NORTHERN IRELAND: RESOURCES GUIDE
About Northern Ireland:
Welcome to Northern Ireland, a land of stunning landscapes, rich history, and vibrant culture. From the towering cliffs of the Causeway Coast to the bustling city of Belfast, Northern Ireland has something for everyone.
Nature lovers will be awed by Northern Ireland's rugged beauty. The Causeway Coast is a must-visit destination, with its stunning cliffs, basalt columns, and sandy beaches. The Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a natural wonder that will leave you in awe. Hike through the Mourne Mountains, explore the Glens of Antrim, or take a boat ride to Rathlin Island to experience the beauty of Northern Ireland's coastline.
History buffs will enjoy exploring Northern Ireland's rich heritage. Visit the iconic Titanic Belfast museum to learn about the tragic story of the Titanic, built in Belfast's shipyards. Explore the medieval ruins of Dunluce Castle or the imposing walls of Derry/Londonderry, one of the best-preserved walled cities in Europe. The Ulster American Folk Park offers a glimpse into the lives of the Irish immigrants who settled in America.
Northern Ireland also offers a thriving arts and culture scene. Belfast is a lively city with a rich musical heritage, home to artists such as Van Morrison and Snow Patrol. The city's Cathedral Quarter is a hub for arts and culture, with its galleries, theaters, and music venues. Traditional Irish music can be heard in many pubs throughout the country, and the vibrant St. Patrick's Day celebrations are not to be missed.
Foodies will delight in Northern Ireland's culinary offerings, with its focus on fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Enjoy traditional dishes such as Ulster Fry, Irish stew, or fish and chips made with fresh seafood from the coast. The country is also famous for its whiskey, with many distilleries offering tours and tastings.
Whether you're interested in exploring Northern Ireland's natural beauty, immersing yourself in its rich history, or enjoying its vibrant culture and culinary scene, this small country has a lot to offer. Come experience the magic of Northern Ireland for yourself.
Welcome to Adventure Fares' Resources and Information Guide. These guides are compiled to provide a great "starting place" for planning. Here, we try to help you with the 4 big planning goals for any destination: Where to Stay / Where to Eat / What to See and Do / How to Budget. We even try to include some great itinerary links. Have fun planning your travel adventure! These resource pages are always being updated. If you would like to see a country / city / place not already in our resource guides, please email your requests or suggestions to: [email protected]
BUDGET RESOURCES:
We typically go to Budget Your Trip to research budgeting! We highly recommend their website. They do a fantastic job of compiling data from thousands of travelers around the world! This data is so useful for anyone who’s wanting to make the most of their travel budget. If you sign up and enter your own expenses - you contribute to the data and also get to access their fantastic planning tools - with charts, maps, graphs, and tables of your trip finances. Bookmark their site, and go there for a lot more in-depth budgeting research: BudgetYourTrip.com
With this chart, we just wanted to give you an idea of how your budget might look compared to a few familiar places here in the U.S
Rentals / Hotels / B&B Lists
Finding the perfect accommodation can make or break a trip. That's why we compile so many lodging lists - to help you find reliable and affordable recommendations for AirBNBs, VRBOs, boutique hotels, and B&Bs. These lists should give you a great starting place, and hopefully make that trip even better!
AIRBNB LISTS
VRBO LISTS
BED AND BREAKFASTS
BOUTIQUE HOTELS
AIRBNB Resources:
airbnb.com - It has become a very popular resource for travelers. We try to limit our lists to rentals in great locations, with good pricing, and great views when we find them. We use AirBNB a lot. ALWAYS double-check reviews and avoid "new" listings most of the time. Be sure to double check for air conditioning in the summer, and feel free to reach out to the owner for tips / questions!
VRBO Resources:
vrbo.com - VRBO is another great one to use. Sometimes you find rentals here you won't see on AirBNB - its always great to have more options, especially during peak seasons when rentals book up fast. Always double-check reviews and avoid "new" listings when possible. The VRBO system won't let us filter neighborhoods as well as some others, so always double check location after finding a good property.
Bed and Breakfast Resources:
Booking.com - this is often our “go-to” for this category. We find their customer reviews to be very reliable!
bedandbreakfast.guide (B&B Guide) - this one screens out the worst-reviewed places, so their lists are pretty reliable.
bnbfinder.com - this one is promising, but they don’t have near as many listings as the others here. We hope they grow!
Boutique Hotels Resources:
BoutiqueHotel.me - this one is usually our favorite. However, their list will only provide you with hotels who allow booking through booking.com - so some great hotels won’t be on their lists.
MrandMrsSmith.com - This is fantastic and inspirational resource for finding places to stay around the world. Much of their focus is on premiere hotels (and not what we would call “budget” finds), but it can be a fantastic place to search. It’s fun to just click on their “Inspiration” tab and find some new places around the world.
TheHotelGuru.com - This site also links to booking.com, and can be a complimentary resource.
