Tuesday, June 14, 2016 2 southwalesargus.co.uk

A walk in the footsteps of giants at a ‘magical’ site

STEEPED in history and mythol-ogy, one of the world’s natural wonders is open for business just a short hop across the Irish Sea.

The mystic Giant’s Causeway comprises thousands of large hexagon rock columns extend-ing into the Atlantic Ocean on Ireland’s dramatic north coast.

My girlfriend and I walked in the footsteps of giants after climbing onto the otherworldly rocks on a recent visit.

There are daily flights from Cardiff Airport to Belfast and the magical causeway site is easy to reach by train and bus.

Tourist numbers at the stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site have shot up since the opening of the ultra-modern visitors centre.

Inside, video screens and fun interactive exhibits outline the two theories of how the causeway came to be.

The first is that the Giant’s Causeway is the result of intense volcanic and geological activ-ity. Science-themed displays for families provide a glimpse into the Earth’s most ancient past. There is an epic 60-million-year-old legacy to the cooling and shrinking of successive lava flows and you don’t have to be a geologist to fol-low the fact-packed displays and videos.

Of course, the more popular ex-planation can be found in Northern Ireland’s best-known folk legend. The story goes that 50ft giant Finn McCool built the rock causeway to Scotland to fight his arch-rival, Scottish giant Benandonner. Each stone column was lifted by Finn and spiked into the ground until the two nations were connected.

After Finn lured the Scottish gi-ant to Ireland and scared him with an elaborate trick, Benandonner smashed the causeway to pieces while fleeing. All that remains of the crossing is the honeycomb-like spread of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns in County Antrim (as well as a much-smaller cor-responding rock site on the Scot-tish side). Finn can now be seen glowering over tourists on a big screen inside the visitors centre, in a fun animation showing the clash of the two titans.

Entry is £9 per adult, £4.50 for children. This includes access to the multimedia visitors centre and a choice of outdoor tours with an expert guide or a multi-language headset. All the money is put back into the site to help preserve the landmark, thanks to the National Trust. There are three different signposted scenic routes from the museum down to the stone columns, catering for different abilities. A minibus can also zoom you there and back.

Blessed with a glorious sunny day, we opted for the full coastal walking tour led by an enthusiastic local history expert.

For hundreds of years, myths and legends about the Giant’s

Causeway have been passed down through generations.

Having someone tell these tales in person helps to keep that oral-history tradition alive.

The well-trod story of Finn’s fateful walk was aired with wit and plenty of blarney by our lively guide, until we got our own turn to step onto the iconic stones. At various stops on the way, other storytellers from the centre were waiting to spin a yarn about Finn, his unusual family and how one rocky journey led to the ultimate cross-channel dispute.

Guide Brian Carty told us: “Finn McCool probably was a real per-son during the time when Ireland was a land of warring tribes.

“Finn was likely a chieftain some-where along the coast here whose reputation would have lasted for many, many years. The name grew and grew in stature over the years until he did become a giant. The Finn we know came to be through storytelling and the whole oral

tradition and these tours are keep-ing that storytelling tradition alive. And since the opening of the new visitors centre we now welcome a million tourists per year.”

He added that Welsh visitors will find particular parallels with their own folklore.

He explained: “You have similar characters appearing in Welsh mythology as you do in Irish mythology and certainly being Celtic cultures there is a crosso-ver. So our Celtic cousins in Wales would find the wealth of myths and legends along this coast very attractive.”

A different type of myth is also drawing huge crowds to Northern Ireland – the hit HBO fantasy show Game of Thrones. With many sites across the area used as filming lo-cations for the cult smash, themed bus tours ferry faithful fans around the real-life land of Westeros.

This has brought a welcome tourism boom not only to the causeway, but other coastal must

By Declan Harte

Escape editor: Jo BarnesTel: 01633 777240Email: jo.barnes@gwent-wales.co.uk

Advertising: Sandra Regulski Tel: 01633 777114

Airline and resort to extend partnershipFLYBE, Europe’s largest regional airline, has extended its exclu-sive partnership with Disneyland Paris for the hugely popular ‘Kids Under 7 Go Free’ entry offer to the resort after it drove significant passenger growth during the first quarter of the year.

Families wanting to take advan-tage of this offer, which includes Flybe flights into Paris Charles de Gaulle from Birmingham, Cardiff, Doncaster Sheffield, Edinburgh, Exeter, London City, Manches-ter and Southampton, and from Southampton to Paris Orly, can book through to June 29, via the Disneyland Paris website for travel up to and including October 31.

Phillip Delaney, Flybe’s director of sales and marketing, said: “Flybe is delighted to extend our relationship with Disneyland Paris. It gives us the continued oppor-tunity to enable families to enjoy affordable and fun holidays. To be working with one of the world’s leading brands is a real mark of respect for Flybe.

“We are proud to offer more routes into Paris from the UK than any other airline.”

RISKY: Visitors on the rope bridge between the mainland cliffs and the island at Carrick-a-Rede,

Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland

GIANT: View of the honeycomb middle causeway rock formations looking out to sea, County Antim, Northern Ireland ©National

Trust Images/Mike Williams