Northern Ireland: Kinbane Castle and the Causeway Coast Way

It was time to leave Ballintoy after two nights there. Before long, I would finally join the actual Causeway Coast Way and begin the stretch of hiking I had been looking forward to since arriving in Northern Ireland.

Before that, however, I made a small detour to Kinbane Castle.

The castle occupies an extraordinary location. Perhaps I overuse the word spectacular from time to time, but here there was no doubt about it.

To reach the ruins, you leave the cliff top and descend a long series of steep steps towards the sea. Only a few walls remain today, but the people who once lived here must have felt wonderfully isolated.

Then again, that was probably the whole point.

As I looked out across the water, Rathlin Island was still visible on the horizon, just as it had been two days earlier. In the sunlight, I could even make out the famous upside-down lighthouse from a surprising distance.

This was not a particularly busy attraction. Perhaps that was because tour buses cannot reach the parking area, or perhaps the steep staircase puts some people off.

Either way, I enjoyed having the place almost to myself.

One thing I noticed throughout this area was the amount of cattle farming.

I passed field after field filled with cows. The cows themselves could not have cared less about passing hikers. The young bulls, however, were another matter entirely. Several times they came running towards the fence, apparently determined to find out who was walking through their territory.

After a short stretch along the road, I finally joined the Causeway Coast Way.

For the next three days, much of my walking would follow coastal paths and long sandy beaches. Everything seemed impossibly green. The landscape was lush and fertile, and from the cliff tops you could see astonishing distances.

That is one of the joys of hiking in this kind of terrain.

You climb a hill, round a headland, glance back over your shoulder, and can still see where you started hours earlier.

As I approached Ballintoy, I could see the village church standing alone on a broad, open plain. It became an unexpected landmark. I spotted it long before I arrived, and the following day, after continuing north, I found myself turning around to look at it again and again.

After spending several days walking mainly on roads, returning to proper hiking trails felt wonderful.

There were stretches where I could walk for hours without meeting another person.

Beyond Ballintoy, the trail descended towards White Park Bay.

This was one of the most beautiful sections of the entire journey.

The rocks by the beach were filled with strange rock formations, but Elephant Rock was undoubtedly the star attraction. Beyond it stretched a beach several kilometres long.

I could hardly believe how lucky I had been with the weather.

Several days in a row, and Northern Ireland had decided to behave itself.

Along the way I also passed Larrybane Quarry, a location that many visitors will recognise from Game of Thrones.

In the distance, I could spot the famous Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.

I had read about it before arriving. Crossing it might be fun, but paying around twenty pounds to walk across a rope bridge was not especially high on my priority list.

Seeing it from afar was good enough for me.

The trail eventually climbed back onto the cliffs.

From time to time, I could spot a solitary house clinging to the shoreline below. Looking at it, it almost seemed as though the sea was the only practical route to the front door.

Two days surrounded by this scenery and this silence were an absolute pleasure.

And I made sure to enjoy every moment of it.

The following day I would arrive at the Giant’s Causeway.

There, I knew one thing for certain.

I would not be alone.