The Giant’s Causeway, located along the far northern coastline of Northern Ireland, is a natural wonder that cannot be missed. It falls along the coast and runs for several miles. It’s made up of thousands of basalt columns that can both be seen along the waterfront and in the cliffsides above. Some of the columns you see are like steps leading out to the water. While the others are almost like basalt trees coming out of the ground. You must explore as much of it as possible because you never know what new thing you will see around the next corner.
The Cliffs of Moher are famous sea cliffs located on the western side of Ireland running for several miles. There are several places to stop and visit along the cliffs providing dramatic vistas, even in fog like seen below.
O’Briens Tower
The area where we visited the cliffs included a visitor’s center. Once you walked out to the cliffs, you can see for miles in either direction. To the north, at the top of the highest hill along the cliffs, we could see O’Briens Tower. You can follow a path up the hill to visit the tower as well. It was actually built in 1835 to be a visitor’s viewpoint along the cliffs.
The best place to start your visit of Northern Ireland is in its capital city, Belfast. This city has a varied and very dramatic history that provides the visitor with many things to do. It’s located along the water and is considered the main port city for Northern Ireland. It also happens to be the place where the RMS Titanic was built. Nowadays, Belfast is increasingly becoming known as a movie town with many movies and television shows, like Game of Thrones, being shot here. In fact there is a movie studio located next to where the Titanic was built.
Belfast Street Art
Belfast is known for its street art throughout the city. Practically anywhere there is an empty wall, someone will paint a mural on it. This makes for a very colorful visual presence. The area I found must moving was in the Falls Road area of Belfast. This was an area known during the so-called troubles. So many of the murals, like seen in this photo below, were political in design. This just shows that Belfast may have moved on, but everyone still remembers the rough times.
Belfast Parliament Building
The Parliment Building, also known as Stormont, is located on an estate outside of Belfast. The long avenue that leads up to the building provides quite the view. It’s almost like you are coming up to Windsor Castle in England. This building houses the government of Northern Ireland.
