The spectacular Giant's Causeway Tour from Dublin takes you from Dublin to a magnificent UNESCO Heritage site in the northern half of Ireland! To join the tour, make your way to Suffolk Street, at the Old Church, Dublin City Centre.
You will leave Dublin at 0630h (6.30 am) and take the 100 mile (166 km) journey on the M1 straight up to the city of Belfast. At this point, your other tour companions, who are on the Belfast excursion, will transfer to another bus. During the day there will be ‘comfort stops’ every 1 ½ hours.
You will take the coast road from Larne, all the way to the Ballycastle. This glorious seaside route has been compared to the Great Ocean Road in Australia and California and you will soon see why!
The minute you leave the port town of Larne, you travel on a road built literally into the cliff-side around the rugged coastline of the north. You will pass through quaint little villages and also see the famous Nine Glens of Antrim. Your driver/guide will tell you gripping stories – some terrible, some hilarious – about the things that have happened there in the past.
After you reach the village of Ballycastle, the fun really starts, with a view-point over Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Twenty metres long and 30 metres above the rocks and sea, this famous wire rope suspension bridge links the mainland to the tiny Carrick Island. A good head for heights is required to walk across it! Can you do it?
You have 1 ½ hours to explore Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the area around it. Entry to the bridge is included in your tour and the fee goes to The National Trust which looks after parts of this coastline. Your tour company is happy to donate money towards this very worthy cause.
You will have lunch (payable direct) in the village of Ballintoy at a small pub before making our way to the
UNESCO Heritage site of the Giants Causeway, the main highlight of your tour.
This stunning incredible feature consists of about 40,000 interlocking polygonal basalt columns. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Geologists say the structure is a result of ancient volcanic eruptions, but local legends about battles between giants provide more entertaining and colourful explanations!
You have around 2 ½ hours to enjoy the Causeway. Stand and look out onto Rathlin Island and over to the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland, where similar polygonal basalt formations can be found. You can safely walk out on the Causeway and even sit in the ‘wishing chair’ in the middle of the rocks. Your tour operator recommends walking along the cliff top down to the staircase and returning via the lower road. This way, you get to see a bird’s eye view of the whole area and will be right in the middle of it.
After this, you will make our way back to Belfast where you get to spend an hour visiting the city. Recently voted 'Europe's Friendliest Regional Capital', Belfast is a compact and charming place of great historical, cultural and political importance.
Your tour takes 13 hours and at the end you will be dropped back at the starting point in Dublin.