Causeway to heaven
You don’t have to travel half way round the world for a bucket list experience, finds Neil Geraghty
For a lockdown easing day out, it doesn’t get any more thrilling than this. I’m visiting the newly reopened Titanic Belfast visitor attraction and I’m dangling in midair on a revolving chairlift exploring a startlingly realistic reconstruction of a 1911 Harland and Wolff shipyard gantry. Around me digitally generated sparks fly off the Titanic’s towering 24m high rudder and the voices of labourers relate stories of the tough working conditions, but also the pride that the people of Belfast felt as this marvel of modern engineering neared completion. This show-stopping installation is one of several high tech exhibits that fill this fascinating museum which is as much a celebration of Belfast’s rich industrial heritage as the fabled story of the doomed Titanic.
The reopening of Titanic Belfast is an important event in the reopening of tourism in Northern Ireland and for travellers from Scotland, a hop over the North Channel, with the option of travelling over by ferry from Cairnryan, has all the feel of an overseas break without any of the worries of sudden quarantine restrictions when you return home.
North of Belfast, The Causeway Route, one of Ireland’s most scenic drives, stretches for 100 miles along a ruggedly beautiful coastline steeped in history. An enjoyable way to explore it is to book a self guided ‘Toast the Coast’ road trip that includes tasting menus at atmospheric cafes and pubs along the way. The Antrim coastline’s position at the gateway to the Irish Sea was of great strategic importance historically and numerous imposing castles bear witness to this. The most impressive is the Norman era Carrickfergus Castle which juts out into Belfast Lough on a rocky promontory. When I arrive, groups of weekend paddle boarders and kayakers are pootling around in the water beneath the castle’s brooding keep. It’s a tranquil scene and belies Carrickfergus’ tumultuous history which in 1690 saw William of Orange muster his troops before marching off and defeating King James II at the Battle of the Boyne
At Glenarm I stop at another castle that dates back to the 17th century and bristles with romantic turrets and gables. The castle is owned by the Earl of Antrim whose family, of Scottish descent, once owned a vast stretch of the Antrim coast. The castle is home to delightful gardens, a series of walled enclosures that once contained the castle’s vegetable plots. A myrtle tree is in full bloom when I visit and the incongruous scent of a Mediterranean summer
wafts over flower beds filled with rare hydrangeas and walls covered in exotic varieties of clematis. Perhaps betraying his Scottish ancestry the Glenarm estate produces both award-winning beef and smoked salmon which I enjoy in a delicious tasting platter in the castle’s tea rooms.
There’s no escaping Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland where much of the epic series was filmed. At the tiny fishing harbour of Ballintoy I meet up with Flip Robinson who runs Game of Thrones tours, and who as a stand-in actor for two of the series’ tallest characters Hodor and The Mountain, is a fount of Game of Thrones gossip. Ballintoy, with its storm lashed archipelago of basalt islets, was used to film scenes from the Iron Islands, home to a nation of Viking-inspired seafaring warriors. With his towering frame, long beard and shock of silver hair Flip looks every inch a Viking and regardless of whether you’re a GOT fan or not, his entertaining tours of the locations take you to some of the most beautiful corners of Northern Ireland.
A highlight of any visit to Antrim is of course The Giant’s Causeway and it’s worth spending a night in nearby
Clockwise from main: the Giant’s Causeway; Titanic Belfast has reopened; Ballintoy Harbour
Bushmills to maximise your time at this world famous geological oddity. At the visitor centre I meet up with Eimear Flanagan, a passionate hiker who runs ‘Away a Wee Walk’ guided hikes along the Causeway Coast. Her hikes are anything but wee and take walkers on dizzying paths that coil around the craggy headlands and limestone cliffs that surround the Giant’s Causeway. High summer is an especially lovely time to visit when summer rains and long daylight hours give rise to an explosion of wildflowers. In amongst drifts of sea asters, bright blue harebells, Antrim’s county flower nod to and fro in the refreshing Atlantic breeze. During our walk several capricious showers blow in from the sea but when we arrive at the Giant’s Causeway the sun breaks through and begins to sparkle on puddles that have formed in the thousands of hexagonal basalt columns that slope gently down to the sea. It’s an unforgettable sight and proof that you don’t need to journey half way around the world to enjoy a bucket list travel experience. ■
The summer rains give rise to an explosion of wildflowers
For more on Northern Ireland visit www.ireland.com/ni
Neil stayed at the historic 4 star Bushmills Inn, www.bushmills.inn; www.toastthecoastni.com; www.gianttoursireland.com; www.awayaweewalk.com