Ireland Guide
Antrim and Derry
The Giant's Causeway
Ever since 1693, when the Royal Society first publicized it as one of the great wonders of the natural world, the Giant's Causeway has been a major tourist attraction. The highly romanticized pictures of the polygonal basalt rock formations by the Dubliner Susanna Drury, which circulated throughout Europe in the eighteenth century, did much to popularize the Causeway. Not everyone was impressed, though. A disappointed William Thackeray commented, "I've travelled a hundred and fifty miles to see that?", and especially disliked the tourist promotion of the Causeway, claiming in 1842 that "The traveller no sooner issues from the inn by a back door which he is informed will lead him straight to the causeway, than the guides pounce upon him." Although the tourist hype is probably now less overtly mercenary, the Causeway still attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, filling the visitor centre and the minibus that scurries back and forth. But even in high season it's easy to escape the crowds by taking to the cliffs.
For sheer otherworldliness, the Causeway can't be beaten. Made up of an estimated 37,000 black basalt columns, each a polygon – hexagons are by far the most common, with pentagons second, though sometimes the columns have as many as ten sides – it's the result of a massive subterranean explosion, some sixty million years ago, that stretched from the Causeway to Rathlin and beyond to Islay, Staffa (where it was responsible for the formation of Fingal's Cave) and Mull in Scotland. A huge mass of molten basalt was spewed out onto the surface, which, on cooling, solidified into what are, essentially, crystals. Though the process was simple, it's difficult, when confronted with the impressive regular geometry of the columns, to believe that their production was entirely natural.
Practicalities
Public transport to and from the Causeway is well organized with regular bus services, and there's also a restored narrow-gauge railway that runs here from Bushmills; June, Sept & Oct Sat & Sun; July & Aug daily; 7 trains daily on the hour from 11am–5pm, returning 30min later from the Causeway; 20min; 
028/2073 2844, 
www.freewebs.com/giantscausewayrailway ; single £4.50, return £6). If you want to stay close to the Causeway, try the refurbished nineteenth-century Causeway Hotel ( 028/2073 1210, www.giants-causeway-hotel.com ; Price: €90-120) near the visitor centre, or Carnside Farmhouse, 23 Causeway Rd (March– Oct 028/2073 1337, www.carnsideguesthouse.co.uk ; Price: €60-90), which has superb views.
The Causeway's visitor centre (daily: March– June, Sept & Oct 10am–5pm; July & Aug 10am–6pm; Nov– Feb 10am–4.30pm; free; www.giantscausewaycentre.com ) was severely damaged by fire in 2000 and continues to be housed in temporary accommodation on the cliff-top awaiting a permanent replacement. As well as providing tourist information, the centre offers the usual range of "Celtic" gifts and a café, while regular announcements are made for the frankly ignorable twelve-minute Causeway audiovisual presentation in the adjacent theatre (£1) and the unnecessary guided tours (£2.50). Avoidance of the council's extortionate car-park charge (£5) is virtually impossible unless you're prepared to park some distance away and walk.