July 6, 2026

Day 2, refreshed and ready, thank goodness. We began our day with an incredibly thorough hotel buffet breakfast, and quickly rented our car for the start of the roadtrip around Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“Is this your first time driving on the left?” said the car rental employee.

“No… it’s my second!” I said laughing a bit.

It takes some adjustment, I like to think that by the end of our 5 day Scotland drive in 2022, I was pretty comfortable. It was easier beginning again, but the Dublin City center is not a great area to reacquaint yourself.

First stop, get away from Dublin and head to the Game of Thrones Studio Tour in Banbridge. Not as in-depth of an experience as the London Harry Potter Studio Tour we did the last time we were in the UK. But great fun nevertheless, it’s an awesome experience to slow down and appreciate the prop and costume design, for items and clothing that potentially gets very little screen time or attention.

With more options than we could manage, early closing times for certain attractions, we drove East to a Game of Thrones filming location, the discovery of the Direwolf pups on the first episode, Tollymore Forest Park. An enchanting, storybook place, somewhat reminiscent of state parks we’ve been to in Washington state, with some unique history and character.

And finally we drove through beautiful green countryside, on a rare bright blue cloudy sky day, an hour and a half to the north east coast of County Antrim, to Ballygally.

To an amazing hotel overlooking the Inner Seas between Northern Ireland and Scotland. A hotel attached in part to a historic castle, complete with a ghost room at the top of the tower, a private garden area, and a fantastic restaurant.

We explored the tower, we ate, we walked the beach and watched the sunset on a moss covered rocky beach. Excited to hit the Giant’s Causeway tomorrow, and make our way back into Ireland proper, to County Donegal.