Seaside townsNorthern Ireland2026
Seaside Towns in Northern Ireland
Portrush, Portstewart and Newcastle were the most booked of the 5 seaside towns in Northern Ireland on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, with an estimated 7,226, 5,118 and 4,042 stays. August is the busiest month across them, and the typical stay is 4.1 nights.
Figures are AirROI estimates. How they are made
Ranking
Seaside Towns in Northern Ireland Ranked by Airbnb Stays
Every one of the seaside and coastal towns in Northern Ireland with 100 or more Airbnb homes and recent stays, most booked first.
| 1 | Portrush | 7,226 | £187 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Portstewart | 5,118 | £182 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 4,042 | £173 |
| 4 | Ballycastle | 3,748 | £184 |
| 5 | Bangor | 2,308 | £140 |
Figures are AirROI estimates for the 12 months to October 2026, and stays count Airbnb bookings only. Typical stay is a booking's length, occupancy the share of available nights booked, and revenue the yearly average per home, before costs. Guest rating is out of 5.
Money figures on this page are in British pounds, converted from US dollars at £0.74 per US$, the typical rate from November 2025 to October 2026.
When to go
Busiest and Quietest Months
August, July and May rank as the busiest months for Airbnb nights across the seaside towns in Northern Ireland, and February and January as the quietest. August is the busiest month in 4 of the 5, while Portstewart peaks in July. Across the 5 towns, nightly rates run lowest in November, at about £168, and highest in July and August, at about £194. Across the 5 towns, stays run longest in July, at 5.4 nights, and shortest in October and November, at 3.0 nights.
August ranks first, January last
Airbnb months in calendar order. The number is the month's rank, and 1 is the busiest. The bar shows its part of Airbnb nights.
- Three busiest months
- Other months
Month by month: rank, typical stay and nightly rate
| Rank | Month | Typical stay | Nightly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August | 4.0 nights | £194 |
| 2 | July | 5.4 nights | £194 |
| 3 | May | 3.5 nights | £185 |
| 4 | June | 4.0 nights | £185 |
| 5 | September | 3.5 nights | £185 |
| 6 | April | 3.8 nights | £181 |
| 7 | October | 3.0 nights | £173 |
| 8 | December | 3.8 nights | £170 |
| 9 | March | 3.8 nights | £172 |
| 10 | November | 3.0 nights | £168 |
| 11 | February | 3.7 nights | £171 |
| 12 | January | 3.9 nights | £169 |
Who comes
Where Guests Come From
Among guests who left a review, 62% come from within the United Kingdom. Among those guests, the largest groups from abroad come from the United States, Ireland and Canada. The top home cities among those guests are Belfast, London and Dublin. Ballycastle draws the most from abroad, at 51%, among towns with 100 or more homes.
Top countries abroad
Among guests who left a review
Top home cities
Among guests who left a review
62% from within the United Kingdom
The money view
Revenue, Occupancy and Nightly Rate
Among the 5 towns on this list, Ballycastle has the highest estimated revenue per home, at £24,148 a year. Of those 5, Bangor and Ballycastle share the highest occupancy, at 41%, and Bangor has the lowest nightly rate on Airbnb, at £140. The most booked of the 5, Portrush, earns about £19,096 per home.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular seaside town in Northern Ireland?
By AirROI's estimates, Portrush is the most booked of the 5 seaside towns in Northern Ireland, with 7,226 Airbnb stays in the 12 months to October 2026. Portstewart is second, with 5,118. This counts Airbnb bookings only.
What is the most affordable seaside town in Northern Ireland?
By AirROI's estimated nightly rate on Airbnb in the 12 months to October 2026, among seaside towns in Northern Ireland with 100 or more homes, the lowest is Bangor (£140). That is the average asking price on booked nights, not what it costs to live or buy there.
What seaside towns in Northern Ireland offer the strongest Airbnb returns?
Returns depend on what a home costs to buy and run, which AirROI's figures do not cover. On AirROI's estimated revenue per home in the 12 months to October 2026, among seaside towns in Northern Ireland with 100 or more homes, the highest is Ballycastle (£24,148). Among the same towns, Bangor and Ballycastle share the highest occupancy, at 41%.
Method
How These Lists and Numbers Are Made
How a town gets on this list. A town needs 100 or more Airbnb homes with recent stays. A language model then judges the place from its name, state, country and coordinates, not from words in its name: it has to be on an ocean or sea coast with its own beach, seafront or harbour, or on a Great Lake with a public beach, and within about 10 km of the shore. The town's own listings can back that up, with 30% of its homes listing beach access, or 10% with ocean views, waterfront homes or beach in their titles besides. A town whose listings do not gets a second, stricter check, which asks whether people go there for that or mainly for something else. Big cities stay off. Corrections come last: places the checks got wrong are added or taken off, and rows that name one place are joined.
How the figures are made. Stays, occupancy, nightly rate and revenue are AirROI estimates built from Airbnb listing data, and cover Airbnb only. A town's stays are its bookings in the period, and the typical stay and busiest month come from the same data. Guest ratings, home sizes and how far ahead guests book are the latest figures in each town's AirROI data. Month ranks compare each month's part of Airbnb nights. Origin rests on 73,572 reviews and describes guests who left a review, not everyone who stayed. A town needs 1,000 reviews before this page gives its share from abroad.