Northern Ireland holiday

[OnlyOnAFriday]

I’ve never been to NI and would like a solo week holiday there to see the sights. I’d probably get a car ferry to Belfast. And book a holiday cottage .

any ideas of a good place for a base would be welcomed and ideas of places to go, thinking scenery, castles, etc.

id like to go to Portreath, saw a photo of a beautiful beach there, Belfast and the titanic museum, giant’s causeway, Rostrevor. Appreciate that’s right from the north to the border. Looking at a map would Antrim be a good base? I don’t mind driving an hour or so every day to get somewhere and then an hour or so back. Think I’d rather drive than have two bases in a week.

Drive up the Causeway Coast to Dunluce Castle, Giants Causeway, Ballycastle and Portrush. Portrush will have more shops, bars and restaurants than Ballycastle but Ballycastle is a nicer town.

Antrim is quite central as a base. You’ll definitely be missing out if you don’t drive the causeway coast alongside the sights you mention wanting to see, scenery is stunning.

Thank you. Causeway coast drive sounds good.

Depends on where you choose to stay in Antrim but it wouldn’t be known for being a particularly nice location until you get up north close to Ballycastle etc.

if you want to experience south of Belfast too, I would probably base myself in Hillsborough. It’s a lovely quaint village and 20min from Belfast itself.

You could head north one day from there and do the Causeway Coast route up to Portrush/Portstewart and then another day you could go south to Rostrevor area. Newcastle is worth a visit it’s a lovely seaside town so it’s worth a look too as is the surrounding areas with some National trust locations. You can also take a ferry from Strangford to Portaferry and explore the coast that way.

though it’s ROI, I would totally recommend driving down to Carlingford, taking the ferry to Greencastle and coming up to Newcastle that way - it’s gorgeous.