The Grain and Grape

Trying new things, we flew to Dublin and rented a campervan from Retro Camper Hire to explore the beautiful Emerald Isle. Touring Ireland by campervan is a great option for the beautiful sights, a flexible itinerary, and always somewhere to sleep. Our route took us from Dublin up to the Giant’s Causeway, Game of Thrones sites, Whitehead, and Belfast. We met up with some friends and their campervan and headed north.

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Layla, the Campervan

Our campervan, named Layla, was a two-tone brown 1980’s Ford Transit van, running on a 2.5 Diesel engine. A 5-speed manual, right-hand-drive, and a sticker in the front window reminding the driver to “Drive on the Left.” What could go wrong? Rob drove, while Barbara waved at all the cars, people, and sheep who got out of the way.

Rob’s expectation of this “retro campervan” was an older model caravan with modern amenities. Something that looks like the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine on the outside, and with a push of a button, it turns into a James Bond style one-room apartment on the inside. In fact, true to its name, it is retro-looking both inside and out. After a somewhat shocking beginning, the charm grew on us each day.

• Layla’s strengths include: Looking cool, surprisingly comfortable bed, and gets you where you want to go
• Layla’s weaknesses include: Loud and bumpy ride, unwillingness to go uphill, and no electric kettle

Dublin

With some time between our flight landing and picking up the campervan, we popped into Dublin for a quick tour. The Brazen Head, established in 1198, is the oldest pub in Dublin, and they served up an excellent lunch. After a walk around the Temple Bar area, we just had time for a quick look at Grafton Street and Trinity College.

Ireland has many great camping spots, and also overnight parking availability at a variety of pubs, restaurants, and businesses. We tried both options. Our first night’s stay at Causeway Coast Wigwams put us in a perfect location for an easy walk on country roads into the village of Bushmills. The campground is set in rolling green hills, and offers a bathhouse with toilets, showers, and a community kitchen.

Bushmills Distillery

Bushmills holds the title of having the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery, producing whiskey since 1608. We met up with more friends for a whiskey tasting, for a fun time distinguishing hints of toffee, berries, and nuttiness. The village of Bushmills includes a picturesque mill and a sweet Main Street with welcoming pubs, shops, and cafes.

Giant’s Causeway

It was a short drive from Bushmills to the Giant’s Causeway, and the parking attendants helped us to find easy parking. We hiked around Giant’s Causeway, unique rock formations that are said to have been caused by a volcano over 60 million years ago. Or, according to legend, an Irish giant built the causeway to get over the ocean to Scotland for a fight with a Scottish giant. Seeing the “organ pipes” and hexagonal-shaped rocks, all in a stunning coastal setting, is truly amazing.

Not far down the road, we had lunch at the Carrick-A-Rede Bar and Restaurant, with The Best Seafood Chowder, and plenty of room to park campervans.

Fair Head Cliffs

A drive down narrow country roads brought us to a farm car park at Fair Head, Ballycastle. From there, we followed a grassy path through remote and wild countryside to the top of the Fair Head cliffs. This was a filming location for Game of Thrones, as the cliffs of Dragonstone, but even if you haven’t seen GoT, the walk itself is amazing. The path goes around ponds, over stiles, and beside grazing sheep, with views in every direction.

Ireland is a stunningly beautiful country, and as we learned, it has 32 shades of green, for its 32 counties.

We found a good home base for our next two nights in the Whitehead – Carrickfergus area at a golf course that offered free overnight campervan parking. Small items that any gal could use while camping, like a lady’s urination funnel and a foldable brush-mirror combo, came in handy here😜. We easily walked to eating spots in Whitehead, and took cabs for quick rides to and from Belfast for more touring.

Belfast

Our top tour of the trip was the Famous Murals Tour of Belfast. Our tour guide, Joe, is a wealth of historical knowledge that only someone who lived through the Troubles could share. He added jokes and personal experiences to tales of this troubled time in Ireland’s history.

After this 5-star tour, we walked about to see more of Belfast. We started with a pint at Bittles, a super friendly pub with a fabulous Guinness pour. At The Garrick, we met up with more friends and had an excellent Sunday roast dinner, including Yorkshire Pudding. After some souvenir shopping, we all sat on the patio at The Jailhouse, listening to live music, talking, and laughing. We had wonderful meals all weekend, and pints of Guinness are always so perfect in the home country.

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Would we travel in a Campervan again? Absolutely. But maybe we’ll try one that’s not quite so “retro” next time. Overall, our trip to see a bit of Ireland by Campervan was made so special by the adventure of the transportation, sleeping, and most of all, seeing great friends and meeting new ones.

Sláinte!

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