Hike in the Footsteps of Giants: A Week Exploring the North Irish Coast on Foot

Landing mid-morning in either Derry or Belfast, today’s goal is beating jet lag. We have the perfect adventure to start your trip and get your heart pumping.

Head to the charming village of Ballintoy. Drop your bag at the inn before taking a stroll through the picture-perfect landscape down to Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Stop at the Weighbridge Tearoom for a light lunch or perhaps cream tea while admiring the views of the ocean, cliffs, and islands. On a clear day, you may be able to make out Scotland!

Make your way down the clifftop path to find the rope bridge itself. Brave the walk across the 250-year old bridge, swinging 100 feet above the Atlantic, to the small island of Carrick-a-Rede and be well-rewarded with breathtaking views that you and only a few others have been lucky enough to experience, not to mention bragging rights! The color of the water here is a shade of turquoise I didn’t know existed. You may catch a glimpse of a basking shark, and you will certainly be treated to a show of swooping seabirds.

Head back to town after and enjoy a hearty, locally-sourced dinner—perhaps salmon, like the fishermen who built the rope bridge once would have caught—before tucking in for the evening.

Leave your big bag at the hotel today—you’ll rest your head here again tonight, and should only need a day pack.

Make your way down to the nearby town of Ballycastle, where the Causeway Coast Way technically starts. I recommend against beginning the hike here, as the route from Ballycastle to Ballintoy is mostly along a busy road without sidewalks. Using the bus or biking between the two is much more comfortable.

Consider making a detour en route to see the remains of Kinbane Castle, which are perched on a pretty headland jutting into the sea. A 10-minute bus ride from Ballintoy followed by a 15-minute walk down a bucolic lane will bring you right to them. Climb down the stairs to explore the ruins—on a misty day, the magical feel of the place is doubled, and I highly recommend bringing a camera and a friend or spouse who will entertain your ideas of having a photoshoot pretending to be witches or mythic travelers. From here, you can make out Rathlin Island, where you’re heading next. When you have had your fill of enchanted ruins, continue on to Ballycastle.

Ballycastle is home to one of my favorite roadsigns: “SLOW: Hedgehogs: Please drive carefully”, complete with a picture of an adorable hedgehog. This is one of the reasons I don’t recommend walking the Ballycastle-Ballintoy portion of the route: if hedgehogs aren’t safe on that trip, I certainly don’t stand a chance.

Grab lunch by Ballycastle Beach before hopping on an half-hour ferry trip to Rathlin Island. Rathlin is home to about 150 people, three lighthouses, and countless seabirds, and there’s plenty to explore. Scuba divers should plan a second full day here just to explore the shipwrecks surrounding the island.

On the cliffs of the west coast, visit the iconic “upside down” lighthouse before stopping at the Rathlin West Light Seabird Center and saying “hi!” to the puffins. Finally, a dinner at one of the restaurants overlooking the water near the ferry terminal before making your way back to the mainland and then on to Ballintoy for bed.

Today, you’ll be hiking my personal favorite trail in the world. Pack up and fuel up with a hearty breakfast before heading out for a ten-mile (four-hour) trek. Make your way down the road and some switchbacks to the harbor; keep a lookout now and throughout for signposts with the yellow-branch-on-blue-field emblem labeling Causeway Coast Way. The trail will lead you into a scene that could have come straight out of “Lord of the Rings”: rolling green hills and sculpted earthenworks dotted with stone walls meeting rocky tidepools that eventually give way to a pristine beach.

A highlight of this section is climbing up and through a hill: a short natural cave perfectly frames Dunseverick Harbour on the other side. Pick your way down the hill and across the grassy landscape beyond before crossing the wooden bridge over Dunseverick Falls, which tumbles into the Atlantic. Shortly after, you’ll stumble upon the ruins of Dunseverick Castle, perched on top of a rocky outcropping above the sea. Inevitably, some sheep will have breached the defenses. The picturesque scene and convenient picnic tables make this an excellent place to stop for lunch.

The portion of trail you’ll be tackling this afternoon is the highlight of today. The path winds between farms on your left—whose sheep and cows will come up to greet you—and cliffs that drop some thirty feet to the Atlantic below on your right. After about an hour of walking through scenes that make you feel like you fell into a painting, the Causeway will unfold before you: the Amphithere, the Giant’s Organ Pipes, and soon enough you can pick out individual basalt columns. Take in the view from above before having dinner at the Causeway Hotel. Before tucking in for the night, pick up the myths of Fionn Mac Cumnhaill as some bedtime reading and fall asleep dreaming of ancient giants and heroes of legend.

Staying near the Causeway itself, you’ll have the benefit of beating the coach tours to the UNESCO World Heritage site and having the place practically to yourself. Take in the sunrise over the Causeway from the clifftops before picking your way down the Shepherd’s Steps to see it up close. You could spend hours scrambling over the black hexagonal columns that lent inspiration to Irish legends.

When you’ve had your fill of myth and geology, wander up the winding road past the stone “Giant’s Granny”, and pick up the Giant’s Causeway & Bushmills Railway trail. The easy trail will take you to the heart of Bushmills proper, an endearing little town.

Have lunch at any one of the pubs—you can’t go wrong! Belly full, go for a tour and a tasting at the two-hundred-something-year-old Bushmills Distillery. Worried about sampling whiskey before having to walk back to the hotel? You have the option of taking a heritage tram back instead. Make sure to enjoy some live traditional Irish music at one of the venues in town before returning to tuck in for the night.

Pack up, have breakfast at your hotel, then take one last, long look at the Causeway before heading west along the Causeway Coast Way. There’s still plenty more unique geology to take in along the remainder of the trail. The path takes you on a gorgeous ninety-minute walk on the path along the clifftops and across Runkerry Beach. On the other end of the beach, Lissanduff Earthworks is well worth a brief detour to walk among neolithic architecture before continuing on to Portballintree.

From Portballintree’s harbor, the trail cuts through fields and follows the A2 to the remarkably preserved Dunluce Castle. Budget at least an hour to explore the castle. From the castle, you’ll be able to see chalk cliffs to the west and can make out a formation called the Wishing Arch.

Get a closer look at it from Maghera Cross viewpoint, only about a ten-minute walk from Dunluce. The path is decidedly more urban here, and you’ll be walking on pavement for a bit before climbing down to the creatively-named White Rocks Beach.

Trek across the sand to the seaside town of Portrush. Stop here for lunch with a view of the Skerries, an island formation just off the coast. Continue on an easy two-hour clifftop walk to Portstewart, the end of the Causeway Coastway. Celebrate with dinner and a wee dram before hitting the hay.

Enjoy a well-deserved, laid-back day in this charming beach town.

If you haven’t had quite enough activity, rent a kayak or a paddleboard to row along the coast, or enjoy a round of golf at one of the many seaside courses. In the afternoon, relax and take a boat ride to see the path you hiked from a new perspective, or just lay out on the beach—if the color of the water and immaculate beaches along the Coast Way didn’t convince you that North Irish beaches are among the best in the world, a day on the sand here certainly will.

Be sure to catch a session of Irish music in one of the pubs before calling it a night. Tomorrow, you’ll head back to Belfast for your flight home, and on to your next adventure.