Fall truly, madly, deeply in love with Northern Ireland

Susan pictured on Rathlin Island

Not only have I jumped into Northern Ireland but  I have fallen truly, madly deeply in love with it following a recent trip up there on a sublime day out to Rathlin Island.

Up there differentiates the North from the South ie the Republic of Ireland (26 counties) which is Irish and the wee North (six counties) which is technically British, with the population still divided over which country it should really belong to. I know it’s confusing, but thankfully the ‘troubles’ are over and Northern Ireland is doing its best to rebuild its reputation as a safe and wonderful destination to visit.

Belfast is the capital /main city (it’s impossible to be politically correct) and is enjoying a great revival with the opening of the Titanic Quarter this centenary year, which has focused the worlds media on a formally forgotten corner of Ireland, that is well worth exploring.

Less than 2 hours from Dublin, Belfast is the gateway to the glens of Antrim and the famous Giants Causeway Dunluce Castle which is on most tourists itineraries. But there is so much more to see where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea, Carlingford and its Lough. 

Belfast itself and that fantastic coastal drive through Cushendall, Cushendun, Carnlough, Torr Head and all the way around to Portrush (a famous golf resort) via Ballycastle and the Carrick-a-rede ropebridge, no doubt you have all seen that photo? I hope to explore all the above and more this summer so you can look forward to lots of Northern Hidden Gems been added to my website over the next couple of months and as always if you have any suggestions of your own you would like to include please let me know via email, in the meantime...

By Susan Byron author of http://www.irelands-hidden-gems.com/index.html

All you need to know about Ireland - reasons why Ireland is a top spot for vacations

About Ireland? Well it is a small island off the West coast of Europe, about 32,000 square miles with a population of about 4.5 million people. So there’s a clue, being so sparsely populated it never gets particularly crowded, so if you are looking for a quiet, relaxing holiday you have come to the right place! Weather wise we don’t get extremes, with an average temperature of about 5 degrees Celsius in the winter and 15 in the summer. Neither do we have any nasty bugs, mosquitoes or snakes, we have St Patrick to thank for that.

Our prevailing winds blow in from the West over the Atlantic ocean which means we get a fair amount of rain (what we call soft days in Ireland) but zero atmospheric pollution either.

Which has given rise to Ireland's landscapes often being referred to as 40 shades of green....

We are very proud of our little green island, which is struggling a little bit with the Euro (our currency) along with our European partners and indeed the rest of the world. But we have a long history (predating the Egyptians) of resilience and optimism. We prefer to see our glass of Guinness as half full rather than half empty.

We are easy going, amenable and relatively laid back and while standards of food and accommodation are very much improved we are still not really any good on timekeeping (we are on GMT by the way) and our public transport system outside of the main cities is fairly minimal to say the least. But hiring a car is simple and cheap with good motorways linking the main cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast which is Northern Ireland, which always confuses people.

Ireland is made up of 32 counties, 26 of which are in the Republic of Ireland (Irish) and 6 in Northern Ireland (British) it’s a long story (800 years and more) don’t ask just feel free to travel the length and breadth of Ireland as a whole and enjoy it all.

For more information visit www.irelands-hidden-gems.com