie to transform the fishing hamlet of Portstewart into what the 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland described as \u201ca delightful and well frequented summer residence\u201d.<\/p>\n The promenade is still delightful, beginning at the harbour, opposite the caf\u00e9\/deli Born & Bread, and passing between the rocky shore and a busy strip of seafront shops. Yes, you\u2019ll find a chippy, Sheila\u2019s souvenir shop and two ice cream parlours (Morelli\u2019s and Roughans: the latter was the first I\u2019d seen selling Dubai Chocolate flavour), but there is also a shoe shop, a kitchenware store and a furniture retailer. And perhaps that\u2019s the secret: this may be a seaside resort but the promenade is also a busy high street that\u2019s not dependent on seasonal business to pay the bills.<\/p>\n![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/\/d6ecb116-0091-4711-8b94-10c6b8ca0631.jpg\")
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