When planning our trip to Ireland & Northern Ireland, I decided we should take a day to drive up to Giant’s Causeway. Google Maps said the drive would only take an hour, so I figured we could set aside some time to do that and then just wing it for the rest of the day. After all, those kind of days are the best, right?
And then the day before, while driving around in Belfast, our taxi driver turned to us and said “Take the Antrim Coastal Highway. It’s much prettier.” So I went back to my room and did some reasearch on the coastal highway and… well… road trip!
The coastal highway starts in historic Belfast and then takes you up the coast right along the water, through many small coastal towns, past the heart-stopping Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, beyond the famous basalt columns of Giant’s Causeway, around the ancient ruins of Dunluce Castle, and then finally ends in the walled city of Derry. The drive from Belfast to Dunluce – and back – will take you the entire day (or possibly longer, depending on how long and how often you stop), so plan accordingly.
The Antrim Coast drive wound up being one of my favorite memories of our entire trip, especially because it was so spur-of-the-moment. It was some of the most beautiful scenery I saw in my two weeks of driving around Ireland & Northern Ireland.
Don’t believe me? Here’s proof.
On a clear day, you can see Scotland across the sea!
Have you driven the Antrim Coast? What did you think? If not, do you want to? Where would you stop? What is your favorite memory? Would you want to stay in one of the coastal towns? Leave a comment below and let me know!
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