Top Tips For Belfast And Beyond- Northern Ireland

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An adventure that should be on every traveller list is the breathtakingly beautiful Belfast and north coast of Northern Ireland.

Just a short flight from most UK airports; mine began from Birmingham International. With a flight time of just 45 minutes, this is a perfect excuse for a weekend break. Not that I need an excuse to travel anyway! What’s more, cheap flights to Belfast are very easy to come by so keep your eyes peeled. If you need help in finding cheap flights, take a look at my article on ‘How To Scan The Skies With Sky Scanner’

Be sure to know which airport you are heading too as Belfast has two, Belfast City and International airports. You will find much cheaper flights into International Airport but must also consider the additional time and money as this airport is approximately 40 minutes from the city centre. This cost me between £25-30 in an Uber at around 10 pm on a Friday night. 

Why Belfast?

Belfast isn’t usually the first Irish city that comes to mind when looking for a weekend city break. Many automatically think Ireland, Dublin, done! Now obviously, Ireland and Northern Ireland are two different countries, each with their own charisma and charm. Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland and is part of the United Kingdom. It’s neighbour, The Republic of Ireland is not. There are much debate and history over this situation, which may be more and more apparent with the UK’s Brexit plans set to come into force on 1st January 2021. 

With Belfast being part of the UK, it uses GBP (£), not Euros. This helps to keep the costs down considerably compared to the likes of Dublin. Not only is it a beautiful city brimming with culture, buzzing nightlife and live music everywhere. It is also the gateway to the beautiful north coast. With breathtaking scenery and world-famous sites such as Giants Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and Dark Hedges, this road trip is a must for scenery lovers.

I was actually in Canada when I decided that I needed to visit this beautiful place. I kept seeing advertisements all over TV in what seemed to be a huge ‘Visit Ireland’ campaign at the time I was over there. This got me thinking… this is pretty much on my doorstep and I am seeing advertisements over the other side of the Atlantic Ocean for it. Why haven’t I been there?

Just goes to show, travel doesn’t always have to be a long haul flight or two-day bus journey away. It is worth a thought, people on the other side of the world would probably love to visit many of the places you take for granted just because it is on your doorstep. If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it is to take advantage of any travel you can and explore your local assets!

So without further ado, here are some of my must-see attributes of Northern Irelands best.

Belfast City 

Belfast is a beautiful bustling city with amazing hospitality. As you would expect, with copious amounts of bars and restaurants to choose from, the nightlife is always going to be buzzing. I don’t think I have been anywhere that has just so much live music on offer. It is incredible! A trip up to Exchange Place, around the Duke Of York Pub. This is definitely worth a trip one evening but you really can find traditional Irish bands and a good time pretty much anywhere you go!

Belfast is not just drink and party though. From some beautiful buildings, indoor markets and great museums, not to mention the history the city holds. There really is something for everyone to take from a long weekend city break. Even within St George’s indoor market, there were live folk bands playing. You really cannot help but feel uplifted by the ambience of the place.

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Walk the city. Take in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Head up to the docklands and marvel at the architectural phenomenom of the Titanic Museum. Even if museums are not your thing, a trip to see the building it self is well worth the trip!

Belfast is also an extremely popular filming spot used for all types of projects. Did you know a big chunk of ‘Game Of Thrones’ was filmed here as well as some of the other spots I will reveal later in this article?

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge is situated about an hour out of Belfast city centre in Country Antrim. The rope bridge connects the mainland to the tiny island of CarrickaRede. The bridge is suspended approximately 30 metres above the sea bashed rocks beneath and probably isn’t one for those scared of heights…or moving rope bridges for that matter! It spans around 20 metres to the island. The exhilarating rope bridge walk makes way for some epic views of the beautiful coast of Northern Ireland. This is definitely one for the scrapbook!

The area and bridge itself are looked after by the National Trust and access is approximately 11 Euro. The coastal walk to get there from the ample parking and small cafe is worth the small fee!

