Giant's Causeway and The Dark Hedges Guided Tour Recap

STOP ONE: TOWN OF CARNLOUGH

Our first stop was made early on in the tour when we visited the small coastal town of Carnlough. We were able to grab a quick coffee and bite to eat at the local cafe, and there was also a small grocery store in case we wanted to get snacks for the bus ride. We opted for the cafe and got our order to-go so we could walk around the harbor and see the first GOT filming location: the steps in Braavos where Arya climbs out of the water. It was a beautiful little stop, and I loved the photos I was able to take there. There were so many quaint little sailboats in the water, and the ones pictured below were my favorites, especially the Honeybee. We only got about 20 minutes here and then we were off again!

STOP TWO: CARRICK-A-REDE ROPE BRIDGE

Our next stop on the tour was at a viewpoint where we could see the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Unfortunately the bridge was closed at the time, and still is closed to bus tours I believe, so we weren’t able to cross it or get any closer than the viewpoint. It was still really cool to see from a distance, though, and it was so windy that day that we wouldn’t have wanted to cross the bridge anyway. The bridge was built in 1755 by salmon fishermen, and there’s a small cottage on the island that fishermen used to use to store tools and find shelter in. The name means “The Rock in the Road”, translated from its Gaelic origin.

After our quick stop at the bridge viewpoint, we traveled farther along the Antrim Coast Road (a super famous coastal route in NI) to pull off on the roadside and snap some photos. I don’t know if this was a particular beach or cliffside of importance, but it was genuinely one of the most gorgeous coastal landscapes I’ve ever seen. It felt so untouched by society, and no one talked when we were there, just taking in the awesome landscape and listening to the birds cawing and waves crashing on the shore.

STOP THREE: GIANT'S CAUSEWAY

We finally made our way up to Giant’s Causeway, which is famous for the legends surrounding the scenery. It’s Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage site, and consists of thousands of basalt pillars that formed almost 60 million years ago. The name stems from Irish legends of a giant named Finn McCool who built a causeway to battle his Scottish rival across the Irish Sea. There’s an alternative story you can find here as well.

There was a shuttle at the visitor’s center (which you don’t need to go into to see the causeway) that goes to and from the actual site. We chose to walk down to the causeway, which took about 15 minutes downhill, and we took the bus back up–I believe it cost one euro per trip, and you can pay on the bus! The walk down was beautiful, but would have been a workout to walk all the way back up.

This natural landmark was one of the most impressive sights I’ve ever seen. It was truly incredible to walk along the pillars, climbing up to gaze out over the sea and take in the scenery (despite the chilling wind and slight rain). We definitely had to use extreme caution when walking along the stones, both because of the rain and the splashing from the waves–so be careful if you visit!

STOP FOUR: DUNLUCE CASTLE VIEWPOINT

After Giant’s Causeway, we drove to another lookout point where we could see Dunluce Castle from afar. Dunluce is a medieval ruined castle that was built in the 16th or 17th century, and it’s open to the public. It was used by both the famous Clan MacDonnell and Clan MacQuillan, who feuded in the 1500s.

We didn’t actually visit the castle, but it was still beautiful to see it from a distance, and it made a great little pit stop before our Bushmills visit! We literally just pulled off the road and had this gorgeous view overlooking the entire grounds.

STOP FIVE: BUSHMILLS DISTILLERY

We soon made our way over to the town of Bushmills where we visited Bushmills Distillery, the oldest licensed distillery in the world. It was a really cool stop, and we obviously had to have our own little whiskey tasting. In hindsight, we definitely should have just split one flight instead of each getting our own, especially since none of us are huge whiskey drinkers. However, it was still a nice experience, the staff was lovely, and we really enjoyed some of the whiskeys!

Random note: in Ireland, it’s “whiskey” and in Scotland, it’s “whisky” with no “E”!

STOP SIX: THE DARK HEDGES

Then we were finally on to another showstopper of the tour: the Dark Hedges! This was definitely one of the coolest parts of the tour. It looked a bit different in real life than it did in the show as “the King’s Road” of course, but it was still surreal to walk along the paved path between those gorgeous beech trees.

It was also really interesting to learn that the trees were planted as a way to make a beautiful grand entrance to the estate that’s at the end of the road. Gracehill House (pictured below) was built in the late 1700’s, and 150 trees were planted as part of the impressive entrance to the estate. It’s even said that the Hedges are haunted by a ghost (though I can’t confirm or deny any otherworldly presence there).

AFTERTHOUGHTS

We headed home to Belfast after seeing the Dark Hedges, making the entire trip about an 8 hour day. It was such an amazing experience made better by our friendly tour guide and a great group of people, regardless of the not-so-great weather happening that day (but that’s expected in Northern Ireland in January!). Cities are wonderful to explore, but having an adventure out in the natural beauty of Northern Ireland was an unforgettable experience. I so highly recommend this tour if you want to see some incredible Irish landscapes, and especially if you’re a Game of Thrones fan!