Ireland Road Trip

This book highlights a 15 day road trip around Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland starting and finishing in Belfast and totalling around 2,000 km. Having never been to Ireland in all the time I lived in the UK it was time for a visit so this trip was planned to circumnavigate the Emerald Isle stopping at key locations to explore the cities, towns, national parks and wilderness areas.


After 2 days in the city of Belfast seeing some key sights such as the Titanic Belfast exhibition we drove south to Dublin for 2 days there taking in sights in the city and the surrounding coastal area. From Dublin we drove south to Cork making a detour to visit the Rock of Cashel and the small town of Tipperary. 


From Cork we did a fabulous clifftop walk along the coast at Ballycotton and stopped in the beautiful town of Kinsale. Taking the smaller roads along the coast we drove through the Ring of Kerry on to Killarney where we spent 3 nights to explore this stunning part of Ireland. A day trip out to the Dingle Peninsula included a bracing walk out to Dunmore Head. Our second day in Killarney was spent doing a really wonderful walk known as the Muckross Lake Loop in the Killarney National Park. 


At Doolin on the west coast we made a boat trip to see the incredible Cliffs of Moher and had a really entertaining  night in a local pub with great food and listening to some traditional Irish music as we drank our Guinness. 


Further north we stayed at Laghy just outside Donegal and explored the western peninsula the next day walking to the top of the Slieve League Cliffs from the Pilgrim’s Path Trail and then driving out to the remote abandoned village of Port.


Our last place we stayed was the lovely coastal town of Portrush and from there we visited the Old Bushmills Distillery, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, The Dark Hedges and of course the iconic Giant’s Causeway. 


On our final day driving back to Belfast we made a brief stop at Ballymoney to visit the Dunlop Memorial Park before catching our flight.


Ireland was indeed a beautiful place full of lush, green countryside, great walks, homely food, lively pubs, friendly people and of course the best Guinness you can drink.