Coleraine, Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

🇮🇪 Coleraine is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is 55 miles north-west of Belfast and 30 miles east of Derry, both of which are linked by major roads and railway connections. It is part of Causeway Coast and Glens district.

The North Coast (Coleraine and Limavady) area has the highest property prices in Northern Ireland, higher even than those of affluent South Belfast.

Coleraine during the day is busy but relatively quiet at night. Much of the nightlife in the area centres on the nearby seaside resort towns of Portrush and Portstewart, with the three towns forming a combined visitor area known as “The Triangle”.

Coleraine is home to one of the largest Polish communities in Northern Ireland.

Coleraine is at the lowest bridgeable point of the River Bann, where the river is 90 metres (300 ft) wide. The town square is called 'The Diamond' and is the location of Coleraine Town Hall.

St. Patrick's Church of Ireland is in the town centre, with churches for other denominations all within walking distance.

The University of Ulster campus was built in the 1960s and brought a theatrical space to the town in the form of the Riverside Theatre.

The town has a large catchment area and is designated as a "major growth area" in the Northern Ireland Development Strategy.

Education Coleraine is the location of a University of Ulster campus and houses the university's administration buildings. It is the original campus of what was the New University of Ulster (established in 1968) which merged with the former Ulster Polytechnic at Jordanstown just north of Belfast in 1984 to form the present-day institution. The university was placed in the top five of UK universities by the 2014 Research Excellence Framework for its law, biomedical, and humanities programs. The Causeway Institute is a College of Further and Higher Education based in Coleraine, with another campus in nearby Ballymoney.

Transport Coleraine railway station opened on 4 December 1855 and shares facilities with the town's Ulsterbus bus depot. Passenger service is delivered via the Belfast-Derry railway line along the scenic shore of Lough Foyle and the Coleraine-Portrush railway line branch line. The Belfast-Derry railway line is to be upgraded to facilitate more frequent trains and improvements to the permanent way such as track and signalling to enable faster services.

Tourist Industry Coleraine is near the Causeway Coast tourist route, attracting over 2 million annual visitors. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Giant's Causeway, is a 25-minute bus ride away. The distillery village of Bushmills is served by buses from the town and there is a narrow-gauge steam train running in the summer from Bushmills to the Giant's Causeway. Also north of Coleraine is the scenic coastal town of Portstewart, with a sandy beach and coastal walks. Portrush is part of the Borough.

North-west of Coleraine lies the small village of Castlerock, with a beach which is essentially a continuation of the beach at Portstewart, separated by the mouth of the River Bann. Also nearby is the beach at Benone Strand and Mussenden Temple, built by Frederick Augustus Hervey, an 18th century Anglican bishop atop a precipitate cliff and overlooking County Donegal in one direction and Scotland in another. The bishop's residence, Downhill House, which is managed by the National Trust, fell into disrepair after the Second World War.