Portstewart Strand

Portstewart Strand runs about three kilometres west from the town to the mouth of the Bann, and it is one of the few beaches in Britain and Ireland where driving and parking on the sand is still normal practice, with a charged access ramp run by the National Trust and vehicles lined up above the tide line through the summer. Behind the beach is a dune system of around two hundred hectares, one of the largest in Northern Ireland, protected for its flora: marsh helleborine, pyramidal orchid and bee orchid grow in the damp slacks, and the dunes hold small blue and dark green fritillary butterflies. A boardwalk trail runs through the dunes from the strand. The beach appeared in Game of Thrones as the Dornish coast, and lifeguards patrol a marked section in season.

The landscape

• The vehicle beach - cars driven onto and parked on three kilometres of sand.
• The dune system - two hundred hectares of protected dunes behind.
• The orchids - helleborine and orchid species in the damp dune slacks.
• The Bann mouth - the river estuary closing the western end.

When to go

April to September for the beach; orchids flower in June and July. The strand is at its busiest on summer weekends when the vehicle parking fills. Winter storms reshape the dune front.

Things to know

Vehicles on the sand surprise visitors and make it a noisy, road-like beach at peak times. Cars do get stuck and the ramp closes on high tides. Currents near the Bann mouth are dangerous and swimming should stay in the lifeguarded zone.

Nearby

Portstewart and Portrush are along the coast; Whiterocks and Dunluce lie east.

Key facts