Northern Ireland: Walking to Giant’s Causeway – A Lot of Rocks Ahead
Now I was approaching the place that gives the entire coastline its name. The Causeway Coast Way eventually leads to Northern Ireland’s most famous natural attraction: Giant’s Causeway. For generations, it has been one of the country’s biggest tourist draws, long before Titanic Belfast arrived to compete for visitors.
I still had several hours of walking ahead of me.
When I turned around and looked back along the coast, the distance I had covered seemed almost unreal.
The landscape felt enormous.
Moments like this remind me why I enjoy long-distance walking so much.
There is a sense of freedom that is difficult to describe until you experience it yourself.
Of course, the weather can make life interesting.
But as we like to say in Norway: there is no bad weather, only bad clothing.
The trail continued to wind along the cliff tops, and the scenery somehow became even more dramatic.
At one particularly high viewpoint stands a bench known as Hamilton’s Seat, named after the geologist and clergyman who played an important role in understanding how Giant’s Causeway was formed.
From here, you can already glimpse the famous stones stretching into the sea.
This turned into a day involving a lot of rocks.
An awful lot of rocks.
I am certainly no geologist, but there comes a point when you simply have to stop and admire what nature has created here.
By late afternoon I began reaching the more popular section of the coast.
For the first time, I started encountering large numbers of other hikers.
When I reached the viewpoint overlooking Giant’s Causeway, I could see plenty of people below.
At the visitor centre and car park, it was positively busy.
But I had a plan.
Because access to the stones themselves is free and the site never closes, I first checked into my accommodation about fifteen minutes away.
Later that evening, I had dinner at the hotel nearby.
While I was eating, a light rain shower passed through.
At around 8:30 pm, I walked down to the Causeway.
There were fewer people there than I could count on two hands.
Everyone knows the local legend explaining how Giant’s Causeway was built.
I will leave that story for another time.
Standing there, I was more interested in the simple fact that this place actually exists.
The basalt columns look almost impossible.
Each stone seems perfectly fitted to the ones around it.
They rise and fall in height, yet somehow form broad, natural platforms that look as though they were designed by an engineer rather than created by nature.
The colours fascinated me as well.
Large areas appeared in subtle shades of grey, while other sections gradually shifted towards warmer browns.
The more I looked, the more details I noticed.
Viewed from below, the upper ridge of stones even resembles the beginning of a road climbing towards the cliffs.
As if someone had started building a pathway and then simply stopped.
Best of all, I had the place almost entirely to myself.
The only sounds were the gentle waves washing across the rocks below.
Perfect timing.
The next morning I was supposed to continue my journey.
Instead, I returned.
The evening before had been grey and overcast.
Now there was sunshine.
And because I was travelling at my own pace, there was nobody to tell me otherwise.
This time I continued further towards the area known as the Amphitheatre.
Along the way stand the enormous basalt columns known as the Organ Pipes.
They look exactly as though someone had stacked giant stone cylinders against the cliffs.
It was still early.
Still quiet.
Still beautiful.
But eventually it was time to leave all the rocks behind and continue along the coast.
