Beaches, Bolly buses and a big ship: A road trip from Belfast to Derry

Here’s what to see on a drive from Belfast to Derry

Belfast’s grand City Hall (Tourism Ireland)

It’s a well-known secret, apparently: that Whiterocks Beach on Northern Ireland’s dramatic, wind-beaten Causeway Coast is one of the unofficial best in the world. The sand is floury-fine and as white as I’ve seen in Western Australia, with dog walkers and families messing about on its spread (but no sunbathers – even in the summer months, we’re not savages).

A woman walking a golden retriever stops to chat to us, to comment on the way my 16-month-old son is joyfully flinging himself into the sand, throwing big handfuls over his head.

“Why are you here?” She asks my small family, not unkindly. “Because you couldn’t go anywhere else?”