Northern Ireland 2 - Antrim

 Friday 18th July 2025

I'm up at 6am and away by 7.30 as I've been told the key to enjoying Giant's Causeway is to arrive early. The weather looks stormy but so far merely showers. It's what makes Ireland so green ....

Along this coast there are several "Airs" where a camper could stop over for free. One is called Portaneevey, with grand views of the rugged Antrim Coast.

I stopped in to see the famous rope bridge out to a sea stack, but it's too early to be open. I might have walked to see it from a distance but my mission is to walk on the Giant's Causeway so I press on. I arrive at 8am and there's not much action so I park in the heritage railway car park and walk up the hill. The Causeway entrance is a tunnel with a car park on one side and a large glass reception building on the other. Drivers must run the gauntlet of the National Trust car park but as a pedestrian I simply stroll through, which is quite liberating.

Down the hill and after twenty minutes here I am on the causeway itself. Not as sensational as some of the heavily treated photographs suggest but certainly unusual, dramatic and appealing. 

So having walked between in and on the pillars I return to the car and find that in my absence they've erected a sign saying I have to pay £10 for the day's parking. As there was no such sign or suggestion on my arrival, and I've only had an hour's parking, I drive off and up to the NT car park, now staffed, where I can make use of my National Trust membership.

Parking up, I go to the reception building for a coffee and while drinking it I hear that a free guided tour is about to begin. Wondering what I might have missed on my self guided wander, I join a group lead by a jolly chap who informs and amuses all the way back to the stones. Our leader also points out where the trail continues around the coast, so this is a great opportunity to extend my walk and to see some of the "organ pipes" which also comprise the stones.

By the time I eventually return to the van, satisfied with my visit, I have exceeded my five mile minimum in Antrim. I drive on to Bushmills, famous for its whisky, and though the tours are booked up, a bottle finds its way into my store cupboard.

My next stop is Friel's Bar and Restaurant. at Swatragh. 

This is a bit of an error on my part. First I drive straight past, not recognising it as a camp site, then eventually realising I find it's a cross between a car park and a building site. Loos and shower are in a portacabin and there is no washing up space. The surface is black gravel and workmen may well be improving the place but currently they are driving noisy machines around the car park. This is not what I was looking for. However it is next to a perfectly good restaurant and bar so I suppose the caravan site is just a poor relation for the time being. Though they could have warned me ....

However, making the best of it I do visit the bar, which seems a good place for a pint of Guinness, and I also visit the adjacent Dr Mooney's House which is a museum to the good doctor who with his wife provided nourishing soup to local people during the famine years. A very good little museum.

Dr Mooney's Famine Pot

A whisky still at Bushmills