ON THE FAR EDGE

The Gobbins Cliff Path in Ireland is considered one of the most dramatic walks in the world. JOANNA LOBO  puts on her hiking boots to find out why

- JOANNA LOBO

“YOU NEED HARD BOOTS,” my strapping guide Barbara, looking fitter than most of us in that room, takes one look at my shoes and shakes her head. My sports shoes, trusty aides during my Ireland trip, do not pass muster. I change into hard hiking boots for ‘better grip on mossy paths and to reduce the risk of falling’, and a hard hat ‘so my head doesn’t bump against the top of caves or the side of rocks’. It’s the first sign that I am about to undertake a gruelling, but thrilling adventure.

It is quite the initiation into The Gobbins Cliff Path (thegobbinscliffpath.com), considered by many to be the most dramatic walk in the world. It’s a befitting title for a path that meanders along a cliff face, across deftly engineered bridges, steps, coves, and even a tunnel below sea level.

The Gobbins is located off the coast of Islandmagee, wrapped around basalt cliffs of Antrim County’s coastline. It is less than an hour away from Belfast and is one of the stops on the picturesque Causeway Coastal Route that stretches from Belfast to Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The cliff path launched in 1902, entertaining thrill-seekers for three decades before closing during the Second World War. After another opening and closure, this one lasting 50 years, it reopened in 2016 fitted with extra armour—15 new bridges and six elevated paths made of steel.