1. Giant’s Causeway
Let’s start with Northern Ireland’s big box office draw. The main part of the causeway – filled with thousands of basalt bongo drums – is smaller than you might have imagined, but then bigger isn’t always better. Plonk your bum on one of the 60-million-year-old columns and stare out at the water. The most amazing thing about the Giant’s Causeway? It isn’t even close to being the most beautiful place in Northern Ireland.
2. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
It takes guts to walk across this awe-inspiring bridge on the Antrim coast, but it’s well worth the tiptoeing.
3. Mussenden Temple
Modelled on the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli near Rome, this wonderful curved building from the late 1700s is perched on the edge of a 120-foot high cliff. If you have a head for heights, you can even get married there.
4. Dunluce Castle
People say TV soaps or rugby matches are dramatic. Poppycock. For real drama, go to the edge of the Antrim coast where Dunluce Castle, the inspiration for Cair Paravel in CS Lewis’s Narnia books, melds with the rock below.
5. Mourne Mountains
Tell me again why they went the whole way to New Zealand to film The Lord of the Rings movies?
6. Silent Valley Reservoir
Within the Mournes, near the Co Down town of Kilkeel, lies this hidden gem. Who would have thought a reservoir could be so amazing.
7. Rathlin Island
Northern Ireland’s northernmost point with a population in the dozens, you are just as likely to see dolphins as you are people. The island is shaped like a boomerang, which is fairly apt: once you go there, you’ll want to come back.
8. Binevenagh
The magnificent Binevenagh mountain in Co Derry is six miles wide and is a popular spot for hang gliding.
9. Strangford Lough
The largest inlet in Britain at 150 square kilometres, Strangford Lough in Co Down is a haven for wildlife and adventurers alike.
10. Stormont
Forget about the political turmoil inside this building for a second, as Stormont is one of Northern Ireland’s most imposing structures. Stretch your legs with a walk up the hill and back down again, but be careful: you might be in the background on the TV news later in the evening.
11. Queen’s University, Belfast
In your face, Oxbridge; QUB is as beautiful as any university in the UK. Good enough for an Irish president (Mary McAleese), a Nobel Prize winner for literature (Seamus Heaney) and the guy from the Taken movies (Liam Neeson), Queen’s is king.
12. Lough Erne
If you love golf, you’ll love Lough Erne – it’s a putter’s paradise. If you hate golf, you’ll love Lough Erne – it’s one of the most tranquil places in the country.
13. Scrabo Tower
Located outside Newtownards in Co Down, this looks like the kind of place suitable for a princess. Or a Rapunzel.
14. Whiterocks Beach
This beach in Portrush, Co Antrim is the perfect place to channel your inner Johnny Utah. Surfing’s the source, man…
15. Glens of Antrim
Stretching 80 miles, there are nine glens, or valleys, in all. You can fight over which one is the most picturesque.
16. Murlough Beach
Six kilometres of pure bliss in Co Down.
17. Lough Neagh
Northern Ireland’s – and Ireland’s – biggest lake, the 18-mile long Lough Neagh attracts birdwatchers, bicyclists and people who like soaking up great natural beauty.
18. Tollymore Forest Park
Just one of the many amazing Northern Irish locations to feature in Game of Thrones, Tollymore Forest has the claim to fame of starring in the show’s very first episode, standing in for the Haunted Forest.
19. Devenish Island
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