I'm working on an itinerary for a trip to Ireland in May 2007. My husband and I will be in Belfast for two days, and on the second day we'd like to see Giant's Causeway. We won't have a car at that point in the trip.

I've seen ads for sightseeing tours to the Causeway, but they seem to be about 8 hours long, making multiple stops. We're planning to fly out of Belfast that night, so we don't have 8 hours to spare.

Can you take a public bus to the Causeway? Anyone ever done it and have tips on which lines to take, etc.? Or, are there any shorter tours that you know of? We don't have a hotel picked out yet, but we're planning to stay somewhere central in Belfast, not outside the city.

Thanks!

I have a feeling you'll have to rent a car for that day. But it'll be worth it! If you have the time, be sure to stop and walk at several of the beaches en route -- and Dunluce Castle.

We were in the same predicament as you this past summer. There is a bus service and the Antrim Coaster and causeway coaster buses are there for you to take but....You will not regret renting a car for a wee bit - if you dont you may miss things like Ballintoy Harbour and Whitepark Bay-both very beautiful and not to be missed. The bus may get you there but not right to the attractions you may want to see. We rented from AutoEurope but most rates were compatible- drove from Belfast to Portballintrae and used it for a Causeway base (highly reccommend the Manor House). The car was cheap and a godsend in the end.
Have fun- its a beautiful country with wonderful people.

I went there in June this year, using the public bus services. We stayed in Derry a night, took a train to Coleraine then a bus to Ballycastle where we found a B&B; in the afternoon, we took a bus to the Causeway, then later to Carrick-a-Rede and back to Ballycastle; the next day, we got a bus along the coast to Larne, then a train into Belfast.
From Belfast to the Causeway, there are direct buses, or bus connections at Ballymena, or you can get a train to Coleraine then a bus. There is a journey planner on www.translink.co.uk. The journey takes about three hours each way, so it may be difficult to see much if you have only eight hours. There is a one-day ticket allowing unlimited travel on trains and buses in Northern Ireland for £14, so that is the most your trip should cost.

Thanks for the info!

Wow-- three hours each way?! I'd read that it was only 1.5 each way, but maybe the extra is to account for the bus stopping and changing buses and such.

We're pretty sure that we don't want to rent a car for just a few hours-- it's just too much hassle for such a short stop in Belfast, and I really doubt we'd have time to deal with rental and drop off PLUS driving to the Causeway in our limited time.

Maybe we'll have to just see Belfast city this time and hopefully see the Causeway on another trip. Bummer!

I also say rent a car. We also stopped at Ballentoy the only thing there is a very small cafe and the harbor it is well worth the stop very cute. Don't miss the scones and cream at this cafe they are wonderful. Ballentoy is like a picture post card.

My husband and I have been to Ireland twice. We've found that driving over there is MUCH slower than it is here. It took us 4 hours to go 120 miles (Dublin to Cookstown NI) and this was when were on our way home and fairly fresh. I would plan on at least twice as long to drive especially if you have never driven in Ireland. May I also say that one of you needs to be good at reading road signs and/or maps? We didn't take a "different" route very many times but it will happen because I misread the map. The hubby was just there to drive.

By the way, the Giant's Causeway is just awesome.

Thank you all for your feedback! We're still debating what to do about this issue, as we really don't want to rent a car for like 8 hours in Belfast. Seems like we'd waste a lot of time handling the car hire. However, we may be able to get a later flight to Edinburgh and take one of the 8 hour coach tours up the coast to G.C. We're thinking about the options. Sounds like the whole area is really worth seeing and I'm sorry we have such a short time to visit it.

We'll driving all over other parts of Ireland for the first week of our trip and have been reading all the posts on here about the difficulties of car rentals/insurance in Ireland, plus drive times and directions. I'm buying the Michelin map and plan to navigate (which I'm good at) while my husband drives the manual car (which he's good at). We've really tried to plan on only driving reasonable distances and staying at least 2 nights at every stop. I'm sure it'll be an adventure, but thanks to these boards I have a lot more information than I would have otherwise.

Thanks again!

I hope you can somehoe find the time to make this drive. I thought the drive along the coast from Belfast to the GC was one of the prettiest coastal drives I've ever made.

I'm a whole hearted supporter of taking the bus... but for 2 days, this would be a very difficult trip!

Yeah, seeing Giant's Causeway wasn't originally in our plan, as we're just stopping through Belfast briefly on our way to Edinburgh. But then I started reading how great G.C. was and thought maybe I could sneak it into our itinerary. It might be too ambitious this time-- we're still trying to decide.

This won't be my last trip to Ireland, for sure. So, I'm confident I'll see the area at some point. It's just a matter of whether it works on this trip.

Good for you for including Belfast in your tour! It's a lovely city. While Giant's Causeway is wonderful, the other places along the way (where the tour buses take you) that are mentioned in the posts above are equally awe-inspiring (if you see the GC but miss Dunluce and Carrick-a-Rede you're missing A LOT!!). Why not reconsider the tour groups? We took one--it was a mini-van, so only 8 people I think--and were so happy we did. First of all the coast road is NOT for faint-of-heart drivers, and on the 'wrong' side of the road, too! And you won't enjoy the spectacular scenery if you're driving. I can't recall the name of the tour we took but the van left from a Youth Hostel in Belfast.

There's an Avis office right in the city centre (Belfast), so it's really no hassle at all to rent a car just for the day.

I wouldn't trust the bus schedule if I had a flight I had to catch.