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October: Day Tour from Dublin to Giant's Causeway?

Posted by (Hummelstown, Pennsylvania) on

Hi all!

We are traveling to Ireland in October and I wanted to ask if anyone has a recommended Day Tour from Dublin to Giant's Causeway? I've searched this forum but didn't find what I was looking for.

I've looked at Wild Rover, Paddywagon, and Finn McCool Tours, but nothing seems to really fit what I'm looking for and some reviews aren't great. The problem is, all these tours take an hour in Belfast, which we would rather save for another trip. I can't seem to find one that doesn't stop in Belfast. I'd also prefer a small group tour but can't find that (and can't pay $$$ for a private tour). I'd also love to see Dark Hedges and Dunluce Castle, but the tours only stop at the castle for a 5 min photo op...would love to stop at each for longer.

I'll note that we have planned our trip in a way that we arrive in Dublin on October 13, and are renting a car for 4 days to see other sights around the Republic of Ireland (Tara, Cashel, Cork, etc). We then leave Ireland for a while to visit the UK/Spain, and are returning to Dublin for 3 days (October 29-31) so that we can return home from the Dublin airport. We won't be renting a car again for those 3 days, so we want to take a Day Tour to see the Causeway.

(Added note: we have booked the Point A Hotel in Dublