We decided to visit
Ireland for a month this year and enjoyed unusually good
weather with just a few wet days. We travelled from Liverpool to
Belfast on the Sunday daytime (eight hour) crossing as motorhomes are
only charged the car rate saving a considerable amount. Our route took
us along the picturesqe Antrim and Causeway coast to Derry then around
Donegal, often following the well signed Wild Atlantic Way, down the
west coast to the Burren in County Clare before heading back to the
east coast and back into Northern Ireland and Belfast for an unexpected
short ferry trip back to Cairnryan in Scotland.
After
an easy drive to the Wirral we caught the Sunday morning Stena Line
ferry for the eight hour crossing to Belfast, luckily on calm seas, and
a
short drive to a CL at IslandMagee. After a night at NI's first
official aire at Broughshane near Ballymena, we drove through
attractive
scenery along the Glens and Causeway coast road stopping at several
small villages and a short diversion inland to see the Dark Hedges, now
famous as are many places as a location for Game of Thrones TV series.
After visiting the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the ever busy Giant's
Causeway, we called in to Portrush then on to Derry. From there we
toured around the north coast of county Donegal with huge empty sandy beaches
and rocky headlands.
We then returned to Northern Ireland to visit the interesting Ulster
American Folk Park, and Enniskillen, then back to the Sligo coast. We
meandered southwards through Connemara and Galway to cross the dramatic
scenery of the Burren to Kilfenora. From there we crossed quickly
through central Ireland to the east coast and Carlingford Lough, before
heading across the border and over the Mountains of Mourne to
Strangford Lough. We again drove inland to visit a modern art gallery and
Lough Neagh before reaching the Belfast ferry, which we found had left
early due to technical problems. Luckily we were able to get on the
next short ferry crossing to Cairnryan in Scotland and the much longer
drive home.
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Our route around Ireland 2018
The Dark Hedges
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Carrick-a-Rede
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Giant'sCauseway
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Derry Peace bridge
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Doagh Famine village
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Rosguill Bay
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Ulster Folk Park
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 The Burren
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 Carlingford Lough
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Costs
Ferry :
Outbound: Stena Line Liverpool to Belfast
through the Camping and Caravanning Club
Return: Stena Line Belfast to Cairnryan total £252 (-£77 refund)
Due
to technical problems the Sunday morning sailing to Liverpool left
early and as we had booked through an agent (the C&CC) Stena had
not been given our mobile number to advise us of the timetable change.
We were refunded the difference in the fares and the extra costs of
driving home from Cairnryan.
Fuel for 1811 miles: Diesel: £350 LPG:£25
Campsites
and Aires
Campsites: 18 nights £301
Aires, SafeNights and free parking: 12 nights £32 (8 nights free)
Admission fees to attractions: £56
