Discover Northern Ireland, One of the Most Beautiful Destinations in UK: 10 Best Places to Visit in Northern Ireland

Till the 1970s and the 80s, Belfast was one of the most war-affected cities in the world and was scarred badly. It was so badly affected that many knew this as a place for The Troubles. However, soon, it came into The Good Friday Agreement and ended the fights.

Later, it started to rebuild itself while trying to keep the Victorian taste and style. Right now, it has completely transformed itself by adding a rich Victorian culture through the magnificent Victorian buildings, its beautiful festivals, its excellent nightlife, and the reinvigorated restaurants. All these things plus its murals, the Black Book Tour, showing the extremely delicate architecture of the city, and the peace wall are living evidence of the renaissance of this beautiful place. Right now, the city is not even recognisable considering what it has been through as compared to most of the other cities in the whole world.

One of the biggest but surely the most famous ship of all times, the Titanic began its beautiful journey in Belfast. In case you are a fan of the original ship or the movie, you should definitely visit the Titanic Quarter, the biggest and one of the most famous Titanic museums of all times. Hundreds of thousands of people visit this place and it not only tells you about the history of the liner but also about the maritime history as well.

Furthermore, it has been divided into nine major galleries, the slipway where the Titan began its journey, as well as a few assorted exhibitions. The museum is constructed in the heart of Belfast and here, you can not only explore the beginning but also the middle and the sinking of the famous ship. You can, moreover, view its makers, Harland and Wolff from the magnificent place.

The Derry City Walls were built by the Irish Society during the years 1613 – 1618 for protecting the English and Scottish planters that came from Ulster and were working on the Plantation of Ulster project established by James I. This was a consequence of the past settlement which was destroyed by Cahir O'Doherty during his rebellion. Because the walls were built by the Irish Society from the City of London, Derry was then renamed to become Londonderry.

The walls are known to have easily withstood three major military sieges and are one of the best-preserved within the whole of Europe. They stretch nearly a mile long and within them are extremely enjoyable sights which include the exquisite Tower Museum, the beautiful Verbal Arts Centre, and the Apprentice Boy's Hall, among many others. St. Columb's Cathedral is also located here and is famous for being the first ever cathedral to be purposely built as a Protestant Cathedral.

You probably know about the famous TV show - Game of Thrones. However, what you may not know is that most parts of the series were shot in Northern Ireland. Meaning, the Dark Hedges, the Castle of Winterfell, the Dothraki Grasslands, the House of Greyjoy, and the Riverrun are all part of this country and now, because of the popularity of the series, there are many tours of the places available for you to enjoy as well.

Furthermore, the TV series has made these tourist destinations so popular and lovable that sites like the Kingsroad and Lordsport Harbour attract hundreds of thousands of people, or even more, every year, from not only Europe but from all around the world. If you are a fan of the historic and magnificent show, you must surely visit the epic landscapes of Northern Ireland and take a tour of these locations as well. The Antrim Plateau, the Murlough Bay, the Cushendun Caves, the Larrybane, the Ballintoy Harbour, the Inch Abbey, the Castle Ward, and the Downhill Strand are also located in Northern Ireland and are definitely worth to be visited at least once.

You will remember this from The Game Of Thrones. This humongous 1000-acre Castle Ward, where the shooting took place, is a magnificent example of ancient architecture. Here, you can find various private tours that will allow you to experience some of the events that took place in the series. Like, you can revisit the arrival of Robert King or the finding of the dire wolves. For the right price, you can also meet the wolves as well as the characters from the TV series, depending on which tour you take.

While in Belfast, you can take a tour of the magnificent HMS Caroline as well. This is a C-class cruiser of the Royal Navy and was employed during World War I and the Second World War as well. It is among the oldest ships of the Royal Navy and is currently present in Northern Ireland. It is the last British light cruiser from World War I and the last one from the Battle of Jutland. While touring this cruiser, you will experience what the sailors of all those battles and major wars felt during their time and will be amazed by its magnificence.

If you are a hiking fan, the Hare's Gap, with its inspiring and rugged scenery, is probably the best destination for you. It is about 3.2 km each way and it used to be a famous gateway for smugglers of coffee, spices, and other foods, that were smuggled from the Brady Pad to the Trassey River valley. In case you want an even more leisurely trip, you can try the circular ridge trail situated on the top of Divis and the Black Mountain. It takes about 3 hours to climb this and provides great views of the Isle of Man as well as Scotland.

The Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a unique and one of the most famous places in Northern Ireland. It was formed millions of years ago due to some kind of a volcanic eruption and contains over 40,000 interlocking columns. In Ireland and Scotland, the story of their formation goes like this; the giants of the place were challenged to fight and for them to fight, this causeway was created over the ocean. The same types of columns can also be found at the Fingal's Cave in Scotland and they are a part of the very same lava.

The first and one of the most magnificent stops on the scenic coast of Giant's Causeway is the Causeway Coast And Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Here, you will find dunes, beaches, and waves at Portrush and Portstewart. If you want, you can take a dip in either or take a drive to Bushmills, the picturesque village, where you will find the Dunluce Castle. It was ruined by thrashing waves when only one person survived. If you go towards the east, you will be able to find the Ulster's must-sees and the village of Ballintoy. You can fish here and get amazing salmon for your dinner as well.

If you are going on the Causeway Coastal Route, you will be visiting the Ballintoy Harbour on the way. It is 8 km from Ballycastle and is a long, but narrow, and natural stop in the coast with imposing basalt and chalk formations as well. Because of the crashing and dark sea, the harbour is extremely moody and appeared as the Isle of Pyke, an Iron Island in the famous historic TV series, Game of Thrones. The shooting of Theon was completed here in 2011 and when you stop here, you can either stop at a fine cafe here or move onto the whitewashed church in the village about 1.6 km away.

The amazing Ulster Museum will tell you the history of Northern Ireland in an extremely fun way, through its various artefacts like the Corrard Torc, Dale Chihuly glass sculptures, Nobel Peace Prize Medal, the Seymchan Meteorite slice, etc. Built in 1929, the museum also features dinosaur skeletons, and an Egyptian mummy as well. You can also just stop here for its wonderful cafe and the gift shop. The best thing is its free entry. It has various collections about ancient history, The Troubles, and natural sciences. Furthermore, it rotates its art as well as its artefacts so that the people come here again and again and do not get bored.

If you are going there for scenic hikes, you should definitely give Slieve Binnian a try as this is an extremely interesting and beautiful hiking destination. Just like the Hare's Gap, it is a part of the Mourne Mountains and is 747 m high. It undoubtedly has the best views than any other mountain top in the whole of Northern Ireland, making it one of the best places to be visited here. With an intermediate-level hike, if you include the breaks, the Slieve Binnian takes nearly 7 hours to get to the top and back. It is known as Wee Binnian locally and is even more beautiful during the summertime.

The stairway to heaven, or the Cuilcagh Legnabrocky Trail, takes you through the toughest and most desolate terrains but the breathtaking views like the ones from the peak of Cuilcagh Mountains will be worth it. Created in the year 2015, the 7.4 km long trail has a difficulty level of moderate to hard and is a huge boardwalk with zigzags through the boglands. It also contains some steep terrains and can sometimes be an exhilarating task to complete. The staircase ends at the top of the mountain and, with a height of 2,185 feet, the peak is the highest in the country. It is also among the first UNESCO-recognised European parks and provides an astonishing view of Leitrim and Donegal.

Constructed in the year 2011, the Peace Bridge connects Ebrington Square with other parts of the city. Being the newest bridge in the city, the 235 meter-long bridge was made by AECOM and shows both sides of the river and also the passing trains. It was made available for the public by EU Commissioner for Regional Policy and was meant to make the relationship between Waterside and Cityside better by making the two sides more accessible for each other. It is supported by two pillars and was named so as it was constructed to make peace between the two sides. Furthermore, it used funds of over 14 million pounds from the Department of Environment, the Department for Social Development, the community, and the local government.

This is the first and one of the most important tips to keep in mind if you want to have an enjoyable vacation in Northern Ireland. It is so, because, there are a lot of places to visit and if you want to be in charge of your own schedule, you need a car.

You may have planned where you will go and how you will go there for your whole trip but these plans will change. This may happen because the place you want to visit is too crowded, or because you get sick and get too late, or even because you found a better place. And when this happens, you will need a rental car or you will not know what to do.

And do not be afraid to change your plans, your change may become the best thing of your whole trip. Furthermore, this way you can visit all these places when you want, at your own pace, and you won't have to follow the schedule of the tourist buses. You can also go to the attractions when they are the least crowded like early in the morning.

However, you should get a little car as a lot of the country roads are narrow. Also, remember to drive on the left side of the road and make a pass on the right, similar to the system followed in India.

For those of you who have enough interest to go to Ireland and the ones who have done their research will probably already know this. For the ones who have not done the research, Northern Ireland uses a different currency than the southern one. Meaning, that the southern part uses euros as their currency while the places in Northern Ireland will only use only the pound sterling as it is a part of the United Kingdom. So, if you are travelling across the border, you will need to remember this or you may get into trouble. However, this should not be much of a problem because almost all the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and the chip and pin terminals on both the countries accept almost all international bank cards so you can easily get the money from here. Sometimes, however, you may not be able to find a working ATM which accepts your international bank card so you are suggested to keep some money in cash with you at all times.

Even though Northern Ireland is surely not the cheapest country in the world to tour, it is not the most expensive one as well. And, it is conceivable to plan a budget for your travel to Northern Ireland and stay on it as well.

If you really want to save some cash, you can stay in hostel dormitory rooms which will cost you no more than about US$ 10-20 (about ₹ 750.00 - ₹ 1,500.00) a night. However, you can also find a fine hotel for about somewhere between 70-100 pounds (about ₹ 6,500.00 - ₹ 9,500.00) per night. If you look hard, you may be able to find a cheaper hotel as well.

Be that as it may, the food in the shops in Northern Ireland is extremely cheap and you will not have to spend much on that. Considering that you cook yourself, you may be able to eat high-quality food with whatever you want to make for about only 100 pounds (about ₹ 9,500.00) for 2-3 people. If you want to save even more on food, the fish n meal chips only cost about 6-10 pounds (about ₹ 570.00 - ₹ 950.00) there. The food is so cheap because Ireland produces a lot of it which is not only cheap but is of excellent quality as well. However, if you go to fine-dining restaurants, this same food will cost way more.