Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland for me was a cheap short break with minimal packing and planning needed. An hours flight from Stansted and a short drive from Derry airport we stayed at a lovely B&B closely located to good food and all the best sites to visit.

Having been to Dublin many times I was expecting something similar in experience for Northern Ireland but both destinations are pleasantly very different.

Northern Ireland is serene, extremely laid back and relaxing. Probably one of the best coastlines to visit in the world come rain or shine. If you like road trips along the coast than this is perfect. You can easily hire a car from the airport and drive along the Causeway coastal route and end up at Belfast airport to return the car and return home. The coastal route is roughly just over an hours drive in total with many stops along the way. There are several B&Bs along the way, two to three days here is more than enough. We stayed in Lismar B&B in Bushmills.


Giants Causeway and the Coastal route
Unlike London it is very hard to get lost on this route everything is clearly sign posted on the roads and there are dedicated signage for this route.
Bushmills Distillery
One of the oldest Distilleries in the world, you will get to learn how Bushmills whiskey is distilled and get a free taster at the end in the inhouse bar and tea room.
Tickets are £7 each for adults and the group guide will last for about 35minutes

Food
You can't really go wrong with the food in most restaurants, best places to try is the Bushmills inn which is pricey but the service is on par and the food is fabulous not to mention the toasty smell of log fires and the rustic decor leave you feeling all cosy and lovely. Another great place to eat is Tartine situated along the same main road. The Hip Chip which is a highly recommended fish and chip shop do fresh cod fried in batter, one supper is enough to share amongst two.

Shopping
I popped in to a few shopping centres en route to Bushmills and very basic to say the least, shops are minimal, you are better off going to arts and craft shops if you want to buy any gifts, other than that don't expect to do any shopping while you are out there.

Overall cost for two:
£100 Flights
£70 Car hire
£120 Accommodation
£100 Food

Overall a relatively inexpensive trip which doesn’t need much planning and can be booked on short notice. I saw it more of a staycation as it wasn’t a typical long hot weather getaway, but nonetheless was still a getaway that I thoroughly enjoyed.