Belfast Road Trips
What to see and do from Belfast. Looking for something to do beyond Belfast? There is so much to see and do outside of the City limits and beyond the magnificent Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland but most visitors don’t get time to see beyond Belfast. If you have been here before and are hoping to see more of the North past the Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-rede the areas outside of Belfast are well worth taking a look at.
Pay a visit to Derry/Londonderry to see the murals and Ireland’s oldest walled city
From castles to nature walks, neolithic sites and St. Patrick’s Trail, the Sperrin Mountains, and fishing in the loughs. Hiking up the Gobbins, caving in Fermanagh standing in awe of Neolithic monuments. Northern Ireland has everything from mystical haunted castles to the jaw-dropping scenery.
If you are travelling with kids and looking for things to do in Northern Ireland you will find plenty of things to keep them occupied from castle ruins to heritage sites like the Giant’s Causeway and outdoor activities from farm visits to adventure centres.
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What to see and do from Belfast
Your first trip to Ireland? Learn all you need to know here
Castles to see in Northern Ireland
There are probably hundreds of castle ruins many of which are haunted in Northern Ireland and if you rent a car and drive around the countryside you are bound to stumble across ones that you never heard of. Stop and take in the sights and sounds of these ruined castles and hauntingly beautiful sites you won’t be sorry.
Belfast Castle
Belfast Castle is located in the Cave Hill area of north Belfast. It was built in the 1860s and is one of the city’s most famous landmarks. The location of the castle is named for the five caves located on the side of the cliffs. Cave Hill’s most famous feature is called Napoleon’s Nose, and it is believed to have been the inspiration for Jonathan Swift’s novel, Gulliver’s Travels.
Entrance to the grounds and the castle are free and you can wander around at your leisure – take a camera the views are stunning. The park is home to the Cave Hill Adventurous Playground, archaeological sites, Visitor Information Area in Belfast Castle, eco-trails, walking and orienteering routes.
Enniskillen Castle
Enniskillen situated beside the River Erne in County Fermanagh was built almost 600 years ago by the ruling Gaelic Maguires. Guarding one of the few passes into Ulster, it has been strategically important throughout its history. Today, the historic site houses two museums, Fermanagh County Museum and The Enniskillen Museum.
While you are visiting Fermanagh don’t bypass Boa Island and go see its mysterious Janus head statues.
Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, set in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Belfast Lough. Besieged in turn by the Scots, Irish, English and French, the castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best-preserved medieval structures in Ireland. You can wander the grounds and climb the tower and it’s an interesting castle to visit.
Kirkistown Castle
It is believed that Kirkistown Castle was built by Roland Savage of Ballygalget in or around 1622 and it is debated whether or not there was a castle on the site, which he built his domain on.
The castle consists of a three-storey tower house within the remains of a bawn (fortified enclosed space) and a later barn. Because the castle was built upon a marsh in the late 19th century buttresses and two iron braces were added to prevent the walls from shifting. The tower was extensively remodelled in a neo-gothic style in the early 19th century.
Dunluce Castle
Dunluce clings to the side of a cliff on the Causeway Coastal Route of Northern Ireland. The castle kitchens collapsed from the rest of the building taking the entire kitchen and servants with it. Their screams are said to be heard on foggy stormy days. This is a really evocative site as it rises up when you go round the Causeway bend in the road.
Fancy staying in a castle in Northern Ireland for a night or two? Well, anything is possible and here are some of the loveliest castles to stay in when you visit Northern Ireland.
Belle Isle Castle
Originally called Ballymacmanus, Belle Isle Castle in County Fermanagh was once home to the old MacManus and Maguire families, and later the residence of generations of nobles. It has been inhabited since the 12th century. Now, extensively refurbished, you can stay in the castle, coach house and a variety of Belle Isle cottages.
The stunning Belle Isle is nestled in the grounds of Belle Isle Estate. Rooms are tastefully decorated in a style that bears all the characteristics of a majestic stately home. The Estate has been designated a Special Area of Conservation and the award-winning castle is a stunning 17th-century country house offering lake views.
Crom Castle
Crom is a romantic nineteenth-century Victorian castle set in a 1900-acre estate and one of Northern Ireland’s most important conservation areas. The stunning castle estate, overlooking the waters of Lough Erne, is surrounded by acres of parkland and its West Wing is available for guests on a self-catering basis.
Narrow Water Castle
A privately-owned home, Narrow Water Castle is a luxurious self-catering property located in Warrenpoint, Co. Down. Dating back to the fifteenth century, the Elizabethan revival style castle was built next to the existing home, Mount Hall (1680) and completed in 1836. The self-catering apartment is in the original hub of the castle (Mount Hall).
