Another day, another recap from our trip to Northern Ireland!
If you’re loving these posts, yay! If you’re over these posts, no worries, after today, there is only one more 😉 .
Just as a reminder, if you missed the first few days of our summer vacation, you can catch them below:
BELFAST, PART ONE
BELFAST, PART TWO
BELFAST, PART THREE
DERRY, PART ONE
And today is DERRY PART TWO!
So, on our arrival day in Derry, we toured the town and got acquainted with Derry and all of its awesomeness. I shared this map…
…earlier this week, and I’m sharing it again just so you can see where we went on this day.
On day two in Derry, we woke up and drove north to visit the Giant’s Causeway (the most northern coastline). This was SUCH a must see thing to do in Northern Ireland!
First up on our day though…
…a yummy breakfast at our hotel. That is a baked omelet and geez, it was delish.
After breakfast…
…we piled into the van we had rented and Andrew drove us from Derry to the northern coast of Northern Ireland. Since I’m now the fourth tallest person in the family, I let Smith sit upfront with Andrew while I sat in the back with the girls. Wrong side of the car and wrong side of the road…I’m glad it doesn’t bother Andrew because I would never drive like that.
I took approximately four billion photos and videos of our drive, but I’ll spare you and only post a few.
Spoiler alert: the drive was GORGEOUS!
The coastline of Northern Ireland is everything you would want it to be: green, rolling hills, little villages, and the beautiful ocean.
After about an hour we stopped…
…for lunch in the beautiful seaside town of Portstewart. It was chilly, and we were hungry.
I love traveling with this guy!
Those two on one side…
…these two on the other side and two teens ducking out of either side.
After a yummy pub lunch, we drove a bit more until we hit…
…the village of Bushmills where as you might already know, is the home of Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey.
Their distillery was super cute…
…and a great place to pick up some gifts to bring back to the States before heading a little bit further down the road…
…until we arrived at the visitor’s centre, parked and got out to walk…
…the Giant’s Causeway 🙂 .
I would say that my big kids especially really loved this part of the trip. It was a gorgeous walk (there are also buses that can take you if walking is not your thing/a challenge). It was absolutely spectacular and certainly my amateur photo taking won’t capture it.
See my bigs way out there? They loved it!
And waaaay out there?
We loved the Cliffs of Moher when we visited back in 2018, but we voted and said we enjoyed this even more. I don’t know if it was the timing or the weather or the lack of crowds, but where the Cliffs of Moher felt busier and more touristy, this felt more peaceful and truly just breathtaking. It was a really great day.
Okay, only one more to go! In the meantime, don’t forget, my travel agency would love to work with you too! Contact us today for more information on all of our vacation planning.
I hope you all enjoy your Fourth of July! Don’t forget…
…from cocktails to breakfast ideas and of course, desserts too, I have 30 EASY & FESTIVE JULY 4TH RECIPES for your holiday.
I am going to enjoy my holiday tomorrow and see you all back here on Friday!
Happy red, white and blue to you! xx
Pamela says
I am originally from Northern Ireland now living in the West of Ireland in Mayo.
So glad you had a wonderful trip to Northern Ireland.
Mix and Match Mama says
We LOVED it! How blessed are you to call this beautiful part of the world home.
Elspeth says
I have been loving all your posts from the trip!
Thanks for taking us along!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
Katie Compton says
Oh my… I love that Smith is wearing his Crocs to walk the Giant’s Causeway. Gotta love teenage boys!
Does Northern Ireland have more “summer like” weather a different time of the year? Just curious! I’ve been following your blog for years (since I first stumbled upon your recipe for chocolate toffee bars!) and have loved learning about places all over the world through your travels!
Mix and Match Mama says
I mean…gotta love boys. It gets a little warmer but not much warmer. Most everyone we spoke to said this was their summer as they were wearing shorts in 51 degree weather, ha! Katie, I’m always so grateful for YOU! Thank you for being a bright spot every day.
Patty Anderson says
Are bicycles allowed on the Giant’s Causeway, cause I’d sure love to ride there! Beautiful scenery. But I’m with you…no way would I be driving on the right side of the car/road. I think having Brian do so in Australia a few years back was the beginning of my gray hair! Your photos and recap are great, Shay!
Mix and Match Mama says
You know, I didn’t see anyone on bikes, so I’m not sure. I would be surprised though if there were zero biking areas all together.
Ramona Puckett says
I love your travel photos! And I also appreciate your maps so we can see your route, my sisters and I are map people! There’s nothing better than dragging out a map on the kitchen table and dreaming. Yay for another trip photos!
Lois says
Hi Shay! You’re trip looks magical, and you family is so beautiful and diverse. My husband and I are planning on taking our grandchildren to Northern Ireland next summer. Do you recommend any other places of interest along the coast? We hear there are numerous “Game of Thrones” sites to see, although I haven’t seen the show. Curious if you have any other photos from the Giant’s Causeway, specifically of the interesting hexagonal stones?
Mix and Match Mama says
Oh yes, Game of Thrones is a big deal there as well (so many tours for this!). I would say that Balleycastle would have been our next stop had we had the time. Your grandkids will have so much fun!
Lois says
Thank you!!
I’d love to see your family on the hexagonal stones! Please post
Gilly says
Jumping in here – irish lady now living in Australia. There is so much to see and do in Ireland and its relatively small so easy to see a lot. Depending on how much time you have you can go over to Donegal and down the west coast along the Wild Atlantic way. This website is a great planning tool – https://www.ireland.com/en-au/destinations/experiences/wild-atlantic-way/
You could also go down to Dublin, and then Kildare, Kilkenny, Killarney etc. Hit me up if you need specific ideas xxx
Joan says
Did you miss the basalt stepping stones, or are they coming in the next post?
Mix and Match Mama says
We did not get to see those.
Courtney says
Ireland is just so magical! The answer to this may exist somewhere in the blog, but these photos sparked a question I hadn’t thought of yet (shockingly, too. I’ve been a reader for so long – I can’t believe this hadn’t crossed my mind yet). What do you do with all the beautiful photos you take on vacation? Print? Create a photo book? Digital frame? I feel so often many of us (guilty as charged!) have so many sweet memories that just sit in our phones or digital photo storage. I’d love to know what you do!
Mix and Match Mama says
All of my photos sit right here on my blog. As much as I would love to be the “photo album” person, I am not. I just take them and post them here and I guess, that’s where they’ll live. I would love to get them into albums, but I guess I don’t want it enough to actually take the time to do it, sigh.
Gail’s. says
You didn’t go see the stones and the spectacular stone walls of The Giant’s Causeway? That was one of THE best highlights of Northern Ireland!! It is definitely a MUST see! And the legend (story) of how the stones appeared is so fun!