By day two I was ready to see more of Ireland than what Dublin had to offer so I hopped on the Paddywagon and headed for the North.
What's a Paddywagon you might ask? Well it's a big, green, branded tour bus that takes you all over Ireland. You see, I wasn't quite ready to go completely solo on my solo trip to Ireland, so I decided a couple of bus tours would be a great way to see the country. I picked Paddywagon because of their great prices, reviews, and the fact that they offered multi-day tours. For one price, your accommodations and transportation are all taken care of, AND you have a personal tour guide to give you some history and fun facts along your journey. If you are ever in Ireland, I would highly recommend Paddywagon Tours!
Day 1: Monasterboice Ruins, Belfast, Titanic Museum
So on Thursday morning, a group of about nine people boarded the bus headed for Northern Ireland. It was a typical Irish morning, with gray skies and rain in the forecast, as we rolled out of Dublin with our red-headed tour guide (I know...so stereotypical).
The Paddywagon Tour was nice because on top of the main stops scheduled for your tour the bus also had photo stops scheduled as well. It was a chance to stretch your legs, go to the bathroom, and snap a few photos at some unique points in Ireland.
Our first stop was in County Louth at Monasterboice, a set of ruins from a Christian monastic settlement estimated to have been founded in the 5th century. Very little is known about the monastery that existed there, except that it fell into ruin during the 11th century when the Cistercian Mellifont Abbey was established down river. The Monasterboice site holds the remains of two churches and an observatory tower, but it is most famous for its three tall crosses.
The largest cross stands at over 18 feet tall and features biblical carvings from both the Old and New Testaments. It is considered to be the finest high cross in all of Ireland. When I was visiting, the cross was under construction for repairs, but could be climbed to see the detail of the top of the cross. The area is still used as a modern burial site today.
As we traveled up the highway we crossed the border into Northern Ireland, and thus into the United Kingdom. I happened to see a sign reading "Welcome to Northern Ireland," but many of the other passengers missed this completely. That is because the Republic of Ireland has had an open border with Northern Ireland since the island split into two nations. Meaning there are no patrol stops and no passport checks... it is as simple as traveling between Maine and New Hampshire. There is no knowing what will happen to the border once Brexit becomes official, but the Irish are hoping that an open border can continue.
Our first official stop of the tour was in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. At first glance I was blown away by the intricate architecture of the buildings, especially of Belfast City Hall. The City Hall building, which features a 173-foot copper dome at its center and a tower in each of its corners, separates the commercial and business areas of the city center.
Directly outside City Hall sat a row of black taxis, looking for fares. However these are not your ordinary taxis, instead many offer political tours to give the history of Belfast during "the Troubles" of Northern Ireland. Our Paddywagon guide had arranged a Black Taxi Tour for myself and a few others who were interested in the guided tour of the city. Each Black Taxi Tour is operated by a local who lived through the Troubles, and each tour is unique, since each driver has their own personal experiences to share.
Although I had done some research on the split between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, I did not fully understand what the "Troubles" were. Here is the quick history lesson I got from our driver, Laurence:
Also called the Northern Ireland Conflict, the Troubles was a violent conflict that took place from about 1968 to 1998 primarily between the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland. Most of the Protestants were unionists, people who believed the North should join with the United Kingdom, while the Catholics were mostly Republican Nationalists, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain a part of the Republic of Ireland. The time was marked by bombings, street fighting, gun massacres, violence, and other terror attacks. Over 3,500 people were killed throughout the Troubles and more than 300,000 people were injured.
Belfast was the epicenter of these attacks and throughout the Troubles, gates and walls went up around the city to try and separate the two fighting communities. These walls, known as peace walls, range in length from yards to miles, and at one point are 25 feet high. The walls have been lengthened and heightened throughout the years to help try to keep the peace. Similarly to the Berlin Wall, the peace walls soon became vandalized with propaganda murals from both sides. The walls still stand as a reminder of the past, although emotions still run high between the two communities. Even today, certain gates abide by curfews and lock their gates in the evenings.
