Northern Ireland Tour

Everyone, do yourself a favor and book a trip to Northern Ireland now so you can visit Giant’s Causeway. It’s absolutely one of the most beautiful, unique and mesmerizing natural phenomenon’s.  We decided to book a tour through Paddywagon Tours because you could request a car seat for the bus.  If you’re requesting a car seat be sure to check, double check and then triple confirm that it will be there.  Unfortunately when we boarded the bus they did not have a car seat ready for us and the only way he’d let us join the tour is if I wore Davis in the baby carrier the entire time.   In the end our driver was able to find us a car seat from a fellow Paddywagon tour bus about an hour into our journey so all was forgiven!

After a little over an hour we arrived at our first stop, the Dark Hedges aka the Kings Road for all my GOT fans.  Yes, this road was only shown for a brief period during one episode but still! Honestly, these trees are so cool I’d recommend stopping here even if you weren’t a GOT fan. These trees were planted by the Stuart family in the 18th century. It does get really crowded as many tour buses stop here on the way to Giant’s Causeway but if you position yourself just right you can grab a picture with no people in the background!

The next stop on our tour was Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.  We had about an hour to explore the area and hike to the bridge.  It’s an absolutely stunning walk right along the coastal cliffs. Reminded me a bit of Cliffs of Moher! After about a 20 minute hike you reach the main event – the rope bridge! Honestly, as silly as it sounds it was exhilarating to cross the bridge.  It’s hundreds of feet above the ocean connecting the mainland to a small island.  The bridge was originally built for fisherman but has since turned into a tourist attraction.  They have staff monitoring both ends of the bridge to limit the amount of people that cross at once.  We loved crossing the bridge and the scenery is makes this location well worth a visit.

After a quick stop for a traditional Irish lunch of stew, tea & Guinness we headed towards Giant’s Causeway! Not sure what Giant’s Causeway is? I didn’t really know what it was until recent years either. It’s 40,000 interlocking basalt columns that was the result of a volcanic eruption over 60 million years ago.  Now, if you’re not into that scientific explanation I’ll tell you about the Irish legend…

Legend has it that the causeway was built by a giant.  Finn MacCool (coolest name ever) was the Irish Giant and Benandonner the Scottish giant challenged him to a fight.  MacCool decided to build the causeway so the two giants could meet across the Sea. After MacCool saw how large Benandonner was he decided to disguise himself as a baby.  When MacCool’s wife opened the door to Benandonner and Benandonner sees the size of the baby he realizes that MacCool must be much larger than him so he flees back to Scotland and destroys the causeway behind him so MacCool can’t chase him down! There are also basalt columns in Scotland that help support the legend!

Giant’s Causeway is a UNESCO world Heritage Site & it’s very clear why. It’s absolutely stunning. I had a very hard time believing that the columns are not manmade-I mean they are perfect hexagonal columns stacked next to one another. To be honest, it looks a little bit like a puzzle.  We spent about an hour walking around and exploring. Davis LOVED climbing on the columns (there are some a little ways way from the water so we weren’t afraid of him falling in!) The best time to visit would be sunrise or sunset but if you can’t make it during those times it’s OK! We were on a tour and still thoroughly enjoyed visiting even with the crowds.

On our way back to Belfast we made a quick photo stop at Dunluce Castle (AKA House Greyjoy!) It was the perfect day in Northern Ireland.  The GOT fan in me loved visiting the Dark Hedges & the “Iron Islands”. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge was thrilling and beautiful.  Finally the piece de resistance Giant’s Causeway was an absolute must see.  I can’t wait to return to Northern Ireland one day.