Ballygally Castle
Only 26 miles from Belfast and set on the spectacular Causeway Coast Ballygally Castle faces the sandy beaches of Ballygally Bay. The hotel has a host of amenities and a Door of Tours carved door from the Dark Hedges along with its resident ghost.
The Ghost of Ballygally has been around for the best part of 400 years. Locals believe that the ghost is that of Lady Isabella Shaw, wife of Lord James Shaw.
Book a stay at Ballygally Castle
Read more about Ireland’s Haunted Castles here
Helen’s Tower
Helen’s Tower is hidden on the edge of a winding lane on a beautiful hillside in County Down. It is a 3 storey, stone tower with accommodation for two guests for that perfect romantic getaway.
Killyleagh Castle
Built in the 12th century by Norman knight, John de Courcy, Killyleagh Castle is the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland today. It is located outside Belfast in the County Down area. It is a unique self-catering hotel where the two towers have been converted in self-contained apartments for short-term rentals. Guests can have the use of tennis courts and swimming pool as well as the rooftop patio. The towers can sleep up to 15 people and offer modern facilities including central heating.
Book a Killyleagh Castle stay
The Barbican Gatelodge
Along the Causeway Coastal route, this charming gate lodge sits on the end of a stone bridge over the Glenarm River. The Barbican Gatelodge comes complete with gothic windows and a stone turret staircase. For a special view, head up to the roof garden in the early evening for some spectacular views of the coastline.
This self-catering accommodation is the perfect romantic hideaway and the ideal starting point for taking a road trip to discover the drama of the Causeway Coast.
Book a stay at the Barbican Gatelodge
Folk Museums in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has a history that goes back thousands of years and archaeologists are constantly finding new wonders and updating information on our prehistoric and recent past. These two living Museums in Northern Ireland are fascinating places to wander and experience the past up close and personal.
Omagh Folk Village
The Omagh Folk Village is found on the outskirts of Omagh near the Donegal border. It contains the story of the emigrants who made the journey across the dangerous Atlantic to make a new home in America hundreds of years ago.
You can wander through the thatched cottages, log cabins and meet the characters who will demonstrate traditional crafts, tell a few Irish tales. Follow the path to the full-scale replica of the ships that brought the emigrants to America and then pass through the ship into the new world.
From post offices to shops, the village contains over 30 buildings and exhibits to explore and immerse yourself in the Irish experience.
The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum
Another brilliant folk museum is located on the Eastern side of N. Ireland near Cultra around 25 minutes outside Belfast. The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum include both a folk museum where you can experience what life was like in N. Ireland over 100 years ago with costumed guides and hands-on displays. The Transport Museum has one of the most comprehensive transport collections in Europe. The collections include horse-drawn carriages, vintage cars, motorcycles, and some amazing steam trains.
Neolithic Sites in N. Ireland
Creggandevesky
Court tombs or ‘horned cairns’ are the most common Neolithic structures in the north of Ireland. The court tomb at Creggandevesky, near Carrickmore in Co Tyrone, is one of the most impressive. Probably in use around 3500 BC, the Creggandevesky court tomb was excavated from the bog in the 1980s. Cremated bones and grave goods were found in the interior chambers and 11 other court tombs have been discovered within a 10-mile radius of this site.
Legananny dolmen
There are more than 150 tombs or dolmens in Northern Ireland. The Legananny dolmen stands on the slopes of Slieve Croob in Co Down is another impressive site. Three upright stones support a large capstone, beneath which would probably have rested the skeletal remains of one or more people. Originally, a stone cairn would have covered the Neolithic tomb, but few traces of this remain.
Ballylumford & Ballykeel Dolmens
Other portal tombs in include the Ballylumford Dolmen in Islandmagee, Co Antrim and the Ballykeel dolmen in Co Armagh. Elsewhere in Co Down, there are dolmens at Annadorn, Goward and Kilfeaghan.
Giant’s Ring
On the southern outskirts of Belfast, the Giant’s Ring is vast circular enclosure known as a ‘henge monument’. This structure encloses the remains of a passage tomb. Probably dating from around 2000BC the site’s social or ritual function is unclear, but excavations and aerial photography show that the Giant’s Ring is part of a complex landscape of tombs, standing stones and other circular enclosures in the area.
Beaghmore stone circles
Near Cookstown in Co Tyrone, the Beaghmore stone circles were excavated from a blanket bog in 1965. This site is a complicated arrangement of Cairns, rows of stones and stone circles. These remains seem to be orientated towards the midsummer sunrise.
