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NI trip in October. Silly or great idea?

8 replies

poggleton · 21/09/2026 12:12

Family of 4 with two teen DCs. Our October half term plans have fallen through so I’m wondering if we take this opportunity to take the DCs to Ireland? DH has family there but they’ve never been (and really want to go).

Initial plan is to fly in and out of Belfast and hire a car. I night Belfast, one night Derry, one night near to Giants Causeway. Possibly night 2 in Armagh if family are around.
Definitely want to go to Derry as I’ve never been, DC has just finished watching Derry Girls which they loved and has now led them into a deep dive into the history of the Troubles, Bloody Sunday, they really want to learn and understand.
Another must would be opportunities to experience trad music which both my DCs love.
I know it’ll be cold and probably rainy but that’s ok.
I’d love any recommendations firstly if it’s a stupid time to go, and if not what we can do / where we should visit to make the most of four nights.
Thanks!

OP posts:
EssexCat · 21/09/2026 12:22

It’s a great idea! We’ve been about times - all in October half term, and yes there is a bit of drizzle sometimes but we’ve also had absolutely glorious weather.

Plus the touristy sites are a lot quieter, the accommodation is loads cheaper and the cafes and pubs always have seats.

Also the weather up there even in summer is very changeable. So it’s probably going to rain anyway!

We absolutely love it - and am sad not to be going this year (doing northern Scotland instead)

MissMarvelMum · 21/09/2026 12:26

We went to Belfast in the summer! Flew to Belfast hired, a car and drove up the coast to the giants causeway! Beautiful 😍 we went to a wee town a few miles away called port rush and there was a beach, rides, lots for the kids to do! We loved it! We also went to Belfast zoo which we all really enjoyed aswell! We stayed in a premier inn for the time we were there so it was cheap and cheerful! There is the titanic museum and we also done the open top bus along the peace wall ect which was really interesting. I hope yous go and I hope yous love it as much as we did!

PineConesAndBerries · 21/09/2026 12:30

My dds went to Belfast when they were 16 and 19 as a little mini break. They enjoyed it. They did a red bus tour which took them to all the major sites. They also went on a coach trip to Giants Causeway and the Dark Hedges and a couple of castles. They stayed in a Premier Inn in the centre

Fiddlesticks1 · 21/09/2026 12:39

We did Belfast earlier in the year. Whatever you do don’t miss going to the Titanic experience. It is absolutely amazing.I highly recommend the bus tour as well. It’s hop on hop off and we had a female driver who was amazing. We did a day trip to Giants Causeway and stopped off at various points along the route. Perhaps wouldn’t suit you if you want to fit in Derry as well. We stayed in a Premier Inn which was very central. The bus ride into Belfast is reasonably priced and takes you to the main station.
We loved our trip and actually wished we had gone for longer. We relied on public transport and taxis which were very cheap.

Emilesgran · 21/09/2026 12:39

poggleton · 21/09/2026 12:12

Family of 4 with two teen DCs. Our October half term plans have fallen through so I’m wondering if we take this opportunity to take the DCs to Ireland? DH has family there but they’ve never been (and really want to go).

Initial plan is to fly in and out of Belfast and hire a car. I night Belfast, one night Derry, one night near to Giants Causeway. Possibly night 2 in Armagh if family are around.
Definitely want to go to Derry as I’ve never been, DC has just finished watching Derry Girls which they loved and has now led them into a deep dive into the history of the Troubles, Bloody Sunday, they really want to learn and understand.
Another must would be opportunities to experience trad music which both my DCs love.
I know it’ll be cold and probably rainy but that’s ok.
I’d love any recommendations firstly if it’s a stupid time to go, and if not what we can do / where we should visit to make the most of four nights.
Thanks!

If it's at Halloween, as I assume your half term is, you DEFINITELY have to go to Derry for that. It's become a massive thing, and the streets are full - it's really great.

Also Martin Crossan tours visiting the walls on foot is good: it was originally about the troubles and the history of the town in general but they'll tell you something about the Derry Girls etc as well as far as I recall - I've done it a couple of times when we've had foreign visitors and enjoyed it myself. It depends a bit on who your guide is but I couldn't tell you now which one is best: Martin himself has sadly died since he set it up.

Giant's Causeway - often a freezing day out IMO, even in summer, so in October??

OTOH check if the boat trips to see it from the sea are still going at that time of year: you're inside the boat so you're sheltered from the weather, and I found it great - though TBF as I've done the land version more times than I can remember, I don't feel the need to do the walks again: maybe for someone who's never set foot on it and is well wrapped up it might be worth a short time walking along the path.

And the visitors' centre too I guess.

I'm not from Belfast so maybe someone from there can give you more detail about to do, but Belfast is good too. The Titanic centre, obviously.

Music, you can find in Derry and Belfast, but I couldn't tell you which places offhand as it also depends what days you'd be visiting. Peadar O'Donnell's in Waterloo Street is probably the best-known one in Derry, but there are days where's no music there. Waterloo St has several actually: the Gweedore Bar, the Dungloe Bar, The Castle (just nearby, it's probably actually in Castle Street) or Badgers, in Orchard Street.
Here's a link here for music in Belfast: https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/live-music-belfast/

The Culturlann in Derry might be a good place to find out what's going on too.

pubs with live music belfast

Live Music Belfast: 9 Pubs for TRAD in 2026

If you're looking for the best live music in Belfast tonight, have a read of this. You'll find pubs playing trad music in Belfast today.

https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/live-music-belfast/

honeyrider · 21/09/2026 13:22

I'm going for a break during midterm and staying with family in Galway for a couple of nights then a couple of nights in Sligo, then Derry, Castlewellan and I've yet to book another place to shorten the journey back to Waterford.

I know there's a risk of rain but if we have dry days I'll take that as a bonus.

I've been to Belfast a couple of times and loved it. The only county I haven't been to is Derry.

Anonanonanonagain · 22/09/2026 11:56

I would do two nights in Derry, its stunning so much to see both inside and outside the walls. You will have a great time there around halloween too and get the trad music there for sure.

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