Dublin to the Giant's Causeway

[TravellingSpoon]

Its my DD's birthday in October and for her birthday she really wants to go to the Giants Causeway. I had a Ryanair voucher so I have booked flights to Dublin. There are guided tours which are £££££ so I was thinking of just hiring a car and going ourselves.

Will I encounter any issues. Sorry for the ignorant question, but I have been to both Dublin and Belfast but never crossed the border and it was a few years ago.

What issues do you mean?

You may have to pay more for your hire car/insurance as you will be driving in two separate countries. I know you have already booked flights but it’s a fair old drive from Dublin to the Giant's Causeway....

Other than a long drive, I can't foresee any issues provided covid restrictions are over and done with.

I would work out the finances to be honest. Its 260 km from Dublin so factor in ant driving costs, petrol etc before you write off a bus tour. Ive found 2 leaving from Dublin for €55 a head. Other than that there's no border as such to cross.

I'm in Dublin and have got myself to Belfast no bother a few times.

So how to get from Dublin to Coleraine is the question I think. I think you can get a train to Belfast and change at Belfast. You should go to the titanic exhibition while you're in Belfast.

I wouldn't bank on the quarantine requirement being gone by October...! Since Feb, anyone entering Ireland from Britain (i.e., not NI) has to quarantine for 14 days, or if you test negative after 5 days you can end the quarantine period early. It's quarantine at home or in a private residence, not hotel quarantine, but it's still mandatory unless you have one of a tiny list of exemptions.

The last semi-official word I heard was that the Irish govt expected quarantine rules to be in force until the end of the year, but there was a possibility of vaccine passports being added to the exemption list. The current vaccine passport plans are EU-based, though, so not sure if the UK will be part of it.

If you're coming from Britain, would you not just skip the uncertainty and fly into Belfast?

You just drive up! Will probably take about 3-4 hours depending on if you stop, it's motorway for a good bit of it then good enough roads past Ballymena and Ballymoney to take you to bushmills/Portrush. You could do the coast road but it would be significantly longer.
There is no physical border, you dont stop at a border (this is pre Covid times)
Or alternatively drive to Belfast and do the coach tour from there, might be cheaper and parking in Belfast isn't expensive, its only £6 a day in castlecourt.

I picked up a hire car from Dublin Airport. They told me that if I was planning to drive to the north I would have to pay extra insurance.

I had only 2 minor issues. The first was that I didn't use a credit card for booking (didn't read the small print). I don't own one and they were in their rights to refuse to hire the vehicle to me.

The second issue was the car was in kilometres and when I crossed the border it is all in miles. I found it difficult to know what speed I should be driving at.

It is a long drive, so I would consider staying over night up that way. There are lots of lovely places to visit in the North.

Enjoy your time x

P.s. why not stay in Belfast and just avoid the south, their vaccination programme is going very slow so they might not be allowing travel even by October, NI is significantly further along and there's loads of great things to do

There are no checks at the border. You’ll only be aware you’ve even crossed it when the road signs start displaying miles instead of KM.

It would be a long drive to do in one day. I would stay over up north somewhere.

Unless you were planning on spending time in Dublin then flying into Belfast or Derry would've been easier. I would hire a car though. It's a really easy drive- 3 hrs maximum really. Motorway the whole way to Belfast, then come off the M2 and there's signs for the causeway coastal route. If you're staying overnight there's a lovely hotel overlooking the harbour in portballintrae.

I do the Belfast-Dublin trip regularly which is v straightforward, it’s literally one straight road and there’s no border to worry about.

But it’s a really long drive once you add in the giants causeway element, I would do what I could to avoid a return trip on the same day.

If you’re put off staying in NI because of the recent trouble, don’t be.

Check out prices, but probably cheaper & less hassle to fly to Belfast international & hire a car there, even with what you've already paid for Dublin flights. My dad often says about the causeway, 'it's worth seeing but not worth going to see'

There's a lot of good stuff nearby though & you could stay in nearby Portrush overnight-it has a few good eateries. Check out the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, (about an hours walk to cross), and Dunluce castle.

You might find it better value to buy an annual pass to National Trust for the price of tickets for a couple of places.

My dad often says about the causeway, 'it's worth seeing but not worth going to see'

Yes!

It’s a lovely bit of scenery but I’d have to say if I was arriving after a 3.5 hour drive and facing doing the same journey back again I’d feel a bit anticlimactic!

I would not bank on covid not being an issue flying into Dublin in October. Other than that, no border restrictions.

Oh no don't do a guided tour unless you want the atmosphere of loads of other holiday makers

Stay in Ballintoy there is a great hostel there Sheep Island View they have double en-suite rooms etc

But I would see the causeway as a small part of the trip and use it as an opportunity to visit the north coast bush mills inn is great for lunch, beautiful to stay on for a romantic break but is £££ so that's why I suggested the hostel in Ballintoy, beautiful village with great pubs and harbour is lovely.

Maybe 2 days there then either go snd stay in derry, great city, wonderful people and food, Donegal at your doorstep with beautiful beaches etc

Or alternatively do a city break in Belfast or Dublin but you would need to break up the journey from Dublin to north antrim coast by a few days.

We flew into Belfast and hired a car. It was a stunning drive down the antrim coast. There's no need to book a guided tour.