The Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland

A tour to the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, involves stunning coastal scenery, honeycomb rocks and a tall tale about the giant, Finn McCool.

Walk along the County Antrim coastline
The walk to the Giant’s Causeway on the County Antrim coast in Northern Ireland is fabulous, with cliffs and bluffs jutting out into the angry sea. There’s a wealth of colours in the rocks, grass and trees, but it’s the huge collection of hexagonal stepping stones that make this a World Heritage site.
While the coastline is pretty cool from afar, it’s really only up close that the magic of the Giant’s Causeway reveals itself. There are thousands and thousands of these rock columns, all tessellated together as if in a sprawling honeycomb.

Hexagonal columns
Clambering over, and hopping from hexagon to hexagon is tremendous fun – a little like a giant version of an odd Japanese board game. There are around 40,000 of these columns. Not all are six-sided – some are five or eight – but it’s the sheer scale and setting that makes it. And, of course, yet another unlikely story – this time about the giant that made it.

How was the Giant’s Causeway made?
If you ask scientists, the Giant’s Causeway was formed during a period of intense volcanic activity. They claim that the molten basalt poured out through a bed of chalk, forming a lava plateau. When it cooled, it did so at varying rates, and thus the unusual column structure was created.
This, of course, is utter nonsense, and the real story goes as the locals tell it. A local giant called Finn McCool made the Causeway in order to make it over to Scotland, where he was spoiling for a fight with a rival giant.
Upon getting to Scotland, he noticed that his foe was much bigger so ran away back home. However, the Scottish giant got wind of this, and followed him over the Causeway to Ireland.

Fear of the giant baby
Luckily, McCool’s wife was considerably cleverer than he was, and dressed Finn up as a baby. After seeing the size of the baby, the Scottish giant was terrified. How big must the dad be? So he turned and fled, destroying the Causeway on the way so that he couldn’t be followed. And that’s true, that is.

Getting to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland

Nearest International Airport: Belfast City and Belfast International Airport are closest.

Using public transport: This isn’t really practical. It’s best to hire a car in Belfast, or join a tour. Allen’s Tours offers a relatively cheap daily coach trip up the Antrim Coast Road that includes the Giant’s Causeway, along with the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and Carrickfergus Castle.

More information: Allen’s Tours

St Patrick’s Grave in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland

For someone so universally popular, St Patrick’s grave isn’t all that impressive. It’s covered by a modest, unsculpted slab of stone with his name carved on. Well, part of the name is anyway – there’s a great chunk missing that has taken the C, K and half the I with it.
The grave is outside Down Cathedral, which is perched on a hillside above the small town of Downpatrick, Northern Ireland. It’s the sort of place that is invariably buffeted by huge winds, and you feel heartfelt sympathy for any old ladies trying to get up.
According to legend (and most of what we know about St Patrick should be taken with large pinches of salt), St Patrick died in nearby Saul. From there, angels descended and told those in charge of the body to put it on a cart and bury it in the first spot that the oxen stopped. Well, after lugging him up that hill, it’s no wonder they stopped there.

Getting to St Patrick’s Grave in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland

Nearest International Airport: Belfast International Airport or Belfast City Airport, depending on which airline you’re travelling with.

Using public transport: Take bus 15 or 15A from Belfast’s Europa bus station. The journey takes around an hour. Then prepare for an uphill walk.

More information: Down Cathedral

Black Taxi Tour - Falls Road and Shankhill Road in West Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belfast is something of a rejuvenated city. Once regarded as a virtual no-go area by tourists, the violence and bombings have now largely stopped. Indeed, it is becoming something of a fashionable city break destination.
But it would be wrong to think that the city’s Protestant and Catholic populations now live together in perfect hand-holding harmony. There is still a dividing wall between the two communities in West Belfast, and on either side there are housing estates decorated in a series of astonishing murals.
These brightly-coloured paintings often take up the entire side of a house, and are artistically fantastic (if usually morally dubious).
On the Shankhill Road (Protestant side) and the Falls Road (Catholic side), the murals depict guns and balaclava-clad men or glorify murderers. They are a sign that people aren’t prepared to forget the past just yet.
It is possible to venture around these mural-laden streets independently, but by far the best option is to take a tour in one of the Ulster capital’s famous black taxis.
The drivers are locals, and can take passengers through the history of the areas and Troubles with first-hand knowledge, and often dark, wry humour.
The tours go past Red Hands, Irish and Union flags, the Sinn Fein headquarters and assorted spots where buildings were bombed and people were killed. It’s ugly, but it’s fascinating, and totally unique.

Getting to West Belfast
Nearest international airport: Belfast has two airports – the tiny George Best Belfast City Airport is nearest to the city centre, but most flights arrive at Belfast International Airport slightly further out.
The Black Taxi Tour: There are numerous taxi companies that give tours of West Belfast, picking up from the city centre or hotels. Hotel receptions will happily recommend one, but options include Cora Tours and Belfast City Taxi Tours.