3 Days In and Around Belfast

Goose Weber
Mar 5, 2019
3 min read

3 Days In and Around Belfast, Northern Ireland

Gas up the car and head towards the Coastal Causeway. If history and natural beauty are topics of interest for you, this will absolutely be a day you will enjoy. The Coastal Causeway spans 120 KM with plenty of sites, both natural and man-made, to stop at along the way.

The Dark Hedges: Any Game of Thrones fans out there? In season 2 episode 1, Arya Stark has just escaped King’s Landing and she travels through the hedges with Gendry and Hot Pie on the King’s Road. This location is just a bit off the Coastal Causeway but well worth the stop. Fair warning, unless you go super early or later in the evening, the road is probably going to be crowded with tourists.

Address: Bregagh Rd, Stranocum, Ballymoney BT53 8PX, UK

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge: A word to the wise, this rope bridge is not for the faint of heart. It is suspended about 100 feet above sea level between two cliff edges. In order to not overcrowd the bridge, there is a new timed ticketing system. It is highly recommended to purchase your tickets ahead of time.

Address: 119a Whitepark Road, Ballintoy, County Antrim, BT54 6LS
Giant’s Causeway: This World Heritage Site consists of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. Legend says that the causeway was built by giant Fionn mac Cumhaill to meet another giant and fight. In order to see the columns, you must enter through the Visitor Center with your pre-purchased tickets, or purchase them there. I definitely recommend purchasing them ahead of time if you’re going during a busy season. We went in early May which is peak season. The weather happened to be fantastic that day as well, so the columns were literally crawling with tourists. This is another site I recommend going earlier or much later in the day. Once you have passed through the Visitor Center, you can either take a shuttle down to the water’s edge or trek down. If you decide to walk, wear comfortable shoes, it’s a bit of a hike.

Address: 44 Causeway Road, Bushmills, County Antrim, BT57 8SU

Dunluce Castle: These 16th century castle ruins sit right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. You can tour the castle ruins and learn about the MacQuillan family who built it.

Address: 87 Dunluce Rd, Bushmills BT57 8UY, UK

Day 2: Exploring Belfast

Belfast has tons of sites and activities to offer. You could take a walk through the Botanic Gardens or through Belfast City Hall. If you are a fan of museums, head to the largest Titanic Exhibit in the world. The RMS Titanic launched from this port on April 10th, 1912.

I loved downtown Belfast. Being that it has been a major port for literally hundreds of years, you can definitely see the blend of both classic and modern architecture throughout the city. The red brick buildings really instill that industrial feel. We had a great time strolling the city, looking for food and drink, which what we found was absolutely delicious. Check out Made in Belfast (3 different locations). After dinner there, we went to The Perch Rooftop Bar. Such a unique bar with tasty cocktails and live music.

Day 3: Tollymore Forest Park

This is another outside day if that’s something that interests you. Barring the weather, it is the perfect spot to pack up some food, hike a trail, skip over the Stepping Stone Bridge, and have a picnic. And to bring it back to Game of Thrones, you could even take a tour that shows you spots where they filmed.

+ Address: Bryansford Rd, Newcastle BT33 0PR, UK

While this is not an all-inclusive list, it will hopefully help narrow down your itinerary on your next trip to Belfast. As always, if you have any specific questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! Thanks so much for reading, until next time.

Goose, out.