By / 23rd June, 2014 / Uncategorized / Off

When the holiday season rolls around, one of the most fascinating and beautiful places to visit is the Antrim coast. This area has just about everything a tourist could want from castles to the oldest whiskey distillery in the world.

Plan Your Trip

If you are planning a holiday along the Antrim coast, then you need to do some planning to be able to get all the best sights in. One place you should definitely check out is the town of Portrush. It has restaurants, pubs, amusements nightclubs and beaches.

Plus, it is on the train route that goes all along the Antrim coast. This little sea town has many students when school is in session, and a lot of families come here on the weekends to go to the beach.

Some of the sights you won’t want to miss include:

Dunluce Castle

Dunluce Castle is mostly ruins now, as it is precariously standing on the edge of the rocks. The castle is said to have fallen apart in 1639 into the sea, taking the servants with it during a particularly stormy night. Admission to the castle includes a view of these ruins. Dunluce Castle is believed to be the inspiration for Cair Paravel in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series.

Old Bushmills Distillery

Bushmills Distillery is said to be the oldest whiskey distillery in the world, as it has been made there since the 13th century. You can tour the facility and see how they make this potent brew of Irish whiskey and get to try it for yourself at the end of the tour. It is best to go there during the week so you can actually see the plant in action.

Giant’s Causeway

When you stay at our Causeway coast accommodation you can visit the four mile long Giant’s Causeway which is a World Heritage Site, famous for its strange basalt columns. Its shore is full of thousands of hexagonal pillars jutting up at different heights. Geologists think it was created more than 60 million years ago by a volcanic eruption. However, legend says it was built by a giant Ulster warrior called Finn MacCool. There are lots of Giant’s Causeway bus tours available but this one is our favourite.

Layde Church

Ruins of Layde Church are in Cushendall on the Antrim coast. It is important for being one of the oldest Christian churches in the area that may date back to the Iron Age and that held Protestant services until the 1800s.

Kinbane Castle

Kinbane Castle ruins still sit on a little stone promontory named Kinbane Head. It is about three miles from Ballycastle on the Northern Antrim coastal road.

St. Gobbans

St. Gobbans, which is in Dunseverick, is known as Ireland’s smallest church and is only three meters by 1.4 meters in size. It sits right by the ocean. The church is now privately owned. It is dedicated to St. Gobbans, a renowned individual who was the area’s best known architect in the 6th and 7th centuries.

Carrick A Rede Rope Bridge

This is a very well-known tourist attraction. This rope bridge at one time connected the mainland to Carrick Island, it was replaced by a better and safer bridge with a wooden platform to protect people using it to cross. It was first built as a way for fishermen to check their nets. It’s open to tourists from February to November.

So, if you want to have your holiday along the North Coast, be sure to see the above sights and enjoy the rich history of the area.

If you are visiting the North Coast then be sure to check out our camping barn which is one of the top campsites in Northern Ireland.