Navan Fort
The most important and impressive of Ireland’s ancient monuments, Navan Fort is identified with Eamhain Mhacha, the capital of ancient Ireland. A few miles west of the historic city of Armagh. It is believed that the ditch and bank surrounding the fort was built in the late Neolithic period whilst the larger mound within the henge has been used as a protective “fort” in later years.
Road trips from Belfast
Lisburn Linen Museum
The Lisburn Linen Museum’s goal is to collect and interpret artefacts from the Irish Linen industry. The exhibit from ‘Flax to Fabric: the Story of Irish Linen’. Trace the history of linen production in Ulster, from the earliest times to the present. You can see samples of the earliest linen production in N. Ireland and trace the history of this fascinating fabric.
There are free guided tours and demonstrations of the weaving of linen that are incredibly informative.
Game of Thrones
There are over 31 filming sites for Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland and most can be visited either with an organized tour or it’s pretty easy to self-drive and see the particular sites you want to see. Game of Thrones has changed Northern Ireland irrevocably for the good, bringing in hundreds of thousands of tourists a year you can get pretty bogged down at these sites in season. I would highly recommend if you want to do a Game of Thrones Tour in N. Ireland try April to May and Sept to October once school is back in many of the tourist sites calm down a lot.
Glens of Antrim
The Glens of Antrim in Northern Ireland are some of the most beautiful places in the world and the drives will mesmerize you from start to finish. There are 9 Glens of Antrim, each and every one with its own story and its own type of beauty.
Driving the Glens of Antrim – touring Northern Ireland
Mourne Mountains
The Mourne Mountains are the highest and most dramatic mountain range in Northern Ireland. Crossed and re-crossed by a phenomenal network of paths and tracks and voted the Best Walking Destination in Northern Ireland by WalkNI. The Mournes are divided into 2 very distinctive areas – the Eastern or ‘High’ Mournes and the Western or ‘Low’ Mournes, each with its own distinctive hike or walking routes.
The Mourne Wall
The Wall which is now a famous landmark running through the mountains was finished in 1922 after 18 years of work. The stonewall which stands up to feet high and 3 feet wide was originally built to keep cattle and sheep out of the water in the Silent Valley reservoir.
During the 18th and 19th Centuries illegal cargo ships, stocked full of tobacco, wine, spirits, leather, silk and spices docked at the foot of the Mournes in Newcastle. Smugglers then loaded up donkeys and ponies and trekked through the Mourne Mountains to Hilltown. Trade was so popular and the route so widely used that the hooves of the heavily laden ponies soon created a track. The track stills exist and today is known as the “Brandy Pad” route.
Slieve Gullion
The Slieve Gullion Scenic Drive runs through 10 acres of woodland and mountain heath, which turns the mountains a luminous purple in the summer months. There is a marked trail, which leads from the scenic drive up to the ancient passage tombs on the south summit of Slieve Gullion and a Bronze Age tomb on the north side of the Mountain. Plenty of places to rest grab a great coffee or tea and just enjoy the beauty of these mountains.
Slieve Gullion Forest Park offers the opportunity to experience tranquil woodland trails, stunning views across the Ring of Gullion, Mourne Mountains, Cooley Peninsula and Armagh Drumlins and top-class facilities for walkers and families.
Play in the Adventure Play Park; explore the Giant’s Lair in the wonderful Hawthorn Hill Forest Nature Reserve and woodland trails, or take a turn in the ornamental walled garden, where you will find picnic benches, an outdoor performance stage, an alfresco coffee bar (open in the summer) and a wildlife pond with covered seating areas.
The Gobbins
The Gobbins experience is not for the faint-hearted or unfit and if you are mobility challenged you won’t be able to do this walk. Proper gear is required and safety helmets are required and supplied. You must be wearing good solid hiking boots and rugged outdoor clothing it can get very cold with the winds and the waves out there. If you can’t climb 50 stairs, you can’t do the Gobbins. It’s a narrow path hugging the cliff face that takes you around the Gobbins. Staring into the North Channel, taking in hidden tunnels and caves that were once home to smugglers and pirates the Gobbins is immensely challenging.
The Irish railway engineer, Berkley Dean Wise as an incredible tourist attraction, masterminded the Gobbins Path. The path originally opened in 1902 and was later abandoned in the 1960s until an investment of over £7.5 million brought about its rebirth in 2015.
Sperrin Mountains
The Sperrin Mountains are Northern Ireland’s most extensive mountain range and can be found along the border of counties Tyrone and Derry The Sperrins span over 40 miles, and they are described in National Geographic’s. List of the world’s 101 scenic drives. The Sperrins are wild, untouched and raw and there are four scenic driving routes through, around and over the Mountains to be enjoyed.
