South from Antrim

The 'Giant?s Causeway' on the North Antrim coast. Named after the legendary Irish giant Finn McCool, the 40,000 volcanic basalt columns attract half-a-million visitors a year. It was Ireland's first World Heritage Site. Image: NITB.

THE EASTERN seaboard of Northern Ireland is shared by the two rural counties of Antrim and Down. In the middle, where the two counties meet, sits Belfast, the capital of the province. From the Giant’s Causeway on the north coast, all the way south to the Ulster Riviera – so called because it’s the only stretch of the Northern Ireland coast which faces south – this slice of country contains every conceivable picture-postcard scene from the Irish landscape.

Dramatic towering cliffs along the north coast reach their climax at the forbidding heights of Fair Head. Inland lie the Glens of Antrim, nine great valleys which wind their way from the coast with each glen protecting its own secret villages, pubs and ancient legends.

From the top of Fair Head to the sea below is a sheer drop of 600ft/200m; look straight ahead north-east and the western isles of Scotland lie like a vast, frozen avalanche of heather and Highlands stopped in their tracks by the mighty North Atlantic.

The views from the Antrim Coast Road are among the most dramatic in Europe. This is what is on offer from the Antrim Coaster coach that runs twice a day between Belfast and the Causeway Coast, May to late September. Through the autumn and winter months, the coach starts from Larne.

Compared recently, by a visiting overseas travel writer, to the coastal routes in Hawaii without the palms, the Antrim Coast Road’s scenic qualities take over in earnest at the Giant’s Causeway hugging the coastline on its way south like a wetsuit.

Watch out for spots like Murlough Bay, Torr Head, Cushendun and Cushendall which offer stunning views of Scotland’s Mull of Kintyre. Mile-long lines of fuchsia bushes burst bright red and pink in spring and summer along the road, particularly in the lesser used parts by Torr Head.

Heading south into Larne, Whitehead and Carrickfergus and the approach to Belfast has begun. Larne is also one of Northern Ireland’s two principal Irish Sea ferry ports (the other being Belfast) and the terminus for rail services from Belfast. Around the coastal corner on the shores of Belfast Lough, is Carrickfergus. The formidable outline of Carrickfergus Castle is exactly as it would have been seen by King William of Orange when he landed there in 1689. Norman-built 500 years before, the castle faces the shores of north County Down directly across Belfast Lough.

Effectively, Carrickfergus marks the end of the Glens of Antrim and the start of the Lagan Valley named after the river which flows through Belfast into the lough.

Belfast is alive with attractions not least Belfast Castle which sits on the slopes of Cave Hill, the country park alongside the western approaches to the city. In the city the bars are busier than ever, the live music scene is the envy of most British and Irish towns and the new Odyssey Centre boasts one of the most exciting interactive science museums in these islands.

There’s the fine Ulster Museum too, cheek by jowl with the glasshouse dominated Botanic Gardens on the edge of the university quarter of the city, which itself pulsates with cosmopolitan restaurant life. The museum houses collections the equal of any in all Ireland. It imaginatively traces life from its earliest, prehistoric days across the whole of Ireland, and latterly introducing the achievements of mechanical invention from the north – the linen and shipbuilding industries in particular – over the last 200 years.

The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, a 10 minute rail ride from Belfast centre, on the line to Bangor, County Down, brings together the social and mechanical story of the north with special presentations on the age of steam railways and the ill-fated Titanic ocean liner which was built in Belfast.

Apart from the rail route to Bangor, the communities and countryside of County Down, to the south of Belfast, are almost exclusively accessed, as far as public transport is concerned, by services provided by Ulsterbus with Goldline express services running to places like Downpatrick, Portaferry (at the mouth of Strangford Lough) and Newcastle.

From Belfast, indeed from as far back as Carrickfergus, the cyclist will find dedicated cycle routes all the way along the Lagan Valley to Lisburn, home to the outstanding Irish Linen Museum.

The gentler farmland of north County Down is very different to that left behind in Antrim. Here the landscape is dominated by small, egg-shaped hills called drumlins. The roads wind around these drumlins which, the further south one travels the larger, more rugged and rocky they become until they finally emerge as the Mourne Mountains.

Along the way are fabulous country and forest parks, and the serene sea waters of Strangford Lough which reach 15mls/24km inland. At Downpatrick, tucked in among the most southerly belt of drumlins, is Ireland’s newest attraction, the St Patrick Centre. Not much is known about the world’s favourite Irishman, but the centre unravels a fascinating story of spirituality, 5th century politics and Celtic legends.

Only a few miles from here is the cosy village of Strangford, so named by the Norsemen who invaded the area in the 8th and 9th centuries. The place-names today show the links with Viking, Norman and later English planters.

From Bangor in north County Down, home to Ireland’s largest yacht marina, to the resort of Newcastle nestling at the foot of Northern Ireland’s tallest peak Slieve Donard, Down is a patchwork quilt of varied landscapes, country pubs, golf courses and adventure centres. Try sipping a quiet pint in the Maghera Inn outside Newcastle and spare a thought for the variety of scenery between the Causeway and the Riviera – and marvel at the fact that there are barely 100 miles between them!

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getting there

In summary, the gateway ferryports to Northern Ireland are Larne and Belfast: the gateway airports Belfast City and Belfast International.