For years my partner and I have been thinking of visiting the well known Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland… this summer we went and it did not disappoint.

Deciding on Northern Ireland…

A few years ago my boyfriend and I visited Dublin for my birthday and found the Irish spirit something to be admired and enjoyed. Dublin had a variety of  day time activities to enjoy, a great music scene and an interesting history. This visit inspired us to look into other areas of Ireland that looked intriguing and the Giant’s Causeway seemed like the best place to go next…

Exploring the coast

Ballygalley, Ballintoy & Knocknacarry are just some of the local village names that we passed whilst driving on the scenic Causeway coast of Northern Ireland… These small villages boast of a traditional and rural life with small castles and farmlands plotted throughout the area. Every turn on the coastal road to the Giant Causeway showed another beautiful piece of landscape until landing at the iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Northern Ireland

Ballygalley castle

Ballygalley

A particular place that stood out to me as extra beautiful and a great place to visit on the coastal route was Carrick -a- Rede and its rickety rope bridge. Whilst there is a little uphill walking, the views are certainly worth it. You can see clear waters below the cliffs and flocks of birds overhead, we even saw a dolphin below whilst walking the path. At the end of the path you will come to the rope bridge which is an experience in itself being that it is a little scary! The bridge was only a few years ago just simply a bit of rope above a long drop but it is now much safer and has helpful National Trust workers on either side. To cross the bridge is only £6.

On reaching the Giant’s Causeway entrance there was a long walk to the mysterious rocky beach… but not to worry as there is also a bus service down for only £1. On first glance of the strange shore you do ask yourself how the rocks came to be there… Our guide told us the local story of how the beach came to be, the tale involves an actual giant falling in love and having to go against another giant from Scotland. Although the site may seem like a magical formation of some kind, science dictates that it was really a result of a volcanic eruption… I know which story I prefer though.

After climbing the pillars of rock you can wonder back to the top of the beach and enjoy a tasty meal at the local ‘Nook’ pub. This quaint Irish pub had a selection of delicious food & drink to enjoy including a gorgeous variety of sandwiches. I had goat’s cheese and caramelized onions – it was gorgeous!

Carrick -a- Rede Rope Bridge

Giant Causeway

Carrick -a- Rede

Giant Causeway

 A Hollywood twist

Something that was nice to include in our tour of the coast was some of the many locations used in our favourite show ‘Game of Thrones’, much of the scenes in ‘The North of Westeros’ were shot in Northern Ireland and this is heavily promoted there. The locations used are  unique, interesting and perfectly fitted to the scenes in the show. A particularly interesting location is ‘The Dark Hedges’ which was originally a manor driveway to which the family planted lines of beech trees too close together to create the overhanging look. This rare site was used for Ayra’s escape from King’s Landing.

We must also remember that Northern Ireland has also been the setting and inspiration for other great film and literature such as: The Fall, Boogaloo & Graham, Dracula Untold, Starred Up and even the epic Chronicles of Narnia.

Ballintoy Harbour – Seen in GoT as Theon Greyjoy’s home, the Iron Islands

Caves used in GoT for scene with birth of shadow demon

Ballintoy

Dark Hedges – seen in GoT when Ayra escapes Kings Landing

Staying in Belfast

During our time in Northern Ireland we stayed in the capital city of Belfast. It was clear throughout the trip that the city had some very interesting history and a very promising future. Belfast hosts four city quarters each with a unique character and story; Cathedral Quarter, Titanic Quarter, Queen’s Quarter, Gaeltacht Quarter and of course there is also the City Centre…

I was most impressed with the Titanic Quarter as it seemed that new life had been put into the Belfast dock area whilst still keeping the quarter’s proud history at the center. It was clear that this area had been subject to a lot of regeneration and was a great area for visitors to gather and learn about the city’s maritime highs and lows. Whilst much of the area is based around the Titanic which was built in Belfast, there is also the HMS Caroline, the world’s largest dry dock and even the Titanic Museum itself talks about many other topics.

The Cathedral Quarter was the site of our hotel and is known as a hot spot for bars and live music. Although we were somewhat disappointed with the amount of buildings empty during the busy summer period. After speaking with a local we were told that many businesses have been put off by the high rent in the quarter which is a shame because what was there was excellent. Both the Harp bar and the Dirty Onion were great bars and we enjoyed both traditional Irish and modern live music whilst there.

We didn’t have enough time to venture far into the Queen’s Quarter and Gaeltacht Quarter but what we did see was very interesting. The Queen’s Quarter is the student area and the University buildings are beautiful. This quarter is also home to the Ulster Museum and the Botanic Gardens. The Gaeltacht Quarter is where you will find the international wall murals which depicts the community’s views on world events, this is also an area which is known for its strong Irish culture and practice of the Irish language. The Crumlin Gaol is worth a visit in this area, for less than £10 you can learn about the interesting history of a prison that only closed its doors 20 years ago. The penitentiary has an underground tunnel, a mysterious graveyard and a secret door… as well as a nice restaurant and gift shop!

In the hustle and bustle of the City Centre you will find a number of well known high street stores, some cafes and several pubs but one thing to definitely fit in is the City Hall. Visitors can enjoy a very professional guided tour of the historic City Hall completely free of charge and also access the Titanic Memorial Gardens on the site. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave a brilliant tour where we were even give the opportunity to sit in the council chamber seats and another very special chair… We didn’t think the tour could impress us anymore when finally at the end we were given a free guidebook too. Superb.

Finally it is worth making a mention to a little haven just on the outskirts of the city which is Belfast Castle and Cavehill Country Park. On joining the motorway from Belfast towards the coast we spotted the castle up in the hills and thought even then that it looked very grand, but up close it was even better. Plotted in Cavehill Country Park this is the perfect way to spend a morning away from the hustle and bustle of the capital. Within the park you can walk three different trails we of course decided to go for the most strenuous; the Cavehill trail. This trail took us through marvelous views of the castle, the city of Belfast and even the Belfast Zoo where we spotted two bears! Not normally something you are happy to see on a walk outside!

Cavehill Country Park

Belfast Docks

Belfast Docks

Cavehill Country Park

Belfast City Hall

Belfast Crumlin Gaol

Crumlin Gaol

Harp Bar

Where next in the British Isles..?

The more I see of our beautiful homeland the more I want to see recently, especially with the fact that I have a few more mountains left to climb. I would love to go to Edinburgh next and visit the castle as well as hike Arthur’s Seat for those great views… Plus I can actual travel to Edinburgh from my local airport – big plus!