Northern Ireland: The Don'ts of Visiting Northern Ireland

hey there fellow travelers mark here with walter's world and today we're here at giants causeway in northern ireland one of the most coolest geological features you can see anywhere in the world and yes you don't want to miss giants causeway when you come here to northern ireland and today what we have for you are the don'ts of visiting northern ireland i gotta tell you don't worry about having a crack when you're here crack me is a good time because the locals are fantastic they have so much spirit so much fun and give you so much ribbing and joking that you're going to love it when you're here so don't be surprised if you meet some locals that want to make sure you have a good time in northern ireland and they'll give you the history they'll give you the fun and yes they might teach you a few words you've never heard before when you are here some good some bad but i think one of the important things with the people though is if you do go out with them and they do buy a drink because it has known to happen don't forget to get your round as well on the next go around so they get a pint for you or they get a whiskey with you then you need to get the next round with them okay so that's one great way to get to know northern ireland better is just meeting the fantastic people here that i will say is don't expect to understand the accent the first or second or third time someone says something to you because the accent can be a bit much if you're not used to it now if you've been here for a while you'll start to catch on but uh just have a heads up now for my irish american friends i know you're coming to ireland you come to northern ireland you're like i want to get back to my people i want everyone to know that i'm irish but my don't for that is don't tell pupae you're irish okay it doesn't matter that your great great great grumpy grump came from ireland they don't really care here in northern ireland okay so just leave it to yourself just have a good time you don't have to bring it up you can enjoy the drink and you can enjoy the food without bringing that little thing up now actually a couple serious don'ts i will say when you do come to northern ireland is one don't talk about politics and don't bring up religion because that can bring up the troubles which is the time here in northern ireland or in the 60s 70s early 80s where you had a lot of violence going on and that's really still a touchy subject to a lot of people in northern ireland so it's really best to kind of lay off that topic unless they bring it up because don't worry people will ask you do you prefer you know northern ireland or the republic of ireland or they'll say do you prefer ulster or or the south because people will ask you that and you might want to be diplomatic with which one you like and maybe figure out where people are from first to make that one smooth over but honestly you don't want to be willy-nilly when you're looking at what people call the country because some people call it ulster some people call it the north of ireland some people say it's the six counties and some people just say northern ireland my thing for you is just call it northern ireland that's kind of the most politically correct where you're not gonna offend people with that one whereas some people are like no it's ulster and other people like oh it's just a part of the republic of ireland eventually so uh just have a heads up for that one and so go along with that if you're going to be coming from scotland or england maybe don't wear your your british or english themed t-shirts you buy on your travels i know i have my british walters world shield t-shirt i made sure not to wear that because it's one of those things you just don't really do when you are up here so try to avoid the overly british overly english clothing just just letting you know now let's get back to some fun tourist stuff another donut i have for you is don't be scared to rent a car look northern ireland is small it's like 110 miles by 90 miles wide you can go everywhere i mean you could use belfast as a base and explore the whole country doing that now i recommend going and staying in some of the small villages around here hey go to bushmills which is really right by giant's causeway you go see some castles you can go on the rope bridge that i will never go on because i'm scared to death of it but you can go to the old bushmills distillery and stay in the village there and enjoy some of the small b and b's and hotels you can stay at around the country because honestly it's such a wonderful place it's so easy to get around and having your car lets you go to castle after castle after castle after a beautiful you know giants causeway but also it lets you drive the causeway coastal road which is just a gorgeous drive along the east coast of northern ireland i mean anywhere you go around here the landscapes are incredible but to go out and see all those castles and all that nature you do need to rent a car okay but don't forget they drive on the left here so you need to be ready for that also don't think they use euros here in northern ireland since it's part of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland i mean it's in the name they use the british pound when you are here pound sterling you will see a couple bank of ireland notes in there as well but that's what you're gonna use to pay for things here and when you're driving around i think you need to know is uh don't think those speeds are super slow because here distances are measured in miles so it's miles to where you're gonna go that m after when it's saying how far it has to go it's not meters that's miles okay so if you're trying to adjust you know your kilometers it's on your rental car to miles you might want to have a little note like what is 115 kph to miles per hour what is you know 35 or 30 to two kilometers per hour just you have a rough idea because they will they do have the the cameras up and they will ticket you and don't worry well they will find you to find you no matter where you are one thing i will say from my experience here at giants causeway if you're gonna be walking on the beaches you know and all the stones and stuff don't forget to bring a good pair of shoes when you do come here to northern ireland because of the hiking you will do you need sturdy footwear but also don't get nailed by the waves when you're on giant's causeway happened to me when i was here a few years ago and it can be a little dangerous so do have a heads up if you're actually going to go to the sea or be on the seaside now i know for some travelers you don't want to drive in northern ireland because it's on the other side of the road and i get worried well here's a great thing for you don't worry about not driving when you come to northern ireland there's buses and trains that will take you all over the place so you can really get a lot of northern ireland just using public transportation and you don't have to worry about which side of the road should i driving on it doesn't matter they take care of it for you now i've got to say if you're going to be visiting some of the distilleries like you've got old bushmills distillery you can go to which is right by here if you're going to have a tipple or two don't