You depart from 59 O’Connell Street (outside the Dublin Bus Head Office) at 7:15 AM and spend the day working through some of the best scenery Northern Ireland has to offer before returning to the capital in the evening.
Around 9:15 AM there’s a 15-minute rest stop at Park Centre, Belfast, where you’ll find a café and bathroom facilities - a good chance to grab a coffee or a bite to eat before the main stops begin.
The first major stop is Dunluce Castle at around 11:00 AM. One of the most dramatic landmarks on the Antrim Coast and a Game of Thrones filming location, the clifftop ruin is genuinely spectacular. You get 30 minutes to explore, and entrance is included.
At around 11:45 AM, you arrive at the Giant’s Causeway, the UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its 40,000-plus interlocking basalt columns. You have 2.5 hours to walk the legendary columns, explore the coastal trails, and hear the myths surrounding this natural wonder. Lunch options are available nearby at The Nook pub, though the cost is at your own expense.
The day wraps up in Belfast, where you arrive just after 3:00 PM for a complimentary 70-minute guided walking tour taking in Belfast City Hall, St. George’s Market, Victoria Square, and more of the city centre. After the tour, you have free time to explore, shop, or find somewhere to eat before the coach departs for Dublin.
The tour returns to Dublin with a drop-off on D’Olier Street at roughly 8:00 PM, right in the heart of the city centre next to Temple Bar, with easy access to public transport, taxis, restaurants, and pubs.
Good to Know
Departure is at 7:15 AM from 59 O’Connell Street, Dublin (outside Dublin Bus Head Office)
Drop-off is on D’Olier Street, Dublin at approximately 8:00 PM
Entrance to Dunluce Castle is included in the tour price
Lunch at The Nook pub near the Giant’s Causeway is available but not included in the price
The 70-minute Belfast walking tour is complimentary and covers the main city centre highlights
Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a waterproof layer for the Causeway
Local Tips
Dunluce Castle with 30 minutes is a proper visit, not just a photo stop. This is more time than most tours give you here. Walk the full site - the outer walls, the inner ward, and the cliff edge on the seaward side where the kitchen supposedly fell into the sea one night with the cooks in it. The site also covers the remains of a lost 17th-century settlement discovered by archaeologists in 2011. Use all 30 minutes.
The 2.5 hours at the Giant’s Causeway is the most time any Dublin day-trip gives you at the stones. Walk the main column formation first, then double back up the Shepherd’s Steps to the clifftop path for the view back down the coast. If the weather is decent, the cliff path west of the columns is as good as the columns themselves, and far less crowded.
The Belfast walking tour takes in St George’s Market, which is worth knowing about for next time. The Saturday food market (9am to 3pm) is one of the best in Northern Ireland - local sourdough, soda farls, a dozen breakfast bap stalls, and live music. If you’re building a return visit to Belfast around this tour, a Saturday morning at the market is a good anchor.
Currency matters at the rest stop and the Causeway. You’re in Northern Ireland for most of the day, so GBP is the currency. The Park Centre café at the rest stop takes cards, but smaller stalls and the Nook pub may prefer cash. An ATM at the rest stop is worth a quick stop if you didn’t come prepared.
Bushmills is the village your two main stops are built around. Dunluce Castle is a five-minute drive west of the village; the Giant’s Causeway is three kilometres up the road to the north-east. The village itself has the Bushmills Inn with its gas-lit bar and peat fire, and the Old Bushmills Distillery on the River Bush - the licence dates to 1608 though the current company started in 1784. This tour doesn’t stop in the village itself, but it’s the useful base if you come back for more than a day.
Nearby on IrelandMe
Belfast - the 70-minute walking tour gives you the highlights; the Crown Liquor Saloon, Kelly’s Cellars, and Cave Hill on the edge of the city make the case for coming back properly
Bushmills - the Causeway Coast village three kilometres from the stones and five minutes from Dunluce Castle, with the world’s oldest licensed distillery (1608) and a narrow-gauge heritage railway that runs between the village and the columns
