Rick's Causeway Coast Hostel

Ricks Causeway Coast Hostel is a small friendly 30+ bed hostel situated in the town of Portstewart, and since it is about 50 meters from the Atlantic Ocean nearly all the rooms have a sea view.

Ricks Causeway Coast Hostel
4 Victoria terrace,
Portstewart
BT55 7BA

Ricks Causeway Coast Hostel is a small friendly 30 bed hostel situated in the town of Portstewart, and since it is about 50 meters from the Atlantic Ocean nearly all the rooms have a sea view. The building itself is about 120 years old and was one of a number of houses built to provide work for some of the local fishermen at a time of bad weather and poor fishing.
We try to maintain a relaxed atmosphere and be as flexible as possible. Groups can be accommodated but no stag or hen parties will be accommodated. Check in time is from 13.00 up to 22.00 hours, arrivals before or after these times can only be made by earlier arrangement with the hostel.

The hostel has a variety of rooms at budget prices.

Nearby Attractions:
GIANTS CAUSEWAY
BUSHMILLS DISTILLERY
CARRICK-A-REDE ROPE BRIDGE
DUNLUCE CASTLE
MUSSENDEN TEMPLE
PORTSTEWART BEACH

The Giants Causeway, Bushmills Whiskey Distillery, Dunluce Castle,
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and the Mussenden Temple are just some of the highlights of the area. They are all just a short drive away from the hostel and are easily accessible by a regular bus service that can be taken from a bus stop only 100 meters from the hostel.

Giants Causeway: A regular bus service leaves from just 100 meters from the hostel and goes to the Giants Causeway, sometimes referred to (slightly inaccurately!) as the 8th Wonder of the world. This is a remarkable site containing some 56,000 basalt columns many of which have a regular hexagonal design. The Geologists have a strange theory to do with volcanoes and lava flows and cooling over very long periods but they never talked to the locals who know it was built by Finn MacCool the Irish giant of Legend to cross the Irish Sea and fight a giant from Scotland.

Bushmills Whiskey Distillery: Tour the oldest continuously operating licensed whiskey distillery in the world, learn the secrets of its manufacture and (most important!) try a glass and get your certificate as an official whiskey taster!

Dunluce Castle: A ruin now, but a magnificent ruin, perched on the cliffs above the raging Atlantic Ocean and steeped in history. It was besieged by Edward Bruce, brother of Robert the Bruce, during his unsuccessful attempt to make himself High King of Ireland. Later it was the home of Sorley Boy McDonald, in rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I of England and the refuge for a handful of shipwrecked survivors from the Spanish galleon "The Girona" which was trying to return to Spain after the failure of the Spanish Armada to invade England in 1588.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge: A bridge over the Atlantic, put in place every year during March or April by the local salmon fishermen and taken down around October. For around 160 years it has been used by the fishermen during the salmon fishing season and more recently has become an attraction for those with a head for heights and who don’t mind the ground moving a bit beneath their feet. It is safe - a few people may have been scared but we haven’t lost anyone yet!

Mussenden Temple: Not perhaps as well known as some of the other attractions but equally dramatic. The temple was constructed on the orders of Bishop Hervey, the Earl of Bristol and modeled on the temple of the winds at Vespi in Italy. It was originally his library close to his Grand mansion house of which all the rest is ruins. The temple stands on the extreme edge of the cliff and directly above a railway tunnel through which passes the main Belfast to Derry railway track. From it you have a magnificent view over Benone beach, (at 13 kilometer long, one of the longest beaches in Ireland) and also back across the Bann estuary towards Portstewart.

Full details of all these and many other local attractions are available at the hostel or by asking Rick.