Our driver had served as a soldier trying to protect the city center from members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) attempting to attack and bomb Belfast. He was clearly wounded from the violence, loss, and grief he had experienced during that time. Laurence drove us all around the city showing us the gates, the peace wall, memorials, and hundreds of murals that depict the political divide of the country. He even let our group leave our own personal message of peace on the peace wall, saying this is always a highlight of his tours.
If you are visiting Belfast, I highly recommend taking a Black Taxi Tour. Each experience will be unique since each driver has his own stories to tell. A one hour tour costs about £15 (you are in the UK remember?), but more specific and longer tours are also available. Our Black Taxi Tour took a little over one hour, leaving us with enough time to grab lunch before heading back onto the bus for our next stop of the trip: Belfast's Titanic Museum.
There are multiple museums around the globe dedicated to the RMS Titanic, each highlighting something different. But the ship itself was built in Belfast, Ireland, and thus this museum offers a unique telling of how the Titanic was born. The Titanic Experience allows visitors to explore the shipyard, walk the decks, practice morse code, and experience the emotions of the crew during the ship's final moments.
What I loved about the Titanic Museum was that it was extremely interactive for people of all ages. A short electronic ride through the shipyard puts you in the shoes of the workers who built the Titanic, screw by screw. You can step into a room that gives you a virtual tour of each level of the ship, allowing you to fully understand how each life lived in first, second, and third class, respectively. And you can even stand on the upper deck, listening to the band, while recreating that famous "I'm the king of the world" scene.
The building itself is located only 100 meters form where the ship was built and launched. It stands 126 feet high, the same size as the hull of the Titanic, and is plastered with sheet metal panels similar to the ones used on the Titanic. Across the street from the museum is the SS Nomadic, the last White Star cruise liner left, which was built alongside the Titanic in 1911. It looks eerily similar to the fated ship, since they were both designed by Thomas Andrews. There is a small admission cost to board the Nomadic, but you get a discounted price with your museum ticket.
Our group drove back to Belfast, where the two-day tourers, myself and one other girl, were dropped off at our hostels. The others aboard our bus were just on a day tour and would head back to Dublin. After dropping my things at my hostel (where I had the room to myself!), I decided to take a quick stroll through the Botanical Gardens at Queens University as I headed to meet up with my fellow overnighter for dinner
It was recommended to try the Crown Liqour Saloon, an old-timey pub which transports you back to the 1820's as soon as you step in the door . We both ordered a local gin and tonic and a seafood platter to fulfill our hunger, and we ended the night exploring and shopping in the City Center. If in town don't forget to check out Belfast's own leaning clock tower!
Day 2 : Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Giant's Causeway, Dark Hedges
Our second day led us out of the town of Belfast and towards the coast of Northern Ireland. My friend and I boarded a new, and much larger, Paddywagon bus that would eventually be filled with more one-day tourists from Belfast.
Our tour guide gave us some fun facts about the small towns we were driving through on our way to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, our first stop of the day. We drove through the unionist town of Ballymena, where actor Liam Neeson is from… although he claims to be an Irishman, not British. It is also the town where many of the big, red, double-decker buses are built. So don’t be confused if you see a bright red London bus driving through the streets of Northern Ireland!
About one hour after we had departed Belfast, we pulled up in Balintoy where the nerves on the bus were heightened as we all saw what awaited us: the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Originally built in 1755, the bridge connects the mainland to a tiny island that was home to a single fisherman’s cottage. The bridge, which has been updated throughout the years to accommodate visitors, stretches 66 feet in length and 98 feet above the ocean and rocks below.
Even if you aren’t interested in crossing over to the small island, the views all around you are worth the price of admission. The way the coastline drastically meets the sea is something like I have never seen before, and the water was so blue as it crashed upon the shore.
