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Northern Ireland 3-Day Tour from Dublin
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From €399 per person
This 3-day tour gets you out of Dublin and into some of Ireland’s most impressive landscapes and historically loaded cities, without the hassle of hiring a car or planning routes across the border.
Day 1: Dublin to Belfast
You depart from one of two central Dublin collection points and head north, stopping first at Monasterboice - a monastic settlement dating back to 501 AD, with some of the finest high crosses in Ireland. By late morning you’re in Belfast, where your driver takes you around the city’s key landmarks: City Hall, Queen’s University, Albert Clock, Botanic Gardens, and more. The afternoon is yours at leisure. The optional Black Taxi tour is well worth booking on the day - local drivers take you to the Peace Wall and the political murals of the Falls and Shankill Roads, and they’ll tell you what life was actually like in Belfast during the conflict from 1969 to 1998. That evening you’re staying downtown, close to plenty of good pubs, restaurants, and live music venues.
Day 2: The North Coast - Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Derry
The highlight day. You head out along the north coast, stopping first at the Dark Hedges - the beech tree avenue that appeared in Game of Thrones. Then it’s the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of roughly 40,000 interlocking basalt columns formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. Your guide covers the legend of Fionn Mac Cumhaill alongside the geology. Afterward, you visit the ruins of Dunluce Castle (paid entrance, included), perched dramatically on the clifftop above the Atlantic. The day ends in Derry, where you have time to explore at leisure.
Monasterboice on Day 1 is worth your full attention, even though it’s a short stop on the way north. The high crosses here - Muiredach’s Cross in particular - are among the best preserved in Ireland, with biblical carvings that are still sharp after more than a thousand years in the open air. It’s a very different kind of site from what you’ll see in Belfast, and it sets a nice context for the days ahead.
The Black Taxi tour in Belfast is genuinely one of the best things you can do in the city. The drivers grew up in those streets during the conflict. They’re not reciting a script - they’re telling you their own story and their neighbours’ stories. The murals along the Falls and Shankill Roads shift in meaning entirely when someone who lived through 1969 to 1998 is explaining what they represent. Don’t skip it if you can help it.
The Giant’s Causeway is busiest in the middle of the day, which is roughly when most tours arrive. If your guide can get you there early or late, the experience is completely different - fewer people, better light, and the columns feel more like a geological wonder and less like a theme park. The walk down from the visitor centre to the columns takes about 15 minutes, or there’s a shuttle if the group needs it.
Dunluce Castle on its clifftop is one of those views that looks almost too dramatic to be real. The ruins sit right at the edge of the cliff above the Atlantic, and the drop beneath the outer walls is significant. It’s genuinely atmospheric, especially if the weather is doing something interesting, which it usually is on the Antrim coast.
Derry’s city walls are among the best preserved in Europe and well worth a walk if you have time in the evening. The walled city is compact and the views from the ramparts over the Bogside are striking. The murals in the Bogside below - painted by the Bogside Artists - are a different experience from the Belfast murals but equally powerful.