Travel through gorgeous coastal terrain, including the Glens of Antrim, on this 2-day trip to Northern Ireland from Dublin. Head to Belfast by train for an overnight stay, and then enjoy a scenic coach day tour along the Antrim Coast Road with a knowledgeable guide. En route, you’ll stop in the town of Ballycastle, walk along the stunning basalt columns of Giant’s Causeway and get great photos of Dunluce Castle. Depending on the season, you might even cross the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge!
NB: Winter Schedule (November-March): The winter schedule does not take in the Causeway Coastal Route, along Northern Ireland’s Antrim Coast. From November - March, we join the tour at Ballycastle, approximately 10 minutes from the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
Posted By : Linda_L
Great tour, cold and wet at the causeway. Not fun. Rained all day, our tour guide Ray was wonderful.
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Posted On : 2022-05-01 03:08:49 
Posted By : Rebecca R
My friend and I had a great experience on this tour. Everyone we worked with was very helpful and friendly. Our bus driver Patrick was totally great, and the folks at the Railtours were also great! We did this tour upon arriving in Ireland and I was nice to know we didn't have to plan or do much more than just show up on time. Hotel accommodations were great as well. I would recommend this tour hands down!
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Posted On : 2020-01-08 10:07:02
Posted By : Explorer23982598419
Sean, Paul, and Peter were knowledgeable and personable. They went over and above to make this a once in a lifetime experience!
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Posted On : 2019-10-11 14:21:41
Posted By : Annabella B
We were the last group to board McCombs' bus at Carrickfergus. Superior view seats were already occupied. Bus did not have panoramic windows which I would have expected on this coastal route. Disappointing to have very restricted view of coastline.
Did not visit Dunluce Castle as advertised.
I learnt interesting history about local fishermen's use of Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge when there. Sea-life is visible in the ocean below.
Lunch stop differed from advertised. Ours was called something like Londonderry Arms. Time allocated and rushed service was poor despite pre-ordering on-board.
Rock formations at Giant’s Causeway were stunning. Shuttle bus broke down and blocked the narrow road to all vehicles. Walked back to bus.
Arrived back in Belfast around 7pm taking the non-scenic route. No chance to see the coast again.
My included hotel, the Europa, was lovely.
First hop-on bus departs 10 am, thereafter every half hour. Despite pre-booking shuttle pick-up from hotel, the driver didn't stop. Representative surly when I complained. Titanic Museum was packed by the time I finally got there.
To conclude: Problems lay not with Railtours but with the companies they engage. Perhaps I struck a bad day. I would use Irish rail trains and Europa Hotel again. I wouldn’t bother with the bus tours offered. I would take a taxi to The Titanic Museum then a guided tour of the murals. I would also investigate car hire for The Giant’s Causeway or request panoramic windows when booking a bus tour.
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Posted On : 2019-09-16 19:06:31 
Posted By : Carla_K
The train trip from Dublin to Belfast was very nice and a great way to see the Country. The hotel was in a great location and very spacious. The Giants Causeway was breathtaking as expected. Just plain beautiful. The bridge was closed due to windy weather but we were still able to walk the area and take in the scenery. Bushmills Distillery and the castle were added stops that we enjoyed. The local guide and bus driver were very knowledgable and gave histories and stories for the area. It was a long day but worth it for what we saw. Only negative is the trip advertised three free meals and we only received one, breakfast.. We thought lunch was included but we were told we needed to pay by the local guide.
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Posted On : 2018-10-08 15:18:21
Posted By : Rhonda_R
This was a great experience, everything from the train ride, right down to the tour back home. Wish we would have spent less time picking passengers up and more time at the Causeway. But other than that, everything was great.
Posted By : LaurelJ_M
Great tour with great sights. The carrick rope bridge exciting and fun, the giants causeway absolutely stunning. Loved this tour, would go again.
Posted By : Kristin_G
Top service by the guides, top hotel, top reccommondations and beautiful nature !
Posted By : Meredith_D
Hotel accommodations were great, and the bus tour was fantastic! Very informative, with plenty of time at all the different stops. Just wish we'd had more time to explore Belfast the day we arrived. Our RailTour guide was helpful, although he showed up later than we expected. After the bus tour ended, we had to trek a few blocks to the train station with all our luggage, and expected our guide to meet us, but he didn't. We didn't know what time the train back to Dublin was, and by the time we got there after hustling straight from the bus we had missed it by a few minutes and had to wait a couple hours for the next one. More detailed info about that portion of the trip would have been helpful!
Posted By : James_K
Having an escort from Dublin to Belfast was brilliant. The hotel accommodations were brilliant. II only give this a four instead of five, because it seems a walking tour could have been arranged for Belfast near the hotel. We were too late to go to the Titanic, but would have loved to see the city. would love to revisit Ireland, and this coach tour up to the Giant's Causeway was brilliant. Driver / Guide was brilliant.
