DR SAMUEL Johnson, the 18th century author of the first English language dictionary, was wrong when he said the Giant’s Causeway was worth seeing but not worth going to see.
It is most certainly one of the most spectacular sights in Ireland, not just for its hexagonal rock formations but for its location at the point where the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean collide into one another.
Sometimes it takes a new set of eyes to see things that we take for granted and hosting friends from Holland last weekend, including two young children, gave me something of a tourist’s view of our landscape.
I always knew it was spectacular, but for people who come from a totally flat country even the rolling drumlins, the yellow-flowering whin bushes along the roadsides and ever-changing sky are a source of comment.
The Mourne Mountains were of course on the agenda and drives along the coast from St John’s Point to Tyrella, with numerous stop-offs for my friend’s kids to poke among sand dunes and rock pools to hunt for treasure.
St Patrick’s Country along the shores of Strangford Lough and the gothic horror film backdrop of Inch Abbey near Downpatrick as swans took off from the River Quoile are familiar sights for me, but seeing them with people who have never seen them before brings about a new appreciation.
Despite being a firm advocate of the wonders of south Down as one of the most dramatic and diverse landscapes in Ireland, I could not begrudge my guests’ desire to visit our most famous tourist attraction.
But what I found shocking and embarrassing was the cost of entry to many of the attractions along the north Antrim coast.
It is £13 for a family ticket to Dunluce Castle, a family has to pay £27 to access the Giant’s Causeway if they enter via the visitors centre or use the car park and £14.80 to cross Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which is £55 out of a tourist family’s budget to see three attractions on a 15-mile stretch of road.
While I have no problem with paying for entry to sites which clearly need to be maintained, that is a huge chunk of money, particularly when you can see much of what is on offer for nothing.
I visited Dunluce Castle many times before an entry fee was introduced and while it is interesting to wander through its walls, its full grandeur can really only be appreciated from outside, which costs nothing to view.
What Dr Johnston might have added if he had been alive today was that while the Giant’s Causeway was worth seeing it is not worth the £9 entrance charge for a single adult into the centre.
He might have added a few more expletives to his dictionary if he had paid and then discovered that access to the Causeway itself is free through an un-signposted and hidden archway, or over the grassy roof of the centre and down some wooden steps, or that charges are applied even if you don’t go into the visitor’s centre but use the official car park.
A browse through some of the comments on websites such as Tripadvisor suggests that these costs are a bone of contention among many international visitors and natives alike.
We didn’t visit Carrick-a-rede, but, despite going for all the free options I don’t think my Dutch visitors missed out on any of the major highlights of our most famous coastline.
I will hand it to north Antrim and admit when it comes to spectacular cliff tops, long strands, brooding islands, haunted castles, kittiwakes and puffins it probably beats south Down – but we do mountains much better and they are free to everyone.
