What to do near Bushmills?

lodgepole

I've done every county in the Republic but i've seen so little of the North that myself and the girlfriend have decided to start visiting places. Unoriginally we're going to start with the Giant's Causeway and are staying in Bushmills.

The question I have is........ Besides the causeway, the distillery, the rope bridge, Dunluce Castle and Rathlin Island, what is there about the place? We're staying for two nights and will have a car. Or is that plenty for the time that we have?

Johnny_the_fox

i think thats all you can see in two days- there isnt much more to see.

In Portstewart - you can walk from the portstewart promenade to the beech along the cliff face, then walk back and get yourself a morelli's (portstewart famous) ice cream.

pow wow

Whiterocks if the weather's nice, maybe do the Causeway Costal Route from Bushmills to Belfast or Derry. Did it myself last week, lovely weather and Cushendall was pretty as a picture.

Fiann

When you are looking at the Giant's Causeway remember Fionn mac Cumhaill(Finn McCool) built it as a stepping-stones to Scotland, so as not to get his feet wet; he also once scooped up part of Ireland to fling it at a rival, but it missed and landed in the Irish Sea — the clump became the Isle of Man and the pebble became Rockall, the void became Lough Neagh. Fingal's Cave in Scotland is also named after him, and shares the feature of hexagonal basalt columns with the nearby Giant's Causeway in Ireland.:D

junior_apollo

I've often taken the trip up for the weekend - lots to do and see.. some great scenery...

Id suggest starting over near Port Stewart and doing the coast in a clockwise manner.. running past the following places...

The White Rocks
Dunluce Castle
Giants Causeway
Carrick-a-rede bridge
Murlough Bay
Tor Head

The down past Cushendun and Cushendall and then down around to Belfast area.

There are a lot of places in between to see and do though...

You should take a look here -> Antrim Locations

And theres a good quick-reference map also -> Map

Hope you enjoy it - I know ill be back up there for a bit this year!...

lodgepole

Cheers, i'll take all of this on board. We're planning a full days drive back to Dublin on the Sunday so i'll drive the coast road to Belfast on the way home.

Is the distillery worth it? I've been to places like that before and i'm mainly interested in seeing it being made and since it'll be a weekend there'll be nothing going on. I'll be content to jump into the gift shop and walk away with a tasty bottle. Or put it onto the rainy day fallback list.

junior_apollo

aidanpower wrote: »

Cheers, i'll take all of this on board. We're planning a full days drive back to Dublin on the Sunday so i'll drive the coast road to Belfast on the way home.

Is the distillery worth it? I've been to places like that before and i'm mainly interested in seeing it being made and since it'll be a weekend there'll be nothing going on. I'll be content to jump into the gift shop and walk away with a tasty bottle. Or put it onto the rainy day fallback list.

Heya, It doesnt take very long and i believe there are set times for the tours all the info is available here on this pdf -> Bushmills

I think its worth doing while your there and as i said its not a massively long or boring tour. I like the whiskey myself and was lucky enough to do a tasting at the end of the tour (im not sure if they run those anymore)... prices at weekend are cheaper for tours as production isnt running. But if you want to see it all happen go mid-week.. for more cost obviously.

You may aswell fit as much stuff as you can in while your there as the trip down around the coast is where you can take your time and pick and choose what to see.. as the scenery is amazing. I would definitely recommend Murlough Bay if the weather is ok.. and your car better have good brakes as the road is very very inclined down to the bay (and back up obviously) but its an adventure and really beautiful spot.

Johnnyjump

I visited Bushmills having come from Giants Causeway so you can't really do one without the other.

Danny-B

Fiann wrote: »

When you are looking at the Giant's Causeway remember Fionn mac Cumhaill(Finn McCool) built it as a stepping-stones to Scotland, so as not to get his feet wet; he also once scooped up part of Ireland to fling it at a rival, but it missed and landed in the Irish Sea — the clump became the Isle of Man and the pebble became Rockall, the void became Lough Neagh. Fingal's Cave in Scotland is also named after him, and shares the feature of hexagonal basalt columns with the nearby Giant's Causeway in Ireland.:D

Hmm, I had always thought Ailsa Craig was the chunk of land that was thrown!

lodgepole

I got the weather... Over two days we did the coastal route from Portstewart as far as Larne, stopping at every brown tourist sign we spotted. We saw the causeway itslef on Friday evening, under a beautiful sun, and were amongst maybe 15 other people there. Given the traffic jam approaching it the next day I was pleased we decided to take a chance and see it late Friday after we arrived. Dunluce Castle was fine, but we went to another one further west which was at the bottom of a steep climb down the side of the cliff, and which was incredible.

And the Bushmills tour was good too, only six quid and that included a drink at the end. It wasn't in operation as it was the easter weekend but we got to burn the ear off our tourguide and there was only six of us as we were there for the very first tour of the day. I came away with a bottle of the twelve year old only available at the distillery.

A very worthwhile weekend and a cracking drive on Sunday, we managed about 100km of coastline on the way back to Belfast. We'd have been snookered had the weather not been as good as it was though, which is to be taken into account for anybody considering a similar trip.

junior_apollo

aidanpower wrote: »

I got the weather... Over two days we did the coastal route from Portstewart as far as Larne, stopping at every brown tourist sign we spotted. We saw the causeway itslef on Friday evening, under a beautiful sun, and were amongst maybe 15 other people there. Given the traffic jam approaching it the next day I was pleased we decided to take a chance and see it late Friday after we arrived. Dunluce Castle was fine, but we went to another one further west which was at the bottom of a steep climb down the side of the cliff, and which was incredible.

And the Bushmills tour was good too, only six quid and that included a drink at the end. It wasn't in operation as it was the easter weekend but we got to burn the ear off our tourguide and there was only six of us as we were there for the very first tour of the day. I came away with a bottle of the twelve year old only available at the distillery.

A very worthwhile weekend and a cracking drive on Sunday, we managed about 100km of coastline on the way back to Belfast. We'd have been snookered had the weather not been as good as it was though, which is to be taken into account for anybody considering a similar trip.

Heya Aidan,

Thanks for the update on your trip and really glad you had a great time... The scenery around the north east coast on the run back down is spectacular and I hope ye have plenty of pics and memories from the trip.

-JB