The Giant’s Causeway is described as ‘timeless’ by Lonely Planet

The Giant's Causeway has been named the UK's third most incredible sight by Lonely Planet.

The world-famous Causeway Coast spot was ranked by the leading travel media company in a new list of the 500 most memorable, beautiful, surprising and compelling experiences to be had across Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.

For the first time, Lonely Planet's community of travel experts chose the best sights and experiences and ranked them in order of their brilliance in their new Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist.

Racing into the list in third position, the Giant's Causeway is described as "timeless" and "unrepeatable" and is beaten only by the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which has been named the UK's top experience, and London's British Museum - described as "the envy of the world" - at number two.

In total, 20 sights and experiences in Northern Ireland feature in the list.

These include taking in the grandeur and tragedy of Titanic Belfast at number 57 and sipping Guinness at the Crown Liquor Saloon at number 154, to clinging to the cliffs at Dunluce Castle at 164th place or a meander along stone walls in the Mourne Mountains at 210th.

The Lonely Planet team compiled each highlight from their guidebooks to Great Britain and Northern Ireland with every sight, attraction and experience that had caught their writers' attention over the years.

Alongside 20 leading figures in the country's travel sector, they were then asked to reveal their favourite destinations and experiences before the voting began.

Everybody in Lonely Planet's UK community was asked to vote for their top 20 experiences.

With hundreds of votes cast, Lonely Planet ended up with a score for each of the 500 experiences in the book.

Lonely Planet's vice president of experience Tom Hall said: "We're thrilled to name the Giant's Causeway as one of the UK's very best sights - alongside many other wonderful experiences in Northern Ireland including spotting puffins and seals on Rathlin Island and riding a boat through Co Fermanagh's Marble Arch Caves."

Belfast Telegraph