GreatSmallHotels.com - Another resource the books through booking.com, this one tends to go a little more upscale, especially in large European cities.
Some More Interesting Lodging Guides:
gounusual.com - Great Resource for those trying to find unique places to stay: Castles, igloos, boats, more!
eruoglamping.com - Just what it sounds like - a resource of upscale camping places in Europe:
goglamping.net - GoGlamping / More upscale camping experiences - UK and Europe
NOTE: No matter what form of lodging you book, we recommend you always confirm your booking one last time a week to 10 days ahead of your travel.
Restaurants / Dining Lists
Choosing dining options can be confusing and intimidating. We've compiled these lists to help you start planning some memorable meals. Lists are organized by city and include some of the best and most affordable dining destinations in each city/area. Every adventure deserves some great meals!
TRIP ADVISOR
WANDERLOG
TripAdvisor Dining Lists:
TripAdvisor.com - We recommend using TripAdvisor’s dining directories whenever you find yourself needing good food in a place with which you’re unfamiliar. They have a huge volume of reviews, great genre help, and mapping.
Michelin Guide - Dining Lists:
Michelin Guide - For respected and relevant reviews of restaurants around the world, Michelin has been the Iconic dining guide since the 1800s. If you find a 1 star near you, book it. If you find a 2 star, you’re in for a treat. If you find a 3 star - make a travel detour if you need to and get there!
Wanderlog Dining Lists:
Wanderlog.com - Wanderlog is an interesting site - compiling lots of travel planning possibilities. Their trip-planning features are worth checking out, but we’ve come to really like their restaurant lists. They’re just a little pickier than TripAdvisor, but not as exclusive as Michelin. They’re worth checking out in most towns.
When trying to get a nicer restaurant into your travel plans, we recommend making reservations at least a couple of weeks ahead of time. Some of the Michelin star restaurants might even require more advance (varies).
Things to See and Do Lists
Finding what to see and do is always a travel priority. We've compiled lists/links from the world's most credible sources to help you find the best adventures for your destination. These lists will help you find the most popular attractions (and some hidden gems) for your travel adventures.
FODOR'S
ATLAS OBSCURA
TRIP ADVISOR
Things to See and Do Resources:
These are a few resources we trust. They will give you some great places to start. Rank your priorities (and your travel friends' priorities), see what works for your schedule, and plan an amazing travel adventure. *Don't try to cram too much in - it's those "unplanned" moments that often product the best adventures.
FodorsTravel.com - In our experience, Fodor’s is the best overall place to start when planning a trip. Once you search and find their guide to a city - they break the guide down into Sights, Nightlife, Shopping, Performing Arts, and Sports and Acitivities. There’s not tons of inspiration here, but good, reliable information. There are ads, but they do a good job of keeping the content credible. They also have a great “Map View” feature for the different sections so you can always check to see what’s close. Their Hotels and Restaurants guides are also pretty good.
RickSteves.com - Rick Steves has been an awesome resource for budget travelers for decades, and his content just keeps getting better. His reviews are reliable, his itineraries are fantastic, and his reputation for credibility is great. We check out his information on any destination we're thinking about visiting.
AtlasObscura.com - This is our favorite guide source! We don’t know how the team at Atlas Obscura finds so many cool, interesting, and odd things to see around the world - but they do it. It’s easy to find those top few things to do in any location, but these guys go beyond - and get you some off-the-beaten path adventures.
TripAdvisor - Trip Advisor is pretty commercial in nature, but they have really high traffic - so it's easy to see what's popular pretty much anywhere in the world. That can be helpful for planning what to see, and sometimes what to avoid. It's one of our go-to resources for seeing what might be in the town ahead on a road trip.
Wanderlog.com - Wanderlog is an interesting site - compiling lots of travel planning possibilities. Their trip-planning features are worth checking out, and we really like their “THINGS TO DO” lists. They’re pretty much ranked from most popular to least - so its a great place to figure out a priority list of things to see.
GetYourGuide.com - We really like this one! Get your guide is becoming a great source for planning as well as inspiration for travel adventures. Even if you aren’t looking for things to do on your trip, it’s a good place to get new trip ideas and browse exciting things to do. They have some "decent" pricing on local activities - worth considering for booking.
Nomadicmatt.com - Matt travels as much as any blogger / content creator we follow. He's a good writer, a good planner, and delivers entertaining content. We certainly recommend you check out his travel guides. If he's been somewhere, he shares great stuff!
OTHERS WORTH CHECKING OUT:
The Crazy Tourist - This is a travel resource that covers destinations all over the world. Just type the name of a country or city in their search section, and they have good
CultureTrip.com - This one is pretty commercial (lots of ads), but its also pretty reliable. They’ve been a travel industry leader for a long time, so there are enough reviews on things to know if you’re making good decisions. We always check out the Culture Trip guide for any location we’re planning on visiting.
