Packages and Options

Day 1 Walking Distance 2 miles (3.2 km)
You will be met with a warm welcome at Dublin Airport. We will then drive north to the coast of County Antrim, stopping en route for a break at the lovely town of Hillsborough. The Antrim Coast has been designated an 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty'.
We will be accommodated at a lovely guest house for the next two nights with great views of Fair Head and the Antrim Coast.  After a short stroll along this breathtaking coast, we will meet for dinner in Ballycastle.
 
Day 2 Walking Distance 7 miles (11.3 km)
On the agenda today is a spectacular walk along the Antrim Coast starting from the Giant's Causeway and finishing at the ruin of Dunseverick Castle. On a clear day you will be able to see right across to Scotland. The Causeway is made up of 37,000 hexagonal black basalt columns. It is the result of a massive underground explosion some sixty million years ago. In 1693 the Royal Geographical Society publicised it as one of the great wonders of the natural world.
As this is a linear walk I will drop you at the start and pick you up at the end. You will be guided by Northern Ireland Blue Badge Guide, Petra Herrmann.

Day 3 Walking Distance 7 miles (11.3 km)
Today we take the ferry out to Rathlin Island: the only inhabited offshore island in Northern Ireland. Rathlin is only 15 miles from the Scottish coast at the Mull of Kintyre. The ferry takes us in to Church Bay and our guest house is right beside the harbour. We take a trip out to the West Lighthouse: famed for it's bird life and home to tens of thousands of seabirds, including kittiwakes, guillemots, puffins and razorbills. Later we will walk down to Rue Point for a fine walk beside lakes and down to see the seals at the southern shore. We return later to our guest house to relax and enjoy an excellent meal, perhaps with some locally caught seafood.

Day 4 Walking Distance 5 miles (8 km)
 After leaving Rathlin Island on the early ferry, we will make our way a few miles west along the Antrim coast to Bushmills to visit the world's oldest legal distillery. Then a short walk will take us down around the coast at the village of Ballintoy and to Carrick-a-Rede: a tiny island with a salmon fishery, joined to the mainland by a rope bridge, and back up via the harbour of Ballintoy. Time permitting we may also be able to walk further along the coast at Murlough Bay. We will then turn inland and southward to the village of Cushendall. Our next two nights will be spent at a lovely, friendly and welcoming B & B on the edge of the village. Cushendall is located where three of the Glens of Antrim converge and lies in the shadow of Lurigethan Mountain.

Day 5 Walking Distance 7 miles (11.3 km)
Today we visit the Glens of Antrim: a region of County Antrim, comprising nine waterfall-strewn glens, or valleys, that radiate from the Antrim Plateau to the coast. Specifically we will hike at Glenarriff Forest Park (in Irish:Gleann Airimh, ie 'valley of arable land'). Like all the valleys in the area, it was shaped during the Ice Age by a glaciers. Glenarriff is often referred to as the 'Queen Of the Glens' and is the largest and most popular of the Glens of Antrim. Our guide will take us on a delightful walk which comprises of native forest, open heath and moor land, quiet streams and of course, the famous waterfalls.
Day 6 Walking Distance 8 miles (12.9 km)
Today we travel south to County Louth and our last hike is at Black Mountain in the Cooley Hills. We will find mysterious stone circles along our route and learn of the legend of the Cattle Raid of Cooley. From the ridge the views across Carlingford Lough are stunning.
We then drive a short distance to Carlingford village, back in the Republic of Ireland. Carlingford lies in the shadow of Slieve Foye and is a former fishing village filled with ancient ruins, one of Ireland's little secrets.

Day 7 We should have some time for souvenir shopping around Carlingford this morning before our drive back to Dublin.