Getting Around

Getting Around

Northern Ireland is small—about half the size of Delaware and less than one-fifth the size of the Republic of Ireland, its neighbor to the south. And because it's so small, one option is to simply base yourself in the two main cities, Belfast and Derry, and make day trips out. However, one of the real glories of Ulster is its endless supply of spectacular rural scenery, so much so that you may find yourself ho-humming at your umpteenth view of emerald-green glens. The good news is that bus travel is both quick and fairly priced. The extensive network of the state-owned Ulsterbus (www.ulsterbus.co.uk) means it's easy to reach many towns. The bad news is that Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) is sorely limited, with only three main routes: Belfast-Derry, Belfast-Bangor, and Belfast-Dublin. In the past decade, however, more runs have been scheduled, along with an official merger of the national bus and train system, now officially dubbed Translink (www.translink.co.uk). That noted, in many areas, including the wildly popular Causeway Coast, you'll definitely end up on such bus routes as the Causeway Coast Express if you don't drive a car.