Seeing the Most of Northern Ireland in a Weekend
This was a quick getaway trip that lasted only 3 days, but was just enough time to give me a taste of what Northern Ireland has to offer. Our first night was spent in Galway where we arrived too late to really enjoy the city, but we gave Quay Street a quick stroll at night. We followed our ears to the tunes of various live street bands. If there was one thing I knew I could expect it was great music.
The following morning we drove to the Connemara National Park (with a few stops along the way). We hadn't intended on going to the peak of the hike, but the views enticed us to keep going. Once there, we were beautiful rewarded...though only for a short time as a cloud came literally right through us, drenching us quickly and providing us with 0 visibility for a short time. It's funny moments like these that make trips memorable.
We spent the night at the coziest B&B in Rossnowlagh Upper. The Atlantic Breeze. I'm not exaggerating but I had one of the best night's sleeps ever.
Sunday morning we crossed the border from Ireland to Northern Ireland in Londonderry and continued along the unbelievably gorgeous Causeway Coastal Route. The route itself winds along the coast with plenty of places to stop for photos. We visited the Dunluce Castle and Giant's Causeway - both spectacular. By the way, this drive is rated as one of the top road trips to take so if you come to Northern Ireland, it's a must. If we had more time I would have loved to visit the Bushmill Distillery.
Monday was our departure with a flight out of Dublin in the evening so we drove to Belfast, visiting the Dark Hedges along the way, to get a quick visit of the city. Famous for being the Titanic's "birth" place, Van Morrison, and of course lots of heart-breaking political strife, Belfast has a lot of history. It is "cheesy", but seeing that we only had such a short amount of time, we took the bus tour. It was a mini-lesson in Belfast's social, economical, and political history and very happy we did it.
All photographs are mine with the exception of those of me, taken by Graham Oakley Photography