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The Causeway Coast Northern Ireland

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Hilda
Monday, 12 March 2018 / Published in Home, Lifestyle & Leisure, News

The Causeway Coast Northern Ireland

While enjoying our recent visit to the award-winning Galgorm Resort & Spa near Ballymena (see post HERE), GG and I took the opportunity to take the short drive to the north Antrim coast to explore part of the Causeway Coastal Route.

It wasn’t entirely new to GG who covered quite a bit of the Northern Ireland countryside while being educated in Belfast many moons ago, but it was totally new to me. And my first glimpse of The Causeway Coast was on  a beautiful, bright, sunny but cold day in February. The Causeway Coastal route stretches for 120 miles from Belfast Lough to Lough Foyle and has been named the number one region in the world to visit in 2018 by Lonely Planet. We only took in part of it, but we were blown away by its natural beauty.

Portstewart

Our first port-of-call was Portstewart, an attractive seaside town notable for an amazing long strand (overlooked by the imposing local Golf Club) where I had a lovely brisk walk, while GG took some photos.

Portrush

A few miles further along the coast was Portrush, a very touristy-type of town which would be very busy in the summer months, I imagine. It boasts the Royal Portrush Golf Club, a links course that has hosted many big events and will be the venue for The Open Championship next year.

Dunluce Castle

From there, our next stop was the medieval Dunluce Castle which clings to a headland that plunges straight into the sea, for a quick photo opportunity, where hubby took a pic of me taking a photo.

Bushmills

Next stop was to Bushmills where we indulged in an excellent tour around the famous Old Bushmills Whiskey Distillery and learned a lot about the distilling process as well as sampling some fine produce! It seems that American whisky (bourbon) is distilled just once, Scotch is distilled twice but Irish has a three-step process which makes it even smoother. I am not a whiskey drinker but I loved the complimentary cocktail, with whiskey as its base, which we got at the end of the tour.

Giant’s Causeway

It was a wonderful day to see Northern Ireland’s first UNESCO Heritage Site, 40,000 basalt stone columns left by volcanic eruptions 60 million years ago! Local tradition has it that Finn MacCool threw them in and there are plenty of other stories to keep the youngsters entertained. Graham remembered visiting the causeway about 50 years ago and driving right up to it. Now, run by the National Trust, it has a very impressive Interpretative Centre and we opted for an audio guided tour (as opposed to a tour guide) included as part of the entrance fee.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

I don’t know if you can see the rope bridge in the photo below, but it was too late in the day to walk down to it, so we decided to leave it for another visit. According to some friends, it is definitely worth doing, but only if you have a head for heights.

Dark Hedges

I was very impressed with this natural phenomenon, an avenue of beech trees planted by the Stuart family in the 18th century at Stranocum, near Ballymoney.  Some of you might recognise it from ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 2 Episode 1 as the filming location for The King’s Road, and now a major tourist attraction. We covered quite a lot of ground in one day and headed back to Galgorm to enjoy a gin and tonic and dinner.

Bellaghy

The following day we spent a few hours at the resort and when we checked out headed to Bellaghy. As a former English teacher, I really enjoyed the excellent arts and literary centre ‘Seamus Heaney Homeplace‘ dedicated to to the legacy of Irish Nobel Literature-winning poet and can also recommend the little cafe where we had a delicious bowl of soup before heading back to Dublin.

Pre-blogging days, we visited The Titanic  and Crumlin Road Jail  in Belfast, both to be recommended, and plan on visiting Derry next, as we continue our exploration of Northern Ireland! And we might just do the entire Causeway Route  starting in Belfast and drive in the other direction; it will be a totally different experience.

For more information, check out www.discovernorthernireland.com

 

Tagged under: Bellaghy, Bushmills, Bushmills Distillery, Causeway Coastal Route, County Antrim, Discover Northern Ireland, Dunluce Castle, Game of Thrones, Giant's Causeway, Portrush, Portstewart, Seamus Heaney Homeplace, The Dark Hedges

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12 Comments to “ The Causeway Coast Northern Ireland”

  1. Nina says :Reply
    March 12, 2018 at 12:39 pm

    I can’t wait to visit and see this beauty for my self! I love seeing where you live and it’s surroundings. Such beautiful land.

  2. Cheryl Tucker says :Reply
    March 12, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    This looks so fabulous. I know I would love to get to visit some day! Your pictures really show how beautiful it is there! Have a great week!
    Cheryl
    http://www.northwestmountainliving.com

  3. Loretta Sayers says :Reply
    March 12, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    Great post Hilda! And wonderful photos!

    Have you seen the Donegal Coast? We will be spending time there in a few weeks!

    1. Hilda says :Reply
      March 13, 2018 at 10:47 am

      Have only done a little of Donegal…enjoy…hope you have time for meet up.

  4. Anna at Muttonstyle says :Reply
    March 12, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    What a lovely area. Interesting too. You’ve given me another urge to hop over the Irish Sea. Thank you. Have a good week dear friend

    http://www.muttonstyle.com

  5. Lorraine says :Reply
    March 12, 2018 at 10:48 pm

    It looks absolutely stunning. We drove from Belfast to stay in Donegal but we didn’t have time to stay in Northern Ireland, we will definitely be staying and visiting the Giants Causeway the next time we are over there. Gorgeous photos.

    1. Hilda says :Reply
      March 13, 2018 at 10:46 am

      Thanks Lorraine..

  6. Nancy Baten says :Reply
    March 13, 2018 at 12:05 pm

    I have never been to Ireland, but everyone keeps telling me it is so nice and beautiful there!

    1. Hilda says :Reply
      March 17, 2018 at 7:48 pm

      Looking forward to seeing you here Nancy.

  7. Robin LaMonte says :Reply
    March 14, 2018 at 7:05 pm

    Hilda,

    I am going to have to hire you as my tour guide when we plan to visit Ireland!!
    I love the dark hedges and I have never seen the Game of Thrones, but I can imagine the road being used in the show!
    Amazing travel post today Hilda!

    Hugs,
    Robin
    http://www.helloim50ish.com

    1. Hilda says :Reply
      March 17, 2018 at 7:47 pm

      Wouldn’t we have fun?

  8. Emma Peach says :Reply
    March 18, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    Stunning coastline! I’d love to see Giant’s Causeway and the beech trees!

    Emma xxx
    http://www.style-splash.com

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