The number one reason to visit Ireland and Northern Ireland is for the stunning natural wonders that you find around such as the Cliffs of Moher and the Giant’s Causeway, which both draw millions of tourists every year to visit this small island. The coastline is probably the most beautiful I saw so far around the world, It’s simply stunning!
The amazing scenery and unspoiled areas are still the main attractions of the island, especially the Causeway Coastal Route and the Wild Atlantic Way.
If you visit Ireland for the first time, you will land and visit Dublin, but don’t make the mistake to spend too much time in Dublin before leaving to see the rest of this beautiful country, Dublin it’s a very nice city but really expensive, in particular the hotels. I highly suggest to stay in Dublin maximum for 2 days, or 3 depending on what you want to see and do. Dublin is also perfect for a European city break, we spent 2 days in Dublin in May 2016, just 45 min flight from London, it’s like taking a train ride!
You can’t miss to have a pint at the famous “The Temple Bar”, or visit the Guinness Storehouse Factory (one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Ireland), or stop at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Dublin Castle, and the Christ Church Cathedral.For those looking for the true Irish way of life, in the countryside you will find picture-perfect villages everywhere you go around the island – Ennistymon, Dingle, Kinsale, and Adare are the most charming villages.
Our second trip in this island was in May 2019, we landed in Belfast for a 3 days trip in the capital of the Northern Ireland and the stunning scenic drive of the Causeway Coastal Route, one of the best coastal road trips on the island. We were based in Belfast, the first day in the morning we walked around the city with few stops at the Titanic Museum, the Belfast City Hall and had a snack/lunch in the St George’s Market. In the afternoon we booked a Belfast Political & Mural Tour, in my opinion one of the best ways to see Belfast’s famous wall art, where the driver will give you a history lesson, which reflects on both the city’s traditions and tell you the story of the troubles that has divided their communities for over 45 years, along the way there will be plenty of opportunities for taking photos of the murals.

The second and third days we drove North on the Causeway Coastal Route, you can drive from West to East or vice versa, with few amazing stops such as the Downhill Demesne-Mussenden Temple, the ancient ruins of Dunluce Castle, the famous Giant’s Causeway and the final stop at the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.
The beautiful Mussenden Temple was built in 1785 as a replica of the Temple of Vesta in Italy, the view from the Temple is fantastic, especially if you arrive around sunset time.
The Dunluce Castle has a beautiful cliff-side location with stunning views of the ocean, great ruins on the edge of the cliffs, it’s really worth a visit. The next stop was one of the most beautiful of our trip, the Giant’s Causeway, it’s an epic sight looking the Atlantic Ocean, with 40,000 or so of these hexagonal-shaped stepping stones, it’s the result of an ancient volcanic eruption almost 60 million years ago, what a fascinating place.

The last stop of our trip was the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, this is another one of the “can’t miss” activities in Northern Ireland. It’s a rope bridge that links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede. Carrick-a-Rede was the rocky island where fishermen would traditionally come to cast their nets to catch the migrating salmons coming from the cold Atlantic waters, in order to reach the island fishermen built a slender rope bridge. Once you walk across the 30-meter high rope bridge, you can walk around the island and take pictures of the beautiful views. During high season, you may have a bit of a wait to get on the bridge to cross over.