"Causeway Coast" a Antrim Travel Page by bokononist

nothing says Ireland like this picture, huh? All you need is a Guinness...
Anyway, from Belfast I took a day trip to the Giant's Causeway and the Antrim coast. The trip to the Causeway bounces along the coastal roads through the 9 Glens of Antrim, cute little towns popular with vacationing N.Irelanders.
Eventually you end up near Portrush, the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, and of course the Giant's Causeway. The views are spectacular - you can see Scotland in the background here and from much of the Antrim coast.

The Causeway itself is a peculiar geological formation resulting from a basaltic lava flow cooling under exceptional conditions. To relieve the stress placed on it from rapid cooling, the rock split into hexagonal formations (naturally occuring and stress-minimizing, like a honeycomb - closest polygon to a circle that can be made into a continous pattern).
And there's the causeway. You can walk along - be careful in winter as it can be rather icey and slippery and wonder at this unique formation, and visit the visitors center, etc.
Irish legend, by the way, has it is that the Causeway was formed by the giant Finn McCool who wanted a way to visit his girlfriend in Scotland without getting his feet wet.

after you finished hanging out at the causeway, you can climb up the cliffs behind it. If you continue on to the east (right in this picture) you can walk for miles and miles and visit an old castle, meet some friendly local sheep, and take pictures of sunsets like this. If you go left, you will see some of the lovely beaches Antrim has to offer. It's one hell of a hike up though.