Author Archives: Rich Bunce

Marmite, Coffee, Modern Art, Maggie Thatcher and seemingly, the Giant’s Causeway!? I wasn’t expecting the UNESCO World Heritage Site to be such a chalk and cheese landscape… but as we explored this famous area it became apparent that first impressions were quite divisive!

“Wow! Look at that!” said excitedly from one family, “is that it?” spoken with an air of disappointment from another.

Nothing in this world is liked universally, I’ve even met people who don’t like the Beatles! Does the Causeway’s fame set a precedent too high to meet some people’s expectations? Is it possible that some don’t see the excitement in the uniqueness of these rare rock formations? Or maybe the crowds of people clambering over every vacant space of the causeway turns some people off?

I found watching the large groups of people exploring this place almost as fascinating as the actual Causeway! Don’t be mistaken, for me, the landscape is fascinating and a rather original place to visit.

The new visitor centre is quite spectacular in itself. If going round the centre fails to get you excited about this place nothing will. The architecture, design and exhibits all come together to create a truly remarkable and exciting visitor centre. Having spent some time hogging all the interactive exhibits, we made our way to The Giant’s Causeway.

We decided to take the cliff top walk first and take a breather from the herds of people! The walk is stunning and the further you go the quieter it gets; each bay / cove revealing further varieties of rock formations which nesting seabirds take full advantage of. From the clifftops you get glimpses of the old coastal path that in the not too distant past people would have walked along. You also see the epic landslips that have engulfed large sections of it, which is obviously the reason for the path’s closure. It’s a shame because it looks like it was a quite spectacular walk!

After a while, we turned back, took a deep breath and descended into the tourist pit! You could spend as much time watching people interact with this space as you could spend looking around it, it’s like a giant playground for all ages! Having lingered for what seemed an acceptable time, we made our unnecessary excuses to each other and headed off in search of somewhere a bit quieter.

We did however revisit the Giant’s Causeway in the early evening where there were considerably less people and the light really brought the Causeway to life! For me, this was and is the best way to see it!

To conclude, this IS one of those ‘must see’ areas, you just have to be prepared to share it with a fair few other people!