We recently planned a long weekend in Belfast and included a short road trip up the coast to see the Giant’s Causeway. For one reason and another we arrived at the Giant’s Causeway in the middle of the afternoon on a particularly sunny day in May, by which time this bucket list UNESCO Heritage Site destination was crawling with tourists, making it difficult to fully enjoy, and take people free photographs! Here’s how I would do things differently on a long weekend visit to Belfast.
When to visit Belfast and see the Giant’s Causeway?
There is no right or wrong time to visit Belfast – it will always be a good destination for a city break or long weekend. Similarly, the Giant’s Causeway is a popular destination year-round. That said, the crowds will be smaller in the colder months of the year, so visiting in spring, autumn or winter could be a good idea for your visit – if the weather is ‘wintery’ then it could make for some dark and moody photographs which will accentuate the already dramatic scenery of the Giant’s Causeway.
The countryside of Northern Ireland is exceptionally green and there is a reason for this – it rains an awful lot. However, you could as easily get rain in the summer, as you could get sunshine in winter, so just must take what nature offers you in terms of the weather. As the saying goes, ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes’!
Day 1 – Head straight to Bushmills village on arrival
Pick up your hire car hire and head to Bushmills
If you can arrive in Belfast on a flight by mid-morning, this enables you to pick up a hire car at the airport and head north straight out of the city to Bushmills village. It takes just over an hour to drive from Belfast to Bushmills, the village with the famous Bushmills Whiskey Distillery and jumping off point for the Giant’s Causeway.
NOTE – just be aware that there are 3 airports for Belfast: Belfast International Airport, George Best Belfast City (serving UK and Europe), and City of Derry airport (regional airport).
Take a tour of the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery
If you plan to visit Bushmills Whiskey Distillery, then they offer several different tours ranging from 1 hour to 2.5 hours. Some start between 2.00-3.00pm which are generally the latest tours of the day. Whichever tour you want to do, make sure that you pre-book it as the tours do sell out.
NOTE – Whiskey in Northern Ireland is spelt with an ‘e’ and Whisky in Scotland is spelt without the ‘e’!
Book into your accommodation
Check into your accommodation in Bushmills village or a nearby town, so that you are well positioned for your sightseeing and visit to the Giant’s Causeway. The Bushmills Inn is an old coaching in offering smart boutique accommodation, but there are lots of other options you can explore on Booking.com.
Visit the Giant’s Causeway either late or early in the day
Option 1 is to visit the Giant’s Causeway on your arrival day, either in the late afternoon or evening once most crowds (mostly on bus tours) have left for the day.
Option 2 is to visit the Giant’s Causeway early in the morning before the bus tours start to arrive.
Read Part 2 of my blog to find out what happened when we visited at sunrise on another occasion.
Whether you visit on your arrival day may depend on whether you have included a Bushmills Whiskey Distillery visit or not. Either way, arriving first thing in the morning or later in the day helps you to avoid the bulk of the visitors, which should enhance your enjoyment of visiting the Giant’s Causeway. It may still be busy, but just not crazy busy.
How to access the Giant’s Causeway
Pay for the Visitors Centre
The Giant’s Causeway is on National Trust land and so the easiest, but most expensive, way to visit is to pay £15.50 per adult (the 2024 peak season price) to park in the official car park with access into the Visitor Centre, café, shop and toilets. The entrance fee also includes an entertaining audio handset which tells you about what you are seeing, how the Giant’s Causeway was formed and about the myths surrounding the Giant’s Causeway, including the Giant himself, Finn McCool. The Visitor Centre is usually open from 9.00am until 5.00pm.
Cheaper parking options
If you are hoping for a cheaper option, and are not bothered about accessing the facilities inside the Visitor Centre or the audio handset, then there is another car park up the hill on the Causeway Coastal Path which costs around £10.00 per car. Once parked up, you can walk down the hill to the Giant’s Causeway, which is accessed to the right of (but not through) the Visitor Centre.
From the Visitor Centre to the Giant’s Causeway
The walk from the Visitor Centre to the Giant’s Causeway takes about 20 minutes downhill on a well paved road. If you would prefer not to walk, there is a shuttle bus operating, there and back, on the road from the Visitor Centre to the Giant’s Causeway for a small amount (currently £1.00). However, because of the queues on a busy day it is probably quicker just to walk.
What will you find at the Giant’s Causeway?