The Barnes Gap
The Gap is situated on the Central Sperrins Driving Route; the glaciers driving through the mountains caused this deep groove in the ridge of hills lying to the south of Glenelly Valley.
Pigeon Top
Is located on the South Sperrins Route to the west of Omagh, this popular viewpoint and picnic area offer some fantastic views of surrounding hills such as Bessy Bell, and further afield.
Slieve Gallion
Is just off the East Sperrins Route near Moneymore, this mountain lies at the eastern edge of the Sperrins with a road leading much of the way to the top. Take in the stunning views over Lough Neagh, the Sperrins, Antrim Hills and the Mourne Mountains.
Lough Erne
Lough Navar Forest
Marble Arch Caves
Carnmore Viewpoint
Slieve Beagh Hills
Maghery Country Park
Cranfield Church and Holy Well
Stairway to Heaven
Dominated by the twin lakes of Upper and Lower Lough Erne, Fermanagh has some of the most scenic forest drives including the Lough Navar Forest across the lower expanse of Lough Erne. Touching five of Northern Ireland’s six counties, Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles and boasts a variety of attractions and some great, unspoilt scenery.
In Fermanagh, you can explore the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark which was home to the rebels that captured Arya in Game of Thrones. Check out Carnmore Viewpoint, which is, located in the Slieve Beagh hills with outstanding views of the countryside’s drumlins and small loughs.
While in Fermanagh check out the Maghery Country Park, which you will find, tucked away in the S.W. corner of the lough, Located in the village of Maghery, on the shores of Lough Neagh. The park covers thirty acres, includes five kilometres of woodland walks and picnic areas, and is used for bird watching, fishing, and walking.
The park is located on both the River Blackwater and Lough Neagh Canoe Trails with jetties on site.
The park has some great views of the shoreline and out to Coney Island. Visit Cranfield Church and Holy Well, which is located in a secluded location on the northern shore of Lough Neagh, the medieval church, occupies a picturesque setting overlooking the shore.
Another absolute must-see in Fermanagh is the Stairway to Heaven one of the best walking spots in N. Ireland. The boardwalk raises up to the sky when standing at the beginning of it and so it got its name.
Londonderry/Derry
Visiting Derry or Londonderry Ireland (Northern) as its “officially” known is something I do quite often. Londonderry is often overlooked and extremely underrated for folks visiting Ireland and yet it is one of my favourite cities in the country.
Derry is the second biggest city in Northern Ireland borders Donegal and has close ties to the County. Its name Derry comes from the Irish word Daire which means oak forest. Derry is the only remaining intact walled city in Ireland. The old City which is walled is on the west bank of the Foyle River and is spanned by two bridges for vehicles and the pedestrian bridge named the Peace Bridge.
There is a lot to see and do in Londonderry Ireland, the city holds a lot of history from the ancient oak forests that were plundered by the British to the Troubles and Civil Rights marches.
Boa Island
Boa Island is located in Lower Lough Erne which is in Fermanagh. Lough Erne is located in the north-west corner of Ireland. The Lough is made up of 2 large lakes with Enniskillen sitting on an island which separates the upper and a lower lough that runs into the sea in Donegal through Ballyshannon. Within the lake are several beautiful and mysterious islands including Boa Island, Lusty Beg, Lusty More, Devenish and White Island.
The Janus Stone on Boa Island predates Christianity and it is believed that it goes far back in time to pagan Ireland. The stone itself is over 2000 years old and is one of the most famous carved stones in Ireland today.
Mussenden Temple
Mussenden Temple is located in the beautiful surroundings of Downhill Demesne near Castlerock in County Londonderry. It perches dramatically on a 120 ft cliff top, high above the Atlantic Ocean on the north-western coast of Northern Ireland, offering spectacular views westwards over Downhill Strand towards Magilligan Point and County Donegal and to the east Castlerock beach towards Portstewart, Portrush and Fair Head.
Rathlin Island
An island whose ancient history stretches back in time hundreds of years Rathlin Island has played its part in the legends of Robert the Bruce of Scotland, the massacre of Sorley Boy’s family and Viking raids. Its waters harbour shipwrecks from World War II and WWI and over 40 wrecks were lost to the cold deeps of the Sea of Moyle. Rathlin Island is where you need to go to see puffins.
This is just a start on the beauty of Northern Ireland outside of Belfast. Many folks never get to see beyond the city and the Causeway Coast but there is much to see beyond Belfast and this is just a tiny portion. Rent a car, start driving and get yourself lost only then will you see the real beauty of Ireland.
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