GIANT'S CAUSEWAY

A Unesco World Heritage Site, Giant's Causeway is Northern Ireland's best-known natural landmark and one of the island's most popular tourist attractions. It's a world-renowned natural wonder, featured on the cover of many guidebooks to the region, that won't disappoint. Come early to avoid the crowds.

The legend: "When the world was created and fashioned out of a shapeless mass, this is what was left of it: remnants of chaos." The words are those of novelist William Thackeray. For the early Irish, this sorcery had only one explanation: it was the work of a giant, Finn McCool, commander of the King of Ireland's armies. Finn was a very powerful man, capable of incredible feats of strength. His greatest rival was the Scottish giant Benandonner. To fight him, Finn invited him and built a road so that his enemy could not avoid the fight. But when the latter arrived, the Irishman realized that he was far bigger and stronger than he was. He asked his wife for advice. She disguised him as a baby, and when Benandonner entered, he saw the enormous child and imagined the size of the father. He took fright and ran back to Scotland, destroying the pavement behind him...

The site: a spectacular modification of the coastline following a basalt eruption several million years ago, now frozen into 40,000 columns. It's impossible not to stand in awe of this imbrication of stones as black as lava and as ochre as Tuscan slab, stretching out over the sea. At once rust-tinted steps, salt-capped thrones and columns marbled by the forces of the sea, all carved and adjusted by a master surveyor whose essence is not human, it's hard not to marvel at these otherworldly places and the dizzying cliffs that surround them. It makes you feel very small in the face of such a strange and impressive natural wonder.

Visiting tips: in high season, the site is very busy, so avoid it between 11am and 3pm. Admission includes parking, an audioguide and entry to the visitor center, where you can learn more about the history of the site and the phenomenon. If you find the ticket a little expensive and don't plan to stay very long, park further up or down the road and then walk back around the visitor center to the Causeway Hotel side: pedestrian access to the site itself is free. Another option is to follow the Causeway Path hiking trail, which follows the entire coastline of the region and takes 2-3 days to complete. Of course, you'll have to walk on the basalt columns, have fun climbing them and enjoy this unique and magical place. But to fully appreciate the scale of the site, take the elevated path that winds its way along the cliffs just above the Giant's Causeway, and get a real sense of the extraordinary nature of the phenomenon.

Visitor Centre: the Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre is ultra-modern and ecologically responsible. With its glass walls, basalt columns, state-of-the-art interior and green roof offering 360-degree views of the coastline, it's a must-see. A shuttle bus can take you from the Visitor Centre to the Giant's Causeway, but walking is recommended.