Visiting Northern Ireland: the Causeway Coast

Last November, E. and I attended our lovely friend's wedding in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since we had driven that far (from Kilkenny, where we live... until next week, that is!), we thought we should use the following day for a trip way up North and finally see the famous Giant's Causeway.

It was quite a cold day (we could see snow on the side of roads and on mountain tops) so we grabbed a couple of takeaway French pastries, tea and coffee at the Christmas Market and off we went on a little road trip!

We chose to head up North via the Causeway Coastal Route and it was the best decision. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Lucky I was not the one driving because I would have been very distracted by the beautiful landscape!

Our first stop was the famous Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. I am absolutely not a fan of bridges where I can see below my feet so I kept looking straight ahead, silently cursing the people behind me who were walking heavily and shaking the bridge for fun. Sometimes, it is worth getting over your fear a bit because the view beyond is so beautiful (I can now add it to my series of bridge exploits - one included walking on a really high up tree top see-through bridge in Tasmania, Australia).

Our next stop was the Giant's Causeway with its famous thousands of basalt columns creating stepping stones into the sea (well, don't go into the sea obviously... it's cold and probably quite dangerous seen how wild it is up there). I am pretty sure that this landmark gets very busy during warmer months so we were lucky we could enjoy it with not many tourists around. We climbed the steps where we could (glad I chose some strong waterproof shoes that day) and took it all in.

Our final stop was Bushmills to visit the oldest licensed whisky distillery in the world. We were welcomed with a little glass of hot whisky upon arrival. This was wonderful to have after spending time in the cold and windy Northern Irish Winter weather. The visit was really interesting and worth the detour (if you are going to drive as far as the Giant's Causeway, you may as well visit it, it is only a few minutes drive from it).

We drove back as the sun was starting to set. It was a day really well spent and this kind of trip reminds me that there are plenty more beautiful places I would like to discover in Ireland and Northern Ireland. I hope 2016 gets more of these lovely road trips (I should make a point of it actually)!