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From Dublin: All-Day Belfast Tour with Guide and Driver
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From €7 per person
A full day heading north from Dublin through some of Ireland’s most historically layered countryside, finishing in Belfast city. The tour runs in luxury Mercedes vehicles with an English-speaking driver, and pick-up is available from Dublin Airport or your hotel.
The first stop is the Boyne Visitor Centre, where you can step into the story of the famous Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and learn about the area’s history. From there, it’s about an hour’s drive to Carlingford - a medieval village on the Cooley Peninsula with ancient buildings and a castle, looking out over Carlingford Lough towards Northern Ireland. There’s an optional ferry crossing from Carlingford to Newcastle in County Down, weather permitting.
Newcastle itself is a seaside town and a holiday favourite with locals, good for a lunch stop and some fresh fish and chips. The day finishes in Belfast, where you’ll take in the story of the Titanic and visit the famous Peace Walls.
In Carlingford, the medieval grid is easy to walk in fifteen minutes, but if you have extra time the Carlingford Lough Greenway is a flat off-road trail along the old Dundalk, Newry and Greenore railway line with the Mourne Mountains filling the view across the water. The path runs towards Omeath and is the most relaxed way to take in the fjord. If you want a quick bite before boarding the ferry, PJ O’Hare’s on Tholsel Street has been doing the job since 1865 - the bone whistle behind the bar has a story the staff will tell you if you ask.
King John’s Castle in Carlingford sits on a pinnacle of rock at the harbour entrance. You can see it clearly from the water crossing to Newcastle. It was Hugh de Lacy who started building in the 1180s; King John himself turned up in 1210 and lent it his name.
In Newcastle, the town sits between the sea and Slieve Donard (850 metres, highest peak in Northern Ireland). After lunch, the short walk from the seafront up through Donard Park gives you a feel for the Mourne landscape without committing to the full mountain. The Mourne Wall visible on the ridges was built entirely by hand between 1904 and 1922 by the Belfast Water Commissioners.
Timing note: the ferry from Carlingford is weather-dependent - if seas are rough the driver will take the road route. Either way you arrive in Newcastle for the lunch stop, so the day’s rhythm holds.