Unesco World Heritage - UNESCO's World Heritage List is a treasure trove of amazing cultural and natural sites around the world! By checking out their website before embarking on your travels, you can uncover fascinating historical, architectural, and natural wonders that you may never have known about otherwise. Imagine exploring ancient ruins, wandering through magnificent national parks, or marveling at stunning works of art in person, armed with knowledge about their historical and cultural significance. Learning about these sites before you go can make your travels all the more exciting and enriching, so don't miss out!
Itineraries to Get You Started
Building an itinerary for your travel adventure can be a daunting task. Here are a few resources to help you get started without all the "noise" associated with online research. These are sample itineraries from travel pros who are credible, reliable, and know the places they're writing about. Itineraries are made to be broken, but hopefully these will start you out on the right path.
If you're planning a trip to Northern Ireland, there's so much to see and do that it can be overwhelming to know where to start. To help you plan your itinerary, here's a comprehensive checklist of must-see destinations and off-the-beaten-path gems to explore. Below our checklist, you'll find several sample itineraries we recommend.
DON’T MISS:
- Visit the Giant's Causeway, a stunning natural wonder of over 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns formed by volcanic activity millions of years ago.
- Explore Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, and visit the Titanic Belfast museum which tells the story of the famous ship built in Belfast.
- Take a tour of the famous murals in Belfast, which depict the history of the city's political and religious conflicts.
- Visit the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, a thrilling experience that offers stunning views of the surrounding coastline.
- Take a tour of the Dark Hedges, an atmospheric avenue of beech trees featured in the popular TV series Game of Thrones.
IF YOU HAVE MORE TIME:
- Visit the city of Derry/Londonderry, which features historic city walls, museums, and beautiful riverfront views.
- Take a tour of the Causeway Coastal Route, which runs along the northern coast of Northern Ireland and offers stunning scenery and numerous points of interest.
- Visit the Mussenden Temple, a beautiful circular building perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
- Explore the Glens of Antrim, a beautiful region of rolling hills and picturesque villages.
- Visit the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, which offers a fascinating insight into the social and industrial history of Northern Ireland.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
- Take a hike in the Mourne Mountains, a stunning range of mountains that offer breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside.
- Visit the historic village of Cushendun, which features charming architecture and a beautiful beach.
- Take a tour of the Marble Arch Caves, a stunning underground network of caves and rivers that are open for tours.
- Visit the town of Portrush, which features beautiful beaches, a historic harbor, and a variety of water sports and activities.
- Explore the Gobbins Cliff Path, a thrilling cliffside walk that offers stunning views of the surrounding coastline and wildlife.
ITINERARIES FOR NORTHERN IRELAND:
Itineraries can be tough to build, but the process can also be really fun to research. We read hundreds of these a month - and are always looking for better ones for our resource guides. Here are a few we found that might be helpful to get you started. Some of these are from favorite sources, and few we just found for this country. Start planning that adventure!
Best of Northern Ireland Tours & Itineraries / kimkim
Northern Ireland Self Drive Adventures - 10 Days / kimkim
Northern Ireland in Six Days (Road Trip) / Ireland Before You Die
Northern Ireland 3 Day Road Trip / Jam Travel
MORE RESOURCES:
Plan the Ultimate Road Trip Through Northern Ireland / Culture Trip
Northern Ireland Guide / Rick Steves
Causeway Coastal Route - A Northern Ireland Adventure
Fodor's Northern Ireland Travel Guide
How to Plan a Northern Ireland Trip / Travel + Leisure
The 10 Must-Visit Pubs in Northern Ireland / The Telegraph
Best Trails in Northern Ireland / AllTrails
Top 20 Walks and Hikes in Northern Ireland / komoot
Northern Ireland Festival and Event Planning Guide / Ireland Travel
10 Most Popular Northern Ireland Dishes / TastAtlas
The Perfect Cycling Guide to Northern Ireland
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES / UK
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
*photos from pixabay.com, pexels.com, unsplash.com and Darrell Potts
EMAIL Us - We Want to Hear From You!
We believe that the best travel advice comes from those who have experienced it firsthand. That's why we're inviting our members to share their travel tips, and recommendations with us. Whether it's a hidden gem of a restaurant, a must-see attraction, or an off-the-beaten-path adventure, we want to hear about it. Your contributions are helping us build a new database of "Member Suggestions." Email us when you get a chance - links, maps, and reviews all help! Email us at [email protected]
LOCATION SCOUT / PHOTOS
Resource Tip! Whenever we're considering going to a places we've never been, I like to pull it up on https://www.locationscout.net
Location Scout shows you pics from thousands of places around the world - just to give you a visual of where you're considering going. This is a photography-based website, with pics - and locations where the pics were taken (maps). Here's a snapshot of what you see when you look up this country. We highly recommend you browse this site before any adventure: https://www.locationscout.net
These resource pages have been fun to work on! We hope they keep getting better. Are we missing something? Are we missing one of your favorite travel resources? Please email me - I'd love to learn anything that can help make travel adventures even better! Darrell Potts.
