What an amazing trip!!!! 17 days of adventure!!! We have been back 7 days and I’m still exhausted. My body still is on U.K. time!
Our trip started on June 6th when our airport shuttle by R.C. Smith from Morrison arrived at my house promptly at noon to pick the 6 of us up and take us to O’Hare for our 5:50pm direct flight to Dublin!!!! We found an awesome deal on this flight by using the Hopper app! $682 round trip after taxes!! Now mind you, this is not as good as the $149/each-way tickets I bought on WowAir for my husband and I for our trip to Ireland in September!!!
The flight was uneventful and felt surprisingly short, considering it was 8 hours! We were super excited and I couldn’t sleep!! The dinner was weird and most of us hated it, but we survived on the roll, gelato, snacks we brought, and the croissant we were served for breakfast.
After we landed at Dublin International Airport there was a quick taxi to the gate, a long walk to the customs line, and then a quick 15 min in the customs line. We collected our bags and we were set free to Explore Ireland!!! Way faster than any arrival at O’Hare!! Then, we caffeinated ourselves at the coffee shop in the Airport and made our way to the rental car desk.
Ireland and the UK are 6 hours ahead of us here in the Midwest. So, we landed at 7:30 am their time. It was going to be a long day with no sleep.
The young man at the Alamo/Enterprise desk was helpful, nice, and funny! We maybe spent 10 min there with the paperwork and then we were instructed to find the shuttle to where they house the cars. The driver of the shuttle was hilarious and kept us entertained on the 5 minute ride there. We had rented a minivan that was perfect for the 6 of us and all of our luggage!
If you are planning to drive into Northern Ireland be aware that the rental car agencies in Ireland usually charge a fee for driving into another country. Alamo charges 30€ to drive it to Northern Ireland, Hertz does not charge a fee, and Enterprise charges a whopping $150. I didn’t end up seeing this fee on our Alamo rental and the agent even asked us where we were headed. So, maybe that is just something they selectively charge people for.
If you don’t remember to stop for coffee while at the airport, don’t worry. There’s a wonderful petrol station about 10 min down the road, if you are heading north, with a Costa’s inside. This is like a Starbucks and quite tasty!!! I have a major expresso addiction. There’s also a Panda Express type of a place, a Burger King, and a Subway inside the petrol station also! We loaded up on snacks for the road and a case of water bottle to keep us hydrated!!
On this trip we spent our first night in Northern Ireland. If you have a chance, you MUST go north to see the Giants Causeway and walk across the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. So amazing!!!
But first, don’t forget to stop at Tollymore Forest Park!!!! Which not only is beautiful and full of hidden treasures, it’s also a Game of Thrones filming location!!!
The entrance to the park is just plain awesome!!! I’d like an entrance to my house like this!!
Once you are thru the gate there is a long drive to the visitor center that is lined with the most magnificent, huge climbing trees!!!! Definitely time to get out and stretch your legs a bit and do some climbing after the 90 min drive from the airport!!! Yes, only 90 min!!! I know when you look at the map it looks sooooo much further!!
We then spent about an hour or more wandering around the park taking picture of the amazing little waterfalls and streams. I love the mystical, mossy forests!!! It’s easy to imagine where all the old Irish faerie stories come from after a day at Tollymore.
Even though we didn’t want to leave yet, we had to keep moving!! There was a lot to see!! We headed another 1hr and 45 min north to The Dark Hedges!!!!! Another Game of Thrones location!!! Do you recognize the road to Winterfell Castle??? Unfortunately it was full of people! It was impossible to get a good photograph with no one walking on the road. Hopefully, some strategic photoshopping will work its magic!! Even with the people walking on the lane, it was magical!!! Hard to believe it’s just a part of the road in the middle of the countryside. Luckily, it’s easy to find on Apple Maps now. Just type in Dark Hedges.
It’s then a quick 20 min drive to The Giant’s Causeway. We arrived just after the visitor center closed unfortunately , but at least we didn’t have to pay to park or pay for admission! The road to the coastline is open all hours of the day! It’s about a mile walk downhill to the coast where the hexagon columns are. It’s an easy walk down, but it’s a gradual uphill walk on the way back to the car. Talk about a Bun-burner!!!!
We spent at least an hour there playing around on the columns and taking pictures of each other posing at the top. Just when we were getting ready to leave the sun came back out for a bit an changed the lighting enough that we all needed to stay and take a few more pictures.
By this time it was almost 9pm and still daylight in Northern Ireland. So, on the 20min ride to our hotel for the night, The Lodge, we stopped in the town of Bushmills for some take-away fish and chips at a shop called The Flash in the Pan!!! Finally!!! It was soooooo good!!!
After we checked into our great rooms at The Lodge in Coleraine, we had a few drinks in the hotel bar and headed to bed for the night.
This first day on our 17 day trip was amazing, busy, and everything we could have wished for!!!
The next morning we were up and on the go early; as with every day of this trip. We didn’t have time for the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge the day before, since it closes at 5pm. But, we read online that they only sell tickets for that day, starting at 9am. We wanted to be there right at 9am so that we could walk the bridge in the morning and then head towards Galway for the night, a long 4 and a half hour drive. We should have planned for 2 nights in Northern Ireland.
When we arrived at the bridge it was sprinkling. But, by the time we were ready to walk across the bridge we the rain had stopped!! The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge is a MUST see in Northern Ireland. It only cost 7£ per person and totally worth it. It is scary and sooooo much fun!! The pictures alone from the island you end up on are worth it. We had a blast!!! Stay tuned for the video of us crossing!!!
It is about a 10 min walk from the ticket booth to the actual bridge and a lot of that is up and down steep hills. So be prepared to burn some calories!! Once at the bridge, we only had to wait a few minutes to walk across. The bridge is actually only about 25 feet long or so. Once across, you are free to roam the tiny island, take pictures, and then wait in the line for a few minutes to walk back across. The website says that the lines can be much longer later in the morning and early afternoon and I believe it. There were several bus-loads of people showing up as we were getting ready to leave. There were about 50 children there on a school trip of some type and every one of them said “good morning” as they walked past us. So cute.
Make sure to stop in the tea room and gift shop for a latte and a snack before you hit the road again!!!! Yummy shortbread bars and carrot cake!!! I bought several prints from a local photographer of the Giant’s Causeway with the Northern Lights and a black and white photo of the Dark Hedges.
Next, we made an unplanned stop at the Bushmill’s Whiskey Distillery for a whiskey tasting and a short visit to the gift shop, of course!! I have a small love affair with Irish whiskeys and Scotch whiskys. So I had to give Bushmills a try. I do say, I was Not disappointed.
We also made a quick stop at Ballintoy Harbor, which is also another Game of Thrones filming location. This is such a pretty harbor and beach. There is a cool cave to go in and also a little café. The buses cannot make it down the road to the cute little harbor, so it’s relativly calm. Though, there was a Game of Thrones tour in a smaller bus that was there; cloaks, swords, and all!!
Don’t forget to make a stop at the ruins of Dunluce Castle while you are up north. We didn’t have time to tour the ruins. But, we jumped out in the rain for a few great shots and a grabbed a tea and millionaire bar (shortbread toffee bar with chocolate on the top) for the long drive from The Wee Cottage!!!!
So, that was the first day and a half of our 17 day trip. Stay tuned for more blogs on this epic, amazing, memorable girls trip with my family and friends!!!
