With a weekend looming and the wife working away, my mate Sam and I decided we should go for a little travel somewhere. Travel opportunities have increased significantly for folk of Southend-on-Sea in the last year due to the expansion of Southend Airport (SEN) and Easyjet flying to a number of excellent European destinations including Amsterdam, Barcelona & Ibiza.
Due to cost considerations and times of flights, we set our sights on a place closer to home and decided to have a couple of days driving around the northern coast of Northern Ireland an taking in the famous 'Giant's Causeway'. In fact we first thought about just visiting Belfast as a city break but thought hiring a car and driving the coast with our cameras would be much more enjoyable.
Day 1
Our 7.10am departure from Southend Airport (a mere mile from my house) arrived in Belfast at 8.15am - which means that in time taken to get there, Belfast is actually closer than London's west end...and at approximately £25 for a single is not too dissimilar from a train ticket on the rip-off Southend to London Liverpool Street line.
At the airport we collected our pre booked car from Hertz (Ford Focus £80 for two days including insurance) and set off towards Portrush via the coastal 'Causeway' route.
We headed to Larne and then took the Causeway route.
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
Giants Causeway
The Causeway, with it's natural hexagonal columns, is one of the most famous geological sites in the world. It had also changed quite a bit since my last visit in 2003 with a new swanky visitors centre.
Day 2
After a night in Portrush and a couple of cheeky pints of Guinness, we headed west for a scenic drive along the coast, through the Roe Valley Country Park and finally along the picturesque A6 through the Sperrin Mountains to Antrim and to Lough Neagh. Then the short flight home via Easyjet back to Southend.
Due to cost considerations and times of flights, we set our sights on a place closer to home and decided to have a couple of days driving around the northern coast of Northern Ireland an taking in the famous 'Giant's Causeway'. In fact we first thought about just visiting Belfast as a city break but thought hiring a car and driving the coast with our cameras would be much more enjoyable.
Day 1
Our 7.10am departure from Southend Airport (a mere mile from my house) arrived in Belfast at 8.15am - which means that in time taken to get there, Belfast is actually closer than London's west end...and at approximately £25 for a single is not too dissimilar from a train ticket on the rip-off Southend to London Liverpool Street line.
At the airport we collected our pre booked car from Hertz (Ford Focus £80 for two days including insurance) and set off towards Portrush via the coastal 'Causeway' route.
We headed to Larne and then took the Causeway route.
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| Tor Head. In the background, Scotland. |
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
The 30 metre high rope bridge is one of the big tourist attractions on the coast and after having the entire coast to ourselves for the best part of 5 hours, we now shared it with coach loads of visitors, many of whom seemed to be from France interestingly.
Giants Causeway
The Causeway, with it's natural hexagonal columns, is one of the most famous geological sites in the world. It had also changed quite a bit since my last visit in 2003 with a new swanky visitors centre.
Day 2
After a night in Portrush and a couple of cheeky pints of Guinness, we headed west for a scenic drive along the coast, through the Roe Valley Country Park and finally along the picturesque A6 through the Sperrin Mountains to Antrim and to Lough Neagh. Then the short flight home via Easyjet back to Southend.
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| On the wide open beach at Castle Rock |
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| Lough Neagh |