The top tourist spot of the Giants Causeway is one shrouded in mystery, wonder and legend that can be enjoyed by all ages. Folk tales of the legends of the area will leave you feeling as if you have walked into the fantasy world of middle earth times. Make sure you pick up a headset before heading out to the stones. The interactive walking tour activates as you pass certain landmarks, and fills you in the tales of Finn, the legend of the Giant who shaped the landscape as you see it today.

The Giants Causeway is actually made up of over 40,000 basalt columns. These were a result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption that actually shaped the landscape millions of years ago. That, or it was Finn the giant… I’ll leave that to your interpretation.

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The causeway is actually spread over quite a large area of coastland, with the option to take the clifftop walk to overlook the entire area. Leave plenty of time to see this place as it is a lot larger than I had anticipated.

Again, this area is looked after by the National Trust and involves an entry fee of around £13/ 18 Euros. If you are planning on visiting multiple National Trust locations within a year I highly recommend paying for an annual pass. Entry to all national trust places of interest are included in the annual fee and could save you a tidy penny rather than paying individually to see different hotspots.

The Dark Hedges in Ballymoney is an avenue of beech trees that may look surprisingly familiar to you. This avenue is now closed off to traffic and is enjoyed by thousands of tourists each year. The ‘Dark Hedges’ date back to the 18th century, where the Stuart family planted the rows of trees to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their mansion, Gracehill House

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The avenue has since been used in some pretty significant filming of many titles I am sure you are aware. As I mentioned earlier, Northern Ireland was a key filming spot for the hit HBO series, ‘ A Game Of Thrones’, especially the rugged and beautiful coastline you will drive on this tour. Dark Hedges was used as the ‘Kings Road’ in the hit TV series and featured a number of times during the course of the show.

The Dark Hedges are about 50 miles/1 hour from Belfast city centre and are best viewed on the way back from the Giants Causeway. Visiting them at dusk brings a whole different dimension of mystery and awe. Beware of the legend of the Grey Lady, who apparently haunts the road at dusk. Although, she must have been taking a day off while I was there.

Planning out your day.

Hire a car from Belfast city centre. I managed to get a car for a really reasonable price from Enterprise Rent-a-Car. Leave the city around 10 am to give yourself plenty of time. Take towards the coast for the best possible views on your road trip. The coast in raw and rugged and is what gives Northern Ireland a real charm.

For those of you who are a Game Of Thrones fan, there is another little spot where you can make your first stop out of the city at the Cushendun Caves. It is another beautiful setting and worth 30 minutes to walk around the caves and take in some sea air.

Then head up the coast to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. There is ample parking and the coastal walk is beautiful even if you don’t fancy the invigorating rope bridge crossing.

Follow the coast all the way to the Giants Causeway. Park up here and make sure you give yourself a couple of hours to really explore. Personally, I believe the Dark Hedges is best seen in the ‘golden hours’ in photography terms and great to see and photograph at dusk.

My trip was taken in mid-February, so by this point, the light was starting to dim and was a beautiful drive along the coast and through the country lanes to get to the Dark Hedges by dusk for the best experience of one of Northern Ireland’s most photographed spots.

Another top tip would be to make sure you take lunch and adequate drinks with you. There are cafe’s at the bridge and causeway but are pretty expensive. You also want to make the most of your time on the road so why not picnic along the coast road and take in the views?

Had a great day out on the road? Why not take in another true Irish tradition and let your hair down at ‘The Points’ bar in central Belfast. I loved this place. Busy, friendly and great live music in a traditional Irish bar. Sample a few Irish Guinness and top off a fantastic day!

We all my be still confined to our native countries and the doors to international travel still seem to be bolted firmly shut due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This does not mean that we cannot dream. That we cannot plan. That we should not be ready to jump at the opportunity when the world once again becomes your oyster.

Take a look at my recent blog posts on how to make the most of your time during these times of lockdown. Time is precious, so waste it wisely!

In the meantime…

Stay safe, stay happy and keep dreaming of and planning your trips to everywhere on your ‘To Do’ list!