The Best Castles in Northern Ireland (Including Game of Thrones Sites)

Northern Ireland packs an extraordinary amount of castle history into a small space. Within a couple of hours’ drive you can stand inside a 12th-century Norman keep, scramble around clifftop ruins that seem to grow out of the rock itself, and walk through the courtyard that millions of viewers know as Winterfell.

That last part matters. Since Game of Thrones filmed here, Northern Ireland has become a pilgrimage destination for fans — but even if you’ve never watched a single episode, the castles themselves are some of the most dramatic in the UK. Here’s our guide to the best of them, with camping and practical notes for each, roughly ordered along a route you could genuinely drive in a long weekend.

1. Dunluce Castle, County Antrim

If you only visit one castle in Northern Ireland, make it Dunluce. The ruins sit on a basalt outcrop on the north Antrim coast, connected to the mainland by a bridge, with the sea crashing below on three sides. Local legend says part of the kitchen collapsed into the sea one stormy night in 1639, taking the cooks with it — the truth is murkier, but standing on the edge, you’ll believe it.

Dunluce was the seat of the MacDonnell clan and has a suitably turbulent history of sieges, Scottish feuds and Spanish Armada salvage (cannon from the wrecked Girona once armed its walls). Game of Thrones fans will recognise it as the inspiration for Pyke, seat of House Greyjoy, though the on-screen version was heavily augmented with CGI.

Practical notes: Managed by the Department for Communities; small entry fee; the car park fills fast in summer, so arrive early. It’s a ten-minute drive from the Giant’s Causeway, so combine the two.

Camp nearby: The north coast around Portrush and Bushmills has a good spread of campsites and touring parks, many within fifteen minutes of the castle. This stretch is the obvious base for the whole Causeway Coast.

2. Castle Ward, County Down — Winterfell Itself

Castle Ward is the big one for Game of Thrones fans: the 18th-century farmyard on this National Trust estate was dressed as Winterfell for the early seasons. Today the estate leans into it enthusiastically — you can do archery in the Winterfell courtyard, cycle a filming-locations trail around the grounds, and even dress in Stark costumes if that’s your thing.

Set that aside, though, and Castle Ward is fascinating in its own right. The main house is a famous architectural oddity: one façade is classical Palladian, the other Georgian Gothic, because Lord and Lady Bangor couldn’t agree on a style. The estate sits on Strangford Lough, and the walking trails along the shore are lovely.

Don’t miss Audley’s Castle, a 15th-century tower house on the estate overlooking the lough — it appeared in multiple Thrones scenes, including Robb Stark’s camp.

Practical notes: National Trust property, so free for members. Allow a full half-day; the estate is huge.

Camp nearby: Castle Ward has its own caravan and camping site within the estate walls — genuinely one of the few places in the UK where you can camp inside the grounds of a Game of Thrones location. Book well ahead for summer weekends.

3. Carrickfergus Castle, County Antrim

Carrickfergus is the best-preserved medieval castle in Northern Ireland and one of the finest Norman castles anywhere in Ireland. Built by John de Courcy in 1177 after his invasion of Ulster, it has been besieged by the Scots, the Irish, the English and the French, and remained in continuous military use for over 750 years — right up to the Second World War, when it served as an air raid shelter.

The great keep dominates Belfast Lough, and inside you’ll find banqueting-hall recreations, cannon-lined ramparts and enough genuine medieval fabric to satisfy any castle purist. It’s also one of the most child-friendly castles on this list, with model figures and accessible displays throughout.

Practical notes: In the town of Carrickfergus, about 20 minutes from Belfast; small entry fee; easily combined with a Belfast day.

Camp nearby: Options are thinner near Belfast itself, but there are touring parks along the Antrim coast road heading north — a beautiful drive in its own right.

4. Dunseverick Castle, County Antrim

Blink and you’ll miss what remains of Dunseverick — a fragment of a gatehouse ruin on a headland east of the Giant’s Causeway — but the site is one of the most ancient in Ireland. This was the seat of the kingdom of Dál Riada, reputedly visited by St Patrick, and it stood at the end of one of the great ancient roads from Tara.

It’s free, wild, and usually almost empty. The clifftop path between Dunseverick and the Giant’s Causeway is one of the best coastal walks in the UK, and the castle makes a perfect start or end point.

Camp nearby: The same Bushmills/Ballycastle cluster of sites that serves Dunluce works here too.

5. Enniskillen Castle, County Fermanagh

Head west into lake country and you’ll find Enniskillen Castle guarding the River Erne, its distinctive twin-turreted Watergate one of the most photographed sights in Fermanagh. Built around 1428 by the Maguire chieftains, it later became an English garrison and now houses two museums covering the region’s history and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Fermanagh is quieter than the Antrim coast, and pairing the castle with a day on Lough Erne — boat hire, island monasteries, and the extraordinary carved figures on White Island — makes a brilliant, less-touristed leg of a Northern Ireland trip.

Camp nearby: The Lough Erne shoreline has several campsites and caravan parks, many with lake access. This is arguably the best camping-plus-castle combination in the west of Northern Ireland.

The Complete Guide to UK Castles

6. Hillsborough Castle, County Down

Not a medieval fortress but a Georgian mansion — Hillsborough is the official royal residence in Northern Ireland and the working home of the Secretary of State. It’s run by Historic Royal Palaces, and the guided house tours plus 100 acres of gardens make it the most polished visitor experience on this list.

If your castle taste runs to state rooms, walled gardens and royal history rather than arrow slits, this is your stop — and it pairs naturally with Castle Ward for a County Down day.

7. Ballygally Castle, County Antrim

Ballygally, on the coast road north of Larne, is a 17th-century Scottish baronial castle with a twist: it’s now a hotel, and it’s reputedly haunted. The resident ghost, Lady Isabella Shaw, has her own dedicated “Ghost Room” in a turret, which guests can visit. The hotel also displays a Game of Thrones-themed door — one of ten carved from fallen trees of the famous Dark Hedges avenue nearby.

Even if you’re camping rather than staying, it’s worth stopping for afternoon tea and a look at the turret. And the Dark Hedges themselves (the King’s Road in Thrones) are an easy detour on the way to the north coast.

8. Gosford Castle, County Armagh

A wildcard for Thrones completists: Gosford, a vast 19th-century mock-Norman pile in County Armagh, stood in for Riverrun. The castle itself has been converted to private residences, so you can’t go inside, but Gosford Forest Park surrounding it is open to visitors, has waymarked trails — and offers camping and glamping pods within the park. Sleeping in the grounds of Riverrun is a decent story to take home.

Suggested Route: The Northern Ireland Castle Trail

Over four or five days: Belfast → Carrickfergus → Ballygally and the coast road → Dark Hedges → Dunluce and Dunseverick (base at Bushmills) → Enniskillen → Gosford → Castle Ward → home. It’s roughly 300 miles of driving, almost all of it scenic, and you can camp within sight of history nearly every night.

Before You Go

• Opening times and prices change seasonally — always check the official site for each castle before travelling, especially outside April–September.
• Wild camping is not generally permitted in Northern Ireland without landowner permission — unlike Scotland, there’s no right to roam. Stick to established sites.
• Weather: the Antrim coast is spectacular and exposed. Pack for four seasons in a day, whatever the forecast says.

Planning a wider trip? See our pillar guide, The Complete Guide to UK Castles, and our Ultimate Guide to Camping Near UK Castles for campsite recommendations across every region.