Legend tells that the Giant's Causeway was built by the giant Finn McCool so that he could fight Benandonner, his Scottish counterpart. They also tell that Benandonner built it to fight Finn and indeed numerous other variations on the tale.
Of course, it was really created by a volcanic eruption about 55 million years ago. Today you can see the 40 thousand basalt columns which resulted from this. Most are hexagonal in shape and a number of organisations in Northern Ireland have adopted variations of a hexagon as their logo.
Naturally, as a consequence of the sheer number of columns a number of groups of them have been named after things such as the boot (of Finn McCool) and the pipe organ.
The site is on the north Antrim walking trail but most people just turn up by car to visit the causeway site itself. It was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1986 and is presently looked after by the National Trust. If are fairly fit and have the time, the coastal trail offers spectacular views.
As it's on the north coast, you can't really depend on good weather and it's often windy as you can probably gather from this photograph. If the weather is good, it's best to stroll down to the causeway from the visitor centre but you have the option of a minibus service (nominal charge). Most people stroll down and get the bus back up the hill.
The visitor centre houses lots of information about the causeway and the nearby tourist attractions along with a small coffee shop.
The nearest airports are Londonderry (LDY) (mainly Ryanair) and Belfast International (BFS) (mostly holiday charter flights but also EasyJet).
The train arrives in Portrush; public transport to the site is limited.
