About an hour out of Derry we arrived at Dunluce Castle. The Causeway Coastal Route is well sing-posted and takes you to all the best spots. Dunluce Castle was our favourite Castle so far. It felt close to our existence as you really got that feeling that people lived here, not in a scary way! It was incredibly well preserved which was a surprise as it is on a cliffs edge.
We stumbled across the cute village of Bushmills. I’m so glad we stopped for a coffee as we managed to arrive for the salmon and whiskey festival. Surprise surprise it was raining but this didn’t stop us enjoying the markets. Their Mediterranean selection here in Ireland is so divine (in particular the dolmas) along with all the delicious goat cheese. We couldn’t resist so bought some treats along with salami and salmon for dinner tonight.
The Giants Causeway could be added to the wonders of the world. The Irish sure know how to put on a good tour and celebrate their natural landscape. Tickets were £12 each and was totally well worth it. You can choose to do a guided or audio self guided tour. I love Irish humour and the audio tour was fantastic and had me giggling all the way. It’s about a 3km loop with some steep stairs to finish the loop. It is so worth it as the landscape is breathtaking.
We learnt a lot from the audio tour. This is a heritage site and is protected well. Not only is the site well looked after but the farmers are under this protection. There have been tours around the causeway for 300 years and traditionally this was a tough job as the winter was testing. It was interesting to learn that the farmers also don’t use any fertiliser and rely solely on rotating animals to regenerate the soil and grass. This vast landscape was home to New Zealand, Australian and US soldiers during WWII and there is a memorial further inland.
The drive in the north is AMAZING the little narrow roads and quaint villages have such a charm. We stopped for our picnic lunch and as tradition we timed the activity perfectly which meant we did have to eat in the van due to the rain!
After lunch we walked through the Dark Hedges. You may recognise this from a scene on Game of Thrones!
After arriving in Belfast we went straight to our Air B&B, I know we have definitely cheated with the camping part of the caravan. However the campground was another 30minutes away from town and with limited time here we want to be close to the city.
Once settled we missioned it to find an open supermarket which is so hard to find! Thank goodness we found one as we were ready to cook another Mediterranean feast inspired by the markets.
Top Tip:
Not many places are open on a Sunday, even supermarkets close at 6:00pm.
100 Days of Travel 
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