feel bad if you hire a tour because what's cool about northern ireland since it's so small a lot of companies set up tours for you so you could do a whiskey trail tour you could do a tour of the troubles you could do a natural tour like coming here to giants cosplays there is the you know game of thrones tours because they film stuff here so it's one of those countries that you can do tour so don't feel bad doing a tour instead of driving on your own because there are literally dozens of options to help you out honestly if you're going to be in belfast i recommend taking the black cab tours to learn about the troubles and see all the murals there that is fantastic and i think another done i want to tell you about is when you're going around the country and you see the murals painted on the wall don't be disrespectful at the murals whether you're at dairy or londonderry or you're in belfast you'll see these big murals on the side of buildings on the side of walls and they're pretty powerful and it's one of those things that it represents a lot of things and a lot of different things for a lot of different people but it's one of those things you want to be respectful for okay so don't be those silly tit talkers those stupid tick tockers that are like doing dances in front of serious murals because it's not going to be taken very well okay so be respectful when you're there now kind of continuing on with that is if you're going to be here in june and july i will say this is don't get involved with the marches during marching season uh just because you might not understand what's going on and it might not be taken well by the locals and for some tourists they feel kind of uncomfortable i know i was here i was in derry londonderry a few years ago and there were marches going on while i was there and there were personnel carriers and soldiers all over and we were walking on the city walls by the way londonderry dairy well worth going to okay very cool city but i was there and all the people there they had this big huge like fake version of a politician and one of the guys said oh yeah they're going to burn that later i'm like what really it can be a bit much so if you're going to be coming in june and july make sure you're looking and see what marches are going on and when so maybe you'll come visit some of the natural beauties on those days and go into the city some of the other days i know july 13th is a very big day forward so just to have a heads up because you might not realize it the one i went to i think was in november or october and i had no idea so something to think about and you'll notice i'm feeling kind of uncomfortable talking about this and as a tourist don't worry if you feel uncomfortable talking about the troubles knowing whether you should call it londonderry or dairy or do i call it ulster or northern iron or north of ireland that is normal as a tourist if you're not sure what to do so that's why you'll see a lot of people will just say northern ireland or or they'll avoid this subject altogether because they're uncomfortable with it if you meet locals let them bring it up or if you're a tourist and you don't know you could ask but just know people were affected by this on both sides and so it is a very touchy subject so just just have a heads up for it okay and the thing is is when i grew up when you talked about northern ireland you thought of bombings and and murders and assassinations and all kinds of horrible things and i gotta tell you you don't have to worry about that now you don't have to worry about your safety when you come to northern ireland as a tourist i mean it's voted like the safest place to go in the uk with the friendliest people in the uk i mean belfast is one of the safest big cities in the uk i think it was voted like the second safest city in the uk i mean you'll be fine as a tourist here like we were going out all over the place didn't feel worried as well as a tourist so that's awesome i mean obviously don't do your you know have your usual tour sense you know don't leave money out in your car don't flash your money around that doesn't goes over well anywhere but in general you don't have to worry about your safety when you're here in northern ireland and that's what makes it such a relaxing vacation now i have a sad don't for my fellow travelers i know a lot of us like to collect our passport stamps when we come to new countries and i got to tell you don't expect to get a stamp in your passport if you come into northern ireland from ireland because there really isn't any border crossing there is any place where they check your passports you just kind of drive in and all of a sudden there's a little sign that says welcome to northern ireland and that's all okay so sadly don't expect to get that stamp now on the happier dough when you come here is don't worry about getting fed and watered here when you come to northern ireland there are so many great pubs you can go out and have a drink or have a good eats and there's tons of great restaurants throughout the country you're going to eat well there's so many fantastic things you can have yes irish stew is out there and also you have basically the best thing for me when i come to northern ireland is the seafood whether you're getting the mussels or the oysters or the salmon oh my god you just you can't go wrong with anything from the sea when you're here in northern ireland so you will eat well and yes the potato will show up quite often probably my favorite place it shows up is an ulster fry that's the breakfast you have here that has your sausage your bacon your egg your tomato your beans and then your white and black pudding very nice and then you get a soda bread and then you get some potato bread and that potato bread or potato floral it's so nice it's like they're super thin not like hash brown but so between a hash brown and a bread oh it's so good but you have a lot of potatoes you'll have a lot of fish and you'll be a lot of full when you are here and then of course we probably should say the don't of the weather look don't think it rains all the time here in northern ireland it doesn't we've been here for a few days and it was actually sunny for two of the days and now we have some clouds but notice it's not raining it doesn't rain all the time when you're here but don't forget to bring your rain gear when you do come because since we are on the sea a storm can come out of nowhere rain for a little bit and be gone i mean to get these beautiful nature and all this green here in northern ireland you gotta have some rain so don't forget to bring the layers because you will use them when you're here all right so i hope this helps you know better what you don't or i guess you actually do do when you come here to northern ireland if you want to learn more we've got a don'ts on what to do in belfast on jocelyn's channel we have an eats of northern ireland if you want more like what i need to know before i go northern ireland we have a video that focuses on that as well so have a great time and i'll say bye from here at giants causeway

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 107,033

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: VKG2EWTDUHY

Length: 11min 53sec (713 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 05 2022