Another decent drive from Achill Island. Again I chose the scenic route, which took me through some beautiful landscapes. I stopped off in Ballina to do some laundry, then had lunch in Sligo before taking some tight country roads on my way to the tiny town of Carrick. I checked into my room at the Slieve League Lodge, a room above a nice quiet pub.
The next day I drove out to see the cliffs. Slieve League cliffs weren’t visible straight away, it was a 2km walk from the car park along a winding coastal road. There were plenty of visitors, many arriving in shuttles. When I finally came to the cliffs I was blown away by how high they were. While not as sheer as the Cliffs of Moher or the Kerry coastline, they were no less impressive. I managed a good hour’s hike up along the edge to get some better vantage points. The cliffs soar to almost 600 metres, making them among the highest sea cliffs in Europe, and on the glorious day I could see most of the way along the coast. On the return to the car I took a short detour out to another Napoleonic-era signal tower, this one in much better nick than the one on Clare Island, and it offered more fine views.
Back in the car I backtracked through Carrick to head further north to Silver Strand beach at Malin Beg. This beautiful beach is nestled into a cove, with steep steps leading all the way down to the sand. I snapped a few nice photos before heading back to Carrick again for an early dinner at The Rusty Mackerel — a very cool pub full of history, memorabilia and good food. Later that evening I made one final backtrack to Malin Beg to watch the sunset.
I was very fortunate with the weather in Ireland, and my fingers were crossed it would continue as I left Carrick the next day, my destination across the border into Northern Ireland and the town of Londonderry.
Another scenic drive took me up to Doe Castle and on through the town of Ballyliffin where I had a late lunch at Nelly’s Barn, home of the world-famous seafood chowder. I’ve got to say it deserves its accolades — bloody delicious!
It was then time to cross the border, arriving late afternoon to my accommodation in Derry. I was quite exhausted, so I stayed in for the evening.
The next morning I was up early. My hotel room was situated inside the old city walls overlooking the river. Around 2km long, the walls of Londonderry are the oldest complete city walls in Ireland and among the best preserved in Europe, offering a fascinating walk through centuries of history. I checked out a few murals and old churches, gave the family a call, then headed to a café to work on the blog.
That afternoon I wandered to the pub Peadar O’Donnell’s where there was great music and plenty of conversation with random people at the bar. It was a fun night, even if I did have one too many pints of Guinness.
The next morning I pulled up pretty well and still felt prime to complete the day’s activities. I had to return the car to Belfast Airport that afternoon and had three locations to visit along the north coast before then.
First up was a drive to the famous Giant’s Causeway. This natural wonder, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is made up of around 40,000 interlocking basalt columns formed by ancient volcanic activity — but of course the legend says they were laid down by the giant Finn McCool. It was pretty gorgeous walking along the rocks, seeing the cliffs while listening to the audio guide recount the stories.
From there I drove to Dunluce Castle, an amazing ruin perched on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The history, the battles and the occupancy of the castle were fascinating. I’m just amazed at how they built such a structure so high up on the cliffs.
My last stop was Carrick-a-Rede, where I battled the tourists and hiked out to the famous rope bridge that crosses a span between cliffs onto a small island. It was fun, although extremely touristy — it was hard to enjoy the experience with so many jostling for that perfect social media photo. I felt sorry for the staff supervising the bridge, constantly yelling for the posers to stop selfishly blocking traffic.
The views were still spectacular, and once again I was grateful for the good weather. I rounded things off with a nice lunch at a café in the small town of Bushmills before hitting the road to my next and final destination of the holiday.
Next, wrapping up my trip in Belfast.
