'I visited Northern Ireland and loved my rugged, exhilarating trek through a historic land'

I’m not a Guinness person but late afternoon on the day we docked in Larne seemed a good time to check on my feelings. Some say it doesn’t travel, meaning you have to be on the island to get the best of it. So....

There’s the ritual slow pouring ceremony, allowing the umber liquid to settle in the glass at its own pace. Several pints may be in the process on the counter, becoming something only bright light will penetrate, capped with a meniscus of milky froth.

Some years ago in County Mayo I was served a fast-drawn pint. “But what about the….up the steet?” I asked. Cobblers, he said, for the tourists. Certainly I noticed no difference.

And so on the day in May when much of Britain was spluttering over the Reform landslide in the council elections, I was with the early doors crowd in McMullan’s Central Bar in Cushendall with a glass of perfect stout, not too slow in delivery, a smell of a recent peat fire, golfers arriving, bikers peeling back their leathers, Waterford losing narrowly to Cork in the hurling match on the big screen.

It may be the best glass of Guinness ever. Certainly, absence had been a factor, as had the setting – identified as important by the great cookery writer Elizabeth David.

Fear not. This isn’t going to degenerate into a gourmand’s road trip.

For one thing, vegan menus are thin on the ground. It would be a short article.

Mostly, there were ancient things to see, the basalt columns at the Giant’s Causeway, lots of old ruins, waterfalls and woodlands, a birdy island, the once troubled cities of Derry/Londonderry and Belfast. These attractions involved a lot of walking.

The Causeway coast road from the border with Donegal (Eire) to Belfast is lovely, between the sea which was obligingly blue and the prickly gorse hedges, yellow of course, and the fields and some pretty and well-kept villages with new cars in the drives.

Fuel was cheaper than at home and the road surfaces were better. Miles were easily covered in Reta the campervan.

Much of what we visited was managed by the National Trust which charges serious entry fees so it may be worth taking out an NT membership.

A saunter down to the Giant’s Causeway costs £18 but you get a visitor centre and exposition, tweedy shop and smart cafe. Spoiler: there was never a giant. The bus back up the hill costs a quid.

Not far away is the ruined Dunluce Castle, with its own little expo, giving an informative idea of life under manorial protection many centuries ago. It was a defence against other aspiring families and the English, then fell into disuse.

Today, it is managed by the Department for Communities, which charges a modest entry fee. It is a historic and inspiring relic of clan rule and protection.

In its walls are distinctive basalt blocks quarried from the Causeway before it became famous and untouchable. Check also the less ruinous Carrickfergus Castle between Larne and Belfast.

Other locations on our trip included the touristy rope bridge walk over a sea inlet from which locals caught salmon.

The Glenariff woodland and waterfall trail will open your lungs as will the Gobbins guided cliffside walk over the sea. Hard hats and ankle boots are obligatory.

It is promoted as the most dramatic coastal walk in Europe. Hmm, and overpriced at £23.50.

Belfast’s principal attraction is the huge Titanic museum, close to the 1911 launch site of the world’s most tragic ocean liner.

It is an absorbing experience inside the anodised glistening aluminium carapace of 300 panels.

Belfast Titanic merits several hours to do properly and get your value: from £26.95 for adults. On the other side of the city, find the Botanic Gardens and their two hot houses.

The Palm House was a pioneer in the use of curved glass. It was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon whose Crumlin Road Gaol is another visitor attraction. The gardens are free and relaxing. The prison is harrowing.

The highlight of the week was a trip to Rathlin Island, in the news for eradicating marauding ferrets and the brown rat which is being trapped and killed to protect hens and wild birds and domestic wiring.

Robert the Bruce hid here in 1306. In 1987 Richard Branson was rescued when his transatlantic balloon flight ended offshore. He gave them a new rescue boat.

It is six miles from Ballycastle and is a bracing 30-minute crossing on the Spirit of Rathlin. The RSPB manages the UK’s largest colony of sea birds.

The colourful puffin is the headliner at the West Light observatory, reached uphill on foot or by bus. They spend most of the year at sea, returning to meet their old mate and breed and then split.

On our visit they were outnumbered by guillemot and kittiwake and fulmar and razorbill, all back in their thousands to breed and then leave for their ocean lives.

Late April to early August is the peak viewing time.

The fastest ferry takes two hours to Larne from Cairnryan, Stranraer. poferries.com, Pitching up: trenchfarm.com rural peace on sheep and goat farm near Ballycastle.

Jordanstown Caravan Park: urban fringes on Belfast Lough, roomy and secure but noisy playground nearby. Cheap trains and buses into Belfast.