Visit Derry: A day at the Giant's Causeway -

Although during our trip to Derry we were keen to see that the city itself could offer, we also knew there was no way we could visit Northern Ireland without seeing the Giant’s Causeway. Luckily for us Derry is the perfect base for exploring both the Causeway coast and the Giant’s Causeway itself and getting there was not only really straight-forward, but it was a whole experience in itself.

From Derry you can literally walk along the Foyle Embankment and across the Craigavon Bridge to the train station where you can take a TransLink train to Coleraine. Travel writer and explorer Michael Palin once described the train ride between Derry and Coleraine as “one of the most beautiful rail journeys in the world” and the further we got into our journey the more we understood why.

Throughout a forty minute journey the train follows the River Foyle out of the city and heads into the lush green countryside before arriving at the golden sands of Benone Strand. The railway track literally runs right the way along the sand so you can enjoy views right the way across the beach and out to sea. To the other side of the train you’ll see huge cliffs, beautiful countryside and the impressive Binevenagh Mountain.

It’s a beautiful train ride and a low cost way to take in the views even for those who aren’t interested in visiting the Causeway. For us, we couldn’t wait to follow in the footsteps of Giant Finn, a story the children listened to with wide eyes and incredulous expressions as we travelled closer to Coleraine. When we arrived at Coleraine we simply switched to the Translink Causeway Rambler bus which depart every half hour and drop you directly opposite the entrance of the Giant’s Causeway Visitors Centre.

Now owned by the National Trust, the Giant’s Causeway is home to a large Visitors Centre with lots of fun, interactive information points, a large gift shop for all of your souvenirs, a cafe with delicious hot and cold snack and drinks, as well as toilet and changing facilities. A special mention to the staff in the Visitors Centre who were just the most welcoming, friendly people and instantly helped the children to really get the most out of the centre.

Here at the Causeway you can join a free guided tour at regular intervals throughout the day or you can explore at your own leisure. Headsets are available for all visitors where you can listen to pre-recorded myths and scientific facts to guide you through or as an earpiece to hear the guide speak more clearly should you be amongst a large group. We chose to take part in a guided tour with it being our first visit.

Starting at the Visitors Centre the tour takes you down a steep hill along the coastline which has the most beautiful views to enjoy. For those who wish, there is a bus which runs from the top to the bottom which is £1 per person or free to National Trust members. We loved the approach to the Causeway and spotting the various landmarks such as the “camel” in the sea which the children were delighted to see.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Giant’s Causeway, commonly known as the 8th Wonder of the World to those in Ireland, it is a famous jagged promontory of around 40,000 columns of hexagonal volcanic basalt which was created 60 million years ago by a basaltic lava flow. There are many scientific explanations for the Causeway but none quite as interesting as alternative explanation and the story of Giant Finn.

Legend has it that the Irish giant Finn McCool was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Finn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two could meet but when he arrived he realised that his foe was much bigger than he was! Finn’s wife, Sadhbh, disguises Finn as a baby so that when Benandonner arrives and sees the size of the “baby”, he realises that if a mere baby is that big, the father must be far larger than Benandonner himself! He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Finn would be unable to chase him down.

Legends aside, the Causeway is such a fun place to explore and very much reflective of the term “natures playground”. The children loved clambering right to the top of the columns to look out across the sea, playing hide and seek at the lower level rocks and leaping across from one large stone to the next.

Although the Giant’s Causeway is a popular visitors attraction drawing over 422,000 visitors last year alone, it didn’t feel at all crowded and we were able to relax and take our time exploring at our own pace. If you wished you could spend the entire day here but at this time of the year when the sea air was still quite bitter, we spent a couple of hours down at the Causeway before making the walk back to the Visitors Centre.

I love how easy it was to visit the Giant’s Causeway from Derry plus, with the beauty of the train ride and the stop in Coleraine, it made for a really lovely day out with the kids. With prices starting at just £20.25 for a family ticket, or free for National Trust members like ourselves, I think it’s amazing value for money considering you have the Visitors Centre, the guided tour or headset and the experience of the Giant’s Causeway itself.