Giant's Causeway from Belfast: Dunluce Castle & Bushmills Whiskey

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.84 (538 reviews) 89% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/12

Duration7h 30m

GroupUp to 50

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Basalt columns and castle ruins: a day on Northern Ireland's north coast

You travel north from Belfast through the Glens of Antrim to Giant's Causeway, walk among the basalt columns, and stop at Dunluce Castle, Bushmills Distillery for whiskey tasting, and the Dark Hedges. Pickup and entry to the Causeway are included, and the fixed itinerary means you don't have to plan the route or timing yourself.

7h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Giant's Causeway and Antrim Coast Tour

Travel from Belfast to Giant's Causeway
Explore Giant's Causeway and learn legends
Stop at Portaneevy viewpoint
Visit Dunluce Castle and take photos
Whiskey tasting at Bushmills Distillery
Stop at Dark Hedges Game of Thrones site
Comfort break at Carnlough village
Drive through the Nine Glens of Antrim
Return to Belfast via scenic coast road

The Experience

The coach pulls away from Belfast City Centre and the Antrim Coast Road opens up ahead—one of Europe's most scenic drives, they say, and you'll see why within the first hour. The route climbs through the Nine Glens of Antrim, past small villages that look like they've been there for centuries, and the guide points out the landscape as it changes. You're heading north toward Giant's Causeway, the World Heritage site that's the anchor of the day, but there are five stops before you get there and three after, so the rhythm is stop, walk, listen, back on the coach, repeat.

Giant's Causeway itself is the geological oddity—around 40,000 basalt columns, mostly hexagonal, stacked like a giant's staircase into the sea. The access is free, and you'll have time to walk among them and hear the story of Finn McCool, the Irish giant who built the causeway to walk to Scotland. After that, the day moves through Portaneevy viewpoint (where you see Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge from a distance and Rathlin Island beyond it), a 10-minute photo stop at Dunluce Castle—a 14th-century ruin perched on a cliff—and then Carnlough village, a fishing harbor that doubled as a Game of Thrones location. The 15-minute break there is enough to stretch and grab a coffee if you want one.

Old Bushmills Distillery, the world's oldest licensed distillery, gets a proper stop. You'll have time to walk through the gift shop and do a whiskey tasting—they'll walk you through a dram or two, and it's not rushed. The Dark Hedges, a tree-lined lane famous from the same HBO series, is a quick stop on the way back, mostly for photos. The return journey follows the coast road again, and by then you've seen enough of the landscape that it feels familiar rather than new. Pickup and drop-off are from a designated meeting point in Belfast, and the guide provides live commentary the whole way, so you're not just sitting in silence between stops.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel or city-centre pickup and drop-off, a local guide and driver, free entry to Giant's Causeway, live commentary throughout the journey, a whiskey tasting at Old Bushmills Distillery, and stops at Dunluce Castle, Dark Hedges, Portaneevy viewpoint, and Carnlough village. You'll travel the Antrim Coast Road and through the Nine Glens of Antrim on the return journey.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Odyssey Coach Tours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, and the Antrim Coast in one day without arranging your own transport or timing the stops—the fixed route and included pickup mean you just show up and travel.