Giants Causeway

[Sallysushine]

Hello

Looking at visiting giants causeway. We are flying to Belfast and staying city centre. Just can't decide if we should book a coach tour or hire a car? Me and my husband are active and enjoy long walks.

If you hire a car you can get out and about much more in the countryside - there is a filming site somewhere near there (game of thrones) and a second national trust not far away (carrick a reed rope bridge) plus beautiful coasts and nature. I guess if you only want to go to GC and the other things you want to do are within the city, then a bus trip would probably be easier/cheaper?

We got there via train and bus from Belfast, but it is a beautiful area and it I’d been there for longer I’d definitely have wanted to hire a car and explore

We got a bus from Belfast which was easy but a car would have been useful as the scenery there was lovely and it would have given more freedom.

i wanted to walk the rope bridge - I believe you cannot do that if you are in a coach tour…. (I didn’t do in the end for various reasons)

Thank you. Car hire is coming out quite reasonable and there's free car parking at our hotel too so feeling like I'm leaning more that way! Also saves on the Uber costs to and from airport...

Absolutely by car . The coastal drive which takes in Giants Causeway is beautiful and there are many other spots to see. It's a perfect time to visit as tourist season is over . The rope bridge people are referring to is probably closed due to windy weather conditions.

NI is definitely a driving place unless you are just staying in Belfast. There is so much to do, just on the N Antrim coast

www.visitcausewaycoastandglens.com/

We hired a car and drove to the Giants Causeway. Was great as we also went to Ballintoy and Port Stewart. Gorgeous beach there for walking.

Car! There’s a lot to explore around there

We booked a one day coach trip from the city centre and did all of these plus stopping at a castle.

We got a coach tour, I particularly enjoyed it as the only driver and usually end up focusing on the road, so it was a nice opportunity to gaze at the scenery. Also, nice to be able to have drink with the pub lunch and a couple at the Bushmills distillery.

We have used the bus from the airport and to the giants causeway but it would be excellent to have a car so I’d go for that

Hey, Belfast native here. I would 100% recommend hiring a car. There are so many places near the giants causeway you could make a road trip out of it. Handy also for to and from the airport, trips into town or shops etc. We have loads to see and do in and around Belfast that having a car would make so much easier and cheaper for you. Would also recommend the hop on hop off bus in Belfast if you want to see some of the history.

I'm thinking of taking the ferry rather than flying so we can take the car when we go (hopefully next year)

Hire the car.

What time of year? Both sites are open all.year but more chance of closure during winter for Carrick-a-rede. It was only open three days this week.

Buy a National Trust Membership if you havent got one already - Giants Causeway and Carruck-a-Rede (rope bridge) are expensive but Giants Causeway includes a live tour, can't cross rope bridge without a ticket. You can park and walk down alone to the Causeway but I think for a first visit, its much better to have a guide.

Both sites have extensive hiking trials.

Coach tours are rushed, especially in winter when they are chasing limited light. You'll only see the Causeway. I go for a car.

Another option could be public transport - the 221 Translink service goes direct to The Causeway from Belfast at 9.20 and 10.20 and returns at 3.10 or 4.10. The 402 service would take you Carrick-a-Rede for the rope bridge as well - it is open year round but does close if its windy. If you are happy driving the Antrim Coast Road is lovely to drive and lots to see along the way - you can then go the more direct route in the opposite direction back to Belfast. The walk round the cliff at the Causeway is good - you can walk out along the cliff and down a set of slightly scary steps - depending on time of year early evening for sunset is a good time to go or you can come up the cliff and walk round the coastline.

We did a coach tour but hiring a car would be better if you like long walks, as we only had about 90 minutes at Giant’s Causeway and less time at the other spots. It was an excellent guided tour though and went to places I wouldn’t have known or chosen.

We took our car over on the ferry this summer and had a lovely time exploring County Antrim. There's more to do at the Giant's Causeway than I thought there would be. We had quite a long walk on the cliffs around the Causeway. There's also quite a big visitors centre with your typical National Trust gift shop, cafe etc that we spent a bit of time perusing. I don't know how long coach trips stay for but it's not somewhere I would rush.

I did public transport as well - didn't want to hire a car as I was on my own so wouldn't have appreciated the views anyway, and it would have been too stressful. And I didn't want the crowds of a coach tour. So I got a really early train ot Colraine, and then the coastal bus, and got to Giant's Causeway before the crowds, which was great. The bus then goes on to the rope bridge and passes by lots of other sites and you can get off at many of them right nearby. It was summer when I did it though so that might change the frequency of the coastal bus, but it seemed to be a regular bus for people living there so probably not.

We hired a car at the airport and stayed in city centre, the bus tour is great and visiting titanic museum.
The next day drove to GC, easy route and enjoyed it very much indeed.

Port stewart strand lovely in winter if you like a blowy beach walk, book harry's shack for the way back (beach restaurant at entrance to long strand)

I went with a coach and that included the rope bridge and all the sights. It was great.

when I went, the coach tours were not allowed at the rope bridge any longer, so might be worth checking if that's still the case

Everyone you take to Portstewart loves you can drive onto the beach, that's not a thing most places in the UK