Friday 15th September
When on the Causeway Coast, The Giant’s Causeway is a must. It is Northern Ireland’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the National Trust, so our membership cards will come in handy today. The weather was forecast to be better today, so we had to take advantage of that. As we made our way out of Portrush on A2, we passed Royal Portrush Golf Club and it did look so inviting, but at £180 per person per round, we will be giving it a miss this time. We stopped at Whiterocks Coastal Park to take in the views of the lovely sandy beach and watch a few golfers battling the rather windy links conditions.
As we continued along the Causeway Coastal route, we caught sight of Dunluce Castle, after which, the road is named. It is considered one of the most romantic and picturesque of Irish Castles. (As well as one of the film locations for Game of Thrones). The current ruins date mainly from 16th and 17th centuries.
We journeyed on until we reached the village of Bushmills, where we knew we would be able to take the park and ride to the Giant’s Causeway. (Although the village is probably more famous for the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery). The car park was free and the buses run every 20 minutes to the Giant’s Causeway, so we didn’t have long to wait. The short 5 minute trip was worthwhile, as the car park was full of tour buses, and cars were being directed back to the park and ride.
The visitor’s centre was amazing but absolutely heaving! It was a very striking building, with walls of glass, basalt columns and a state of the art interior, with apparently no right angles. Getting our tickets was a piece of cake and we had the option of taking an outdoor audio guide or joining a guided tour.
We chose the latter, which meant we would be walking down to the Causeway. (There are buses which ferry people to and from at a cost of £1, FOC if you are a NT member). We had the added bonus of our guide’s sense of humour, and well tailored patter about the geology, legend and folklore of this true spectacle. Now all those retellings of Finn McCool at school would be brought to life!
The guided tour lasted approximately an hour and then we were able to explore the area on our own, for as long as we wished. We decided to continue along one of the 4 trails advertised, along a path and up the cliffs to The Amphitheatre. From here we gained a different perspective of the Causeway and Port Noffer. Once we had made our way back down, we did what most people come to do – clamber over the hexagonal basalt rocks to marvel at this wonder. Owing to recent heavy rain, some areas were out of bounds, but it didn’t make a lot of difference as there were many places to climb, sit and ponder at it’s beauty.
Having taken loads of photos, we made our way back to the visitor centre. Here were many exhibition areas to explore and enjoy the science and stories, including a big screen. There was of course, the obligatory cafe and shop. A short wait for the park and ride and we were back in Bushmills.
We wandered off to find the Bushmills Railway, which follows the two mile extension of the original Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Hydro Electric Tram Track, but it is only open at the weekends in September! Always good to do your homework first.
We did make our way over to the ‘Dark Hedges‘, a tunnel-like avenue of inter-twinned beech trees, planted in the 18th century, but we were somewhat disappointed. Owing to Games of Thrones series, there were too many people dressed in capes, welding swords, re-enacting scenes from the television series and large tourists coaches parked along the road, obscuring any possible view. We will add this to our future wish list, out of season.