16 Days in Northern Ireland
 

Good Evening,

My bride and I are planning a self-drive trip to Northern Ireland in Septemeber. I am 53, she is 46 and much better looking then I am. We have spent 40 days in the Republic of Ireland in the past two years, primarily utilizing B&B's.

We will be flying to and from Dublin, where we will spend either the first or last three days. We plan on doing a loop of the area and will be including Donegal.

We enjoy small towns, museums, scenery, music, meeting folks, etc. The plan is to stay 2 or 3 nights in 4 or 5 areas and do day trips. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Also, are there any guide/tour books that are geared solely to Northern Ireland. What I have so far, other then web sites, are books geared to the entire U.K.

Thank you in advance for any assistance that may be offered to us.

Here are two of our favorite places in NW Ireland.
Near Donegal....Coxtown Manor
www.coxtownmanor.com
A wonderful manor house with a great restaurant.....lovely host!!
If you are in this area make sure you drive up to Slieve League.

Achill Island...Rosturk Woods.
www.rosturk-woods.com
Great house with a wonderful private beach!!
There are ruins of an abandoned village on Achill Island...very interesting.

I have a few photos of the area posted:
www.pbase.com/baileyzim/irelanduk

Have a wonderful trip!!

Congrats on your honeymoon in NI. Perhaps you should be looking for books that cover Ireland and Northern Ireland rather than the UK. Most guide books about Ireland have sections on NI. I have yet to see one written about just NI, but there could be some out there. A google search might turn one up.

My hidden treasure is Edenvale House: http://www.edenvalehouse.com It is absolutely fabulous. A good base for Belfast, Hillsborough, Ards Peninsula, Mount Stewart Gardens and many parts of Co. Down. Be sure to reserve the romantic room pictured on their website.

Some books that I like are DK guides, Fodors, Frommers, Reader's Digest, Portrait of Ireland and the book sold at irelandyes.com I don't care for Rick Steves. Suggest going to a bookstore and finding a book that suits your style.

topping

We leave in a week. Does anybody have any last minute suggestions.

Thank you in advance.

Be sure to visit the Glens of Antrim..sheer, tranquil beauty...drive up one and down the other..Cushendall is also a lovely little village....Belfast will surpriise the hell out of you...beautiful city now that the "troubles" are largely history (I hope and pray)....

Hello -- if you click on my name, you will find at the end of my posts a two-part Oct.'04 Ireland Trip Report. My husband and I spent three weeks on a self-drive trip and also did a loop of the island, including Donegal (but we didn't make it to Northern Ireland, except for Belleek). We stayed up to three nights in each place as well, as you plan to. It was a magical vacation!

As for travel books on Northern Ireland, I only know of the material and recommendations included in both the Fodor's Ireland book and Frommer's Ireland book.

At any rate, I hope the information in my reports (Parts I and II) will be of some use to you in your planning. Have a wonderful time and a grand vacation!

Cheers,

Sue

Oh, I'm so glad you are going to visit the north. It is lovely.

My advice is to be sure to visit the Glenariff Forest Park, and walk the Waterfall walkway. It's purely magical. We got a cab to the top, walked down and called the cab from the restaurant at the bottom.

We stayed at the Meadows B&B in Cushendall. Anne won the Best NI B&B the year before we stayed there in 2000. We arrived drenched in a gale and she still took us in!

81 Coast Road, Cushendall, BT44 0QW
Tel: +44 (0)28 2177 2020
Email: [email protected]

We stayed at a seaside B&B in Portballentrae, but there wasn't a store or restaurant in the whole town. Although the sound of the surf was lovely. An easy walk from Bushmills tho.

I really hope you spend some time in the Glens of Antrim.

Have a grand time!

Agree with Danna about Glenariff Forest Park - wonderful walks and views.

It may be too late to book, but our favorite B&B is Whitepark House ( http://www.whiteparkhouse.com ) in Ballintoy. A wonderful place, and Bob is an amazing host.

My wife and I also found the road to Torr Head to be pretty incredible. Twisting, turning narrow roads spiraling down to the coast. :)

Have a good trip!

I'm guessing that you are not still looking for rooms, but if so, we stayed in May at Crockatinny Guest House - http://www.crockatinneyguesthouse.co.uk/. We really enjoyed our stay. Nice rooms and fantastic view.

Things to do in NI and Donegal

Do the waterfall walks in the Glenariff.

Drive the Torr Rd. Take the drive off Torr Rd to Murlough Bay

Take the walk out to Carrick-a-Rede. Get there early or late to avoid waiting for an entire tour bus to cross the bridge.

Giants Causeway (obviously). Do the hike back to the top the long way. It was pouring when we were there so we opted out.

Tour Bushmills and if she is not a whiskey drinker, don't let her volunteer when they ask for women volunteers. Have your arm ready to fly out of its socket when they ask for men.

Tour Inishowen

Drive out to Fanad Head. Jump the fence and walk on the treacherous and muddy ledge to get out to the much better viewing point once you get to the lighthouse.

Go to Doe Castle

There is a company in Dunfanaghy at the hotel there that does pretty easy horse back rides (2 hours) out to horn head and across the beach. Great fun.

Take a trip out to Bloody Foreland Head.

Never been there but always wanted to go to Tory Island. They have a King that will meet you at the boat usually.

Spend a day in Glenveigh Nat'l Park on the walks from the castle. Easy walks along the lake.

Drive into the Poison Glen a bit (not far to go actually). The R251 is a more scenic road than it's southern counterpart, the R254. It's also a very good road.

Take the scenic drive through the Rosses along the coast and maybe drive onto Cruitt Island. If you like golf, The course there is a blast and rarely used. It is a rare green that you can see from the tee.

If you like seafood, have a meal at one of the two restaurants in Burtonport. Very fine.

Take the road west out of Dungloe. You'll pass a ruined tower house on the right and a little way up the road (not very far at all) there will be some stack rocks and an sea arch. You will have to keep your eyes open, it's not marked. Then you'll have to jump the fence (requires some care) and walk to the edge and perhaps scramble down the rocks to get a better view. Well worth it.

Follow the road west just outside of Ardara to the falls. Spectacular. Continue on to the caves.

Take the road over Glengesh pass towards Carrick. If it has been raining, there are streams of waterfalls coming down the face of the west facing slope.

Take the road out past Glencolmcille to the end.

Slieve League: Follow the signs to Bunglass Cliffs, not Slieve league. Open the gate and drive up the hill if you dare. One of the scariest drives in Ireland, especially in the fog. Of course, not worth it in the fog.

Take the coast roads from Carrick to Kilcar and Kilcar to Shalwy. Again, narrow but so worth it.

Drive out to St. Johns Point.

Ok, I'm exhausted and need a Guinness. I'm off to the Colorado Irish Festival. Have fun!!

Bill

Oh, no! I spoke too soon about the "troubles" being over in No.Ireland and Belfast, esecially..today's papers showed new rioting and destruction in Belfast..please stop it once more!
(My post above)
Stu