Rail to Belfast, then coach west along the Antrim coast to the Giant’s Causeway - that’s the shape of this day. Railtours Ireland handles all the logistics: they meet you at Dublin Connolly, hand you a travel pack, put a host on the trains, and a driver/guide on the coach. Thirteen hours from start to finish, and you don’t need to organise a thing.
The centrepiece is the Causeway. You get around 2 hours at one of the world’s most striking coastal formations - roughly 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, most of them hexagonal, laid down by volcanic activity about 60 million years ago. UNESCO gave it World Heritage status in 1986 and the National Trust manages it today. The cliff path above the stones is just as worth your time as the columns themselves.
The route takes you through antrim and passes Belfast before heading west along the coast - a city that’s rewritten its story in the last 25 years and well worth a return visit on its own.
What’s Included
Information pack
Driver/guide
Host on trains
Air-conditioned vehicle
What’s Not Included
Food and drinks
Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Local charge to cross the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (open March to October only)
Itinerary
Photo stop - A 10-minute stop en route for photos.
Giant’s Causeway - Around 2 hours to explore the basalt columns on the Antrim coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site managed by the National Trust.
Good to Know
Group size capped at 53
Tour conducted in English
Not recommended for travellers with spinal injuries or pregnant travellers
Infants and small children can travel in a pram or stroller
Service animals welcome
Public transport available nearby
Check in at the Railtours Ireland stand in the main concourse of Dublin Connolly station - look for the rep in a bright yellow jacket holding your travel pack. Check-in closes 20 minutes before departure.
Local Tips
Find the yellow jacket, not the ticket windows. The Railtours Ireland stand is in the main concourse at Connolly, not at the regular ticket desks. The 20-minute check-in window is firm - miss it and you miss the train.
The basalt columns are free; the Visitor Centre is not. The National Trust charges a separate entry fee for the exhibition inside. The columns themselves are freely accessible from outside, so if your 2 hours feels tight, walk the cliff path and the foreshore first.
Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge costs extra on the day. The bridge near the Causeway is open March to October and takes you 30 metres above the sea to a small island once used by salmon fishermen. It isn’t included in the tour price - bring payment and decide quickly if the option comes up during the day.
Bushmills is 3km from the stones. The village has the world’s oldest licensed distillery - the licence goes back to 1608. Come back independently and the narrow-gauge Causeway and Bushmills Railway runs between the village and the stones.
Belfast deserves its own trip. The Titanic Quarter is built on the actual slipway where RMS Titanic was constructed. The Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street is a Victorian gin palace now run by the National Trust. The Enterprise from Connolly runs roughly hourly and takes just over two hours direct.
Nearby on IrelandMe
Belfast - Northern Ireland’s capital, with the Titanic Quarter, the Crown Liquor Saloon, and a city that’s rewritten its story since 1998.
Bushmills - The village closest to the Causeway stones; Old Bushmills Distillery and the narrow-gauge heritage railway back to the columns.
Ballycastle - At the eastern end of the Causeway Coast, with the Rathlin Island ferry and Fair Head clifftop walk on its doorstep.