In summary, a fascinating geological feature comprised of 60 million-year-old pieces of volcanic lava cooled into 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns. These basalt columns fit together in incredible patterns and form 3 rocky outcrops into the Atlantic Ocean which you can walk on with care.
If you’re lucky when you visit, you will be able to sit in the Wishing Chair, a throne of stone created by the hexagonal columns on top of one of the rocky outcrops. Unfortunately we couldn’t get near it when we visited – people were queuing to sit in the Wishing Chair, and those sitting in it were there for some time.
There is nowhere else like the Giant’s Causeway, which is one of the reasons why it was given UNESCO Heritage Status in 1986. The Causeway is surrounded by rugged coastline and green cliffs. You can walk up the Shepherd’s Steps to the cliff path if you walk to combine the Giant’s Causeway with a longer walk of around 8 km (5 miles) and views across to the Isle of Islay, Scotland, on a clear day. The Shepherd’s Steps pass a striking rock structure called the Organ Pipes in the cliff face.
Day 2 – Take the scenic route back to Belfast
Take the Causeway Coastal Route
If you visited the Giant’s Causeway at the end of Day 1, then you can make an early start back to Belfast after breakfast, ideally via the scenic Causeway Coastal Route. On this route there are beautiful views of the coast and several notable stops including: the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge at Ballycastle (another National Trust property but these needs booking!) or the caves at Cushendun.
Game of Thrones filming sites
If you are Game of Thrones fans then there are numerous sights in the area that you might recognise from the series, including the Dark Hedges which are on the in-land route back to Belfast. Indeed, there are plenty of dedicated From Belfast: Giant’s Causeway and Game of Thrones Day Tour available with Get Your Guide if you want to make this a focus of your trip.
Head into Belfast to explore the city
When you reach Belfast airport, return your hire car and take a taxi into the city which is only a 10-minute ride from George Best Belfast City or 30 minutes from Belfast International Airport.
Once you’ve checked into your Belfast accommodation, you might have some time to wander around town, visit the shops around Victoria Square or Queens Arcade, or admire some of the buildings in town – the Ulster Hall (a concert venue where Led Zeppelin first played ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in public) or the Belfast Civic Hall surrounded by various statues including the Titanic Memorial.
Book a Snug at The Crown, Belfast, for pre-dinner drinks
The Crown Liquour Saloon (once a Victorian Gin Palace) is a stunning tiled building with stained glass windows opposite the famous Europa Hotel (sadly a contender for the title of ‘World’s most bombed hotel’ due to being bombed 33 times between 1971 and 1994).
The Crown has retained its wooden booths (‘Snugs’) dating from 1880 which were designed to allow ‘ladies or high society’ to have a drink without being observed. The Snugs can be reserved ahead of your visit if you fancy a quiet and cosy pint of Guinness.
Alternatively, you can visit the Kings Head pub in the Cathedral Quarter for some live Irish music and ‘craic’ (good times) before your dinner.
Day 3 – Enjoy a Titanic Experience or Political Black Cab Tour of Belfast
The Titanic Experience
After a hearty cooked breakfast (or ‘Ulster fry’) to set you up for the day, go early to the Titanic Experience to explore this tragic story which is so intertwined with the history of the city; if you can, book a guided tour of the museum so your guide can bring it to life for you.
Outside the museum, admire the dry dock and slipways outside where the Titanic ship was built and launched. The huge yellow cranes of Harland & Wolff are a reminder of the company which built the Titanic and can be seen from many points across the city.
Walk back into central Belfast along Mariner’s Mile passing lots of shipping related artefacts.
Political Black Cab Tour of West Belfast
Book a Belfast: Political Taxi Tour of West Belfast through Get Your Guide to discover more about ‘The Troubles’. Your driver will take you along the Falls Road and Shankill Road and show you the Peace Lines or Peace Walls dividing these two areas. The walls are decorated by murals of different political affiliations and associations, many calling for peace in current conflicts taking place around the World.
Our tour guide was great and gave insights which were new to me, however the history of The Troubles is so long and complex that a one-hour tour is only ever going to scratch the surface, but is an important start.
Other ideas for your weekend visit to Belfast
The city of Belfast has lots more to offer including museums, Botanical Gardens, the Victorian St George’s Market and lots of great restaurants and bars so, if you are like me, you will probably come home from your weekend with a list of things to do next time around!
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