County Antrim Travel Tips
Help other visitors to County Antrim - email us your own travel tips
Ballintoy
Visitors touring the famous sights of the Coast Road in North Antrim should keep their eyes peeled for this lovely little hideaway, tucked below the cliffs at the bottom of a narrow, steeply twisting road. Walk the path along the waterside, splash in the rock pools, or simply admire the beauty of the sea and the craggy islands.
Ballycastle
Drivers should avoid the Antrim coastal town of Ballycastle when it hosts the annual Auld Lammas Fair on the last Monday and Tuesday of August. Visitors attending the 400-year-old fair might like to taste two traditional specialities - dulce (dried seaweed) and yellowman (sticky honeycomb).
Visitors spending time in Ballycastle will almost certainly venture westwards along the coast to visit the Giant's Causeway. En route, it's well worth stopping off at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, a truly terrifying, wobbly fisherman's bridge that connects the mainland cliffs to Carrick Island 80 feet above the water. The brave souls who complete the walk there and back are rewarded with a certificate. Others can watch, marvel and thrill to the beautiful scenery. - Carol
Ballyvoy
Only drivers with nerves of steel and a head for heights should attempt the mountainous scenic route between Ballyvoy and Cushendun. The road gives breathtaking views over the Antrim countryside and coast, but the sharp twists and turns, the steepness of the hills and the dizzying altitude are challenging, to say the least!
Belfast
Catch it while you can! Belfast's most recent tourist attraction is a Big Wheel, similar to the London Eye. But the Belfast version, spinning beside the City Hall, is only temporary. It was scheduled to stay until March 2008, although proposals to keep it until at least the end of the year are now being considered. - Dinah
Pop into the Crown Liquor Saloon for a Guinness, take a seat in one of the private snugs, and the most famous pub in Northern Ireland will not disappoint. A former Victorian gin palace, wonderfully preserved, it's a riot of coloured tiles, mosaics, stained glass, carved woodwork and decorated ceilings. Spectacular - and also very friendly. - Carol
Carnlough
Travellers on the famous Antrim Coast Road should look out for The White Lady. This is a remarkable chalk figure - once a sea stack - which bears an uncanny resemblance to a Victorian woman looking out over the coast. You'll spot her a few miles north of Carnlough, at Garron Point. Another interesting feature near The White Lady is the Foaran stream which, running to the sea, is thought to be the shortest river in Ireland. - Dinah
Cushendall
Passengers travelling the Antrim Coast Road should have their cameras ready as they approach Cushendall. Blink and you'll whizz past the Red Arch, where the road passes through a tunnel cut into the sandstone cliff. It's one of two famous arches on the route, the other being the Black Arch just outside Larne. But this is the more impressive, and it's been a much-loved landmark for more than a century.. - Deborah
The people of the village celebrate their heritage every August with the Heart of the Glens festival - ten days of singing, dancing and merry-making. But other Glens villages are equally fond of the craic, with Carnlough, Cushendun and Glenarm holding festival weeks in July. - Eamonn
Cushendun
If you're travelling on the A2 through the moorland between Cushendun and Ballyvoy, watch out for the mysterious Loughareema - the vanishing lake. Sometimes it's full of water, occasionally it overflows on to the road, and at other times, it's completely empty. There's a logical geological explanation for the lough's sudden changes, but it's still an extraordinary phenomenon. - Deborah
Portrush
Although Portrush has almost everything that the holiday-maker could need or want, a short drive west along the coast to Portstewart will be hugely rewarding. It has a beautiful two-mile Blue Flag beach with fantastic sand dunes that encourage wild flowers and butterflies. - Dinah
County Antrim County Page | County Antrim Attractions| More Tips
Recommended Books:
A Picture of Britain |
Ashes Fever |
Coast |
Churchill |
Brit Quote: |
|
On this day: |