My first impressions of Northern Ireland

Pam Coutts from Janet Redler Travel & Tourism has recently been on her first trip to discover the delights of Northern Ireland and here she shares her first impressions.

Pam Coutts (right) discovers the delights of Northern Ireland

Visiting places and exploring all that a country, city or village has to offer is one of the exciting parts of travel and my first trip to Northern Ireland will hopefully not be my last.

I think what struck me most is the great passion of the Irish, passion for the country and passion for their work, everyone I met was so focused on promoting the country!

Rural Ireland is so lush, so green and so very pretty, with lots of beautiful bays, coves and stunning scenery.

Hillsborough Castle and Gardens © Tourism Northern Ireland

For many people, one of the first things they think about on a trip to Northern Ireland is the Giant’s Causeway, and many tourists who contact Janet Redler Travel & Tourism have this firmly on their planned itinerary. But on this trip our agenda was focused on the following key areas:

* Game of Thrones
* The Gobbins Cliff Path
* Hillsborough Castle
* Titanic Belfast
* HMS Caroline

Game of Thrones, to those that do not know, is a cult TV programme ‘filumed’ as they say in these parts, in Northern Ireland.

The Gobbins Cliff Path is a short section of coastal footpath that local people dug through the rocks. It’s very pretty and has several little foot bridges from one rock to the next. Originally they were rope bridges, but we learnt that over the years they have been replaced by metal ones. In parts, there are sections hacked through the rocks like little tunnels with the sea lapping underneath your feet – a very, very lovely sight. The walk is about a three hour round trip, something that walking groups might really be interested in.

The Gobbins Cliff Path © Tourism Northern Ireland

We were also taken to view it from the sea, which was a lovely trip on a boat and we saw dolphins in the bay – well, I didn’t, because I didn’t have my glasses with me – but I did see a splash!

Hillsborough Castle is a royal residence stuffed with lots of photographs of the current Royal Family and lots of beautiful furniture and paintings.

Then it was on to the maritime heritage of Northern Ireland. Our visit to Titanic Belfast was awesome and very worth a visit and HMS Caroline was something else.

HMS Caroline © Tourism Northern Ireland

Caroline is a WW1 warship which has been very sympathetically restored to its original state with a giant video screen re-enacting a scene from the war, which felt very real. I went down to the engine room and found myself alone down there and was so spooked by it I had to come back up on the deck quite quickly! Obviously, I hadn’t experience the First World War myself, but I remember my Gran spoke of the horrors of WWI - she was born in 1896 and was very scarred by it, Caroline brought to life all her horrors – very touching.

We stayed at The Galgorm Resort & Spa, which is in a stunning setting with a tumbling river outside with nine miles of salmon fishing rights. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and the spa is probably one of the best I’ve ever been in and the food was second to none. A very splendid base to explore Northern Ireland from, I think.

If you want to experience the beauty of Northern Ireland, get in touch and we can design a bespoke package for you.