Although I have a slight fear of heights, the walk across the bridge felt easy and safe. Maybe I was just distracted by the landscape? I can’t be sure. But the view from that small island was so stunning, I was glad I had crossed over. It was incredible to look back and see the coast of the mainland jutting into the ocean. I watched as the green moss on the mountains merged with the dark blue waves of the sea, seeming to create the minty green pool of water that settled on the shore. I thought this view was unique to this one location, but I would see this beautiful contrast of colors on the coast throughout the length of my trip.
I could have sat on that small island, soaking in the sun and the view, all day long. But alas, we had much more to see on our last day in Northern Ireland, and our driver kept a tight ship. As the bus drove out of the parking lot, I couldn’t help but notice the back row was completely empty.
“We waited as long as we could guys,” our driver told us over the microphone, “but we just can’t wait any longer if we want to keep our schedule. The other tour bus will gather them and hopefully we will meet up with them at the next stop.”
I could not imagine being left behind on a tour like this. You’re in a foreign country, with no means of communication or transportation, and all your personal belongings just drove away on a big green bus. Let’s just say I made sure I was ten minutes early for every bus curfew for the rest of my trip.
After a quick lunch in the Bushmills village, and a photo stop at Dunluce Castle, our next stop of the day was the Giant’s Causeway. The Causeway is a section of the Irish coast that is made up of almost 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. There are two stories of how the Giant’s Causeway was created: the scientific way and the Irish way.
According to Irish legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by the giant Finn MacCool. Finn was challenged to a fight by a Scottish giant, Benandonner ,all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Finn accepted the challenge and the two giants began building this causeway so they could meet. However as the giants get closer to one another, each one starts to question if they will be able to to beat the opposing giant in this fight. Eventually the two giants abandon the idea of the fight, and destroy the causeway.
In reality, the columns are the result of a volcanic eruption that left the pillar-like structures as the lava cooled. No matter which story you believe, it is true that these columns exist on both the Irish and Scottish coasts.
The Giant's Causeway is something that you have to see to believe. The ocean is constantly wearing at the columns and so some sections are starting to disintegrate into the sea, while other sections rise up almost as high as the hillsides. Who knows how much of the causeway will eventually be left as erosion continues to set in everyday.
Admission to the Causeway is free, but there is a small fee to enter the visitor center. I highly recommend getting an audio guide to hear both the scientific and Irish history of the causeway. There is more to Finn MacCool’s story than just the creation, and destruction, of the columns. Exlpore the Giant’s Gate, Giant’s Boot, Shepard’s Steps, and the Amphitheater, where Finn keeps his organ, just to name a few.
The causeway itself is about a mile walk from the visitor center. Don’t worry it’s all downhill, and a bus will take you back to the visitor center for just £1. If you take the audio tour, the walk to the causeway goes by very quickly, as there are many stops along the way to get a snippet of the causeway’s history.
You could easily spend an entire day here as there are walking trails along the coast and up the mountains. I hope I can go back one day and experience the magic of the causeway again. According to legend, the sounds of Finn playing his organ in the Amphitheater can only be heard once a year: at 6 AM on Christmas Day. So maybe I’ll try for that.
Our final stop of the day was to the Dark Hedges, which Game of Thrones fans might recognize as the King’s Road. Much of the Game of Thrones series was shot on location in Northern Ireland, while the rest was shot on a soundstage in Belfast. The show was originally supposed to be filmed in Scotland, but due to an availability of studio space at Titanic Studios, Northern Ireland was chosen instead.
And the country is booming with tourists because of it. You can take Game of Thrones specific tours, where you can see many of the shooting locations used throughout the seasons. The Dark Hedges are one of the most recognizable places from the show, but the Giant’s Causeway Coastal Road, Ballintoy Beach, Carnlough Harbor, and Larrybane Beach are just a few other locations where fans can recreate memorable Game of Thrones scenes.
Despite the fact that I have yet to watch Game of Thrones (I know, I’m getting to it), my time in Northern Ireland was one of the highlights of my entire trip. If you are visiting Ireland, please take the two hour drive to see what the North has to offer. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
To be continued...
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