Fair Head

The drive from Ballycastle takes you along some proper dramatic coastline, and Fair Head is where it all gets a bit silly - in the best way. You're standing on a headland that drops sheer into the sea, with basalt cliffs rising 200 metres straight up. On a clear day you can see across to Scotland, which sounds like hyperbole until you're actually there squinting at the Mull of Kintyre.

It's not a built attraction - no café, no interpretive boards, just you and the geology. The walk from the car park takes about twenty minutes and winds through scrubland before spitting you out at the clifftop. The real draw is the sheer verticality of it all. Walkers will get genuinely excited by the basalt columns and the raw Atlantic exposure. If you've got kids, they'll be buzzing for about an hour, maybe ninety minutes if they're the type to collect interesting stones.

Fair Head works brilliantly as part of a Causeway Coast loop - you could easily combine it with a night at Watertop Farm, which sits just 3.5 miles away and hits five stars consistently. The farm's got that proper working-holiday feel. Allow half a day for Fair Head itself if you're the type who lingers over views. It's windier than you'd expect and absolutely freezing even when it looks sunny, so bring a jacket that actually works.