We start early this morning at Ballycastle Harbour and ferry across to Rathlin Island.

May falls right in the middle of seabird season, and we’ll head toward the island’s West Light area to look for nesting seabirds, including the little orange-beaked celebrities we came here to see:

Puffins! The most adorable birds you will ever see. Puffins are like the puppies of birds: so cute you just want to hold them! We can’t. But we are actually going to get pretty close to them. Rathlin Island is one of the best places to see them up close.

Then we ferry back to Ballycastle and completely change the character of the day, because this afternoon we’re going coasteering!

If you’ve never heard of coasteering, it basically means exploring a rocky coastline by scrambling, climbing, swimming, jumping, and working your way along the edge of the sea. In other words, exactly the sort of activity that tends to end up on a 1000 Treks itinerary.

After drying off, we get back on the road and head to the atmospheric Dark Hedges, an avenue of twisted beech trees made internationally famous by Game of Thrones.

Then we continue south along the beautiful Causeway Coastal Route, passing through small seaside villages including Cushendun, Cushendall, Carnlough, and Glenarm.

And tonight, our last night on the road, we have a special treat. We’re sleeping in a castle!

Ballygally Castle is an authentic 17th-century castle sitting directly on the Antrim coast, and it even comes with its own ghost stories. Yeah, we couldn’t come to Ireland and not sleep in a castle! If we did that, it would be embarrassing! We would have to change our name to 999 Treks or something!

TOTAL DRIVING TIME: Approximately 2 hours, broken into short drives around Ballycastle and Ballintoy, about 15–20m to the Dark Hedges, and a longer scenic drive along the Causeway Coastal Route.

OVERNIGHT: Ballygally Castle

MEALS: Breakfast