Day trip to Northern Ireland

We wanted to see a little more than just Dublin, so Z found a day tour to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. The day started quite early to catch the tour bus thankfully a short walk from the hotel. Our tour was through Irish Day Tours and our guide and driver was the very entertaining storyteller Jim. He made the long drive quite fun and interesting. Our tour brought us first to The Dark Hedges, or more famously known as the Kings Road in Game of Thrones. The road is lined with ancient beech trees whose branches have grown intertwined with one another forming a canopy over the road. It's quite a sight to see, Game of Thrones fan or not. 

Our next stop was Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge near Ballintoy in County Antrim. This suspension bridge is roughly 20 metres long and is 30 metres above the rocks below. The bridge links the mainland to a tiny island called Carrickarede which gives you amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean and breathtaking cliff side coastline of the mainland. The wind was blowing quite hard which made walking across the bridge that much more interesting. It was actually a little scary and I found myself holding on with both hands and looking down at my steps but also being able to see the rocks below....maybe not the best idea when the thoughts going through my mind where: I hope I make it across.

From here we made a quick lunch pit stop at a great little restaurant called The Giant's Barn Cafe, where the food tasted like home cooked comfort food, before we arrived at the Giant's Causeway.


The main attraction of the tour was the Giant's Causeway which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site is a geological wonder with over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns most of which are hexagon in shape. We heard a few times during our time in Dublin that the Irish don't let the truth get in the way of a good story, so as the story goes, the Giant's Causeway is steeped in myth and legend and is the making of giant Finn McCool who was trying to build a causeway across the North Channel so he could meet and battle the Scottish giant Benandonner. Regardless of how these rocks ended up in the formations and piles they sit today, this is an incredibly impressive site to visit with the Atlantic Ocean right there in the background.

After the Giant's Causeway, we drove to Belfast city centre and had about an hour to explore. Unfortunately we were quite behind in our schedule and arrived late in Belfast after some of the main attractions in the city centre were closed for the day. We were all pretty tired by this time, so we just walked around a little and found the iconic Crown Saloon. This pub dates back to 1885 and the interior decor, stain glass windows and woodwork are most impressive. The place was crowded with locals and tourists alike so we didn't stay for a drink.

This was a great day with lots to see and explore. It was well worth it, and our driver Jim made it even more interesting with all his storytelling....whether truth or just story.