The top attraction in Northern Ireland is the Giants Causeway. It's about a two-and-a-half hour drive along the Antrim Coast from Belfast. We stopped at several spots along the way, each with its own attraction. Our driver is very well-informed. He was giving running commentary almost from the time he started to the time he finished. Unfortunately, he has a strong Irish accent and at times, with the din of the noise from the bus, it's difficult to understand him.
The Giants Causeway was formed by 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, as a result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The tops of the columns are like stepping stones, leading from the foot of the mountains to the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although some are 4-, 5- or 7-sided stones. Even on a weekday and during the off-season that we were there, there were many tourists from all over the world tromping all over the area. It was named a World Heritage site in 1986. The entire area is very picturesque, with a rugged coastline and beautiful mountains and farmland.
On the way to the Giants Causeway, we stopped at another top Northern Ireland attraction - the Rope Bridge. The Rope Bridge was built in the 1800s' by salmon fishermen crossing to a smaller island to set up their nets and returning with their catch. It is strung about 100-foot over the sea. It costs 5 pounds to cross it.
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| Rope Bridge seen from above |
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| Getting ready to cross the bridge. It cost 5 pounds |
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| Islands off the coast |
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| Information about the Rope Bridge and the area |
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| Mostly hexagonal stones making up the Rope Bridge |
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| The columns are embedded into the sea |
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| A closer look at the columns |
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| Looks like someone stacked the stones on top of each other |
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| Information about the Giants Causeway |
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| Bird-eye's view of the Giants Causeway area |
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| This distillery has been around since 1608 |
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| Irish Whisky are triple-distilled instead of double-distilled, like Scotch |
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| Honey Whisky |
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| Castle near Giants Causeway |
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| Carrickfergus Castle |
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| The inside of Carrickfergus Castle |
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| Information about the Antrim Coast |
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| Town of Larne |
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| It's all very green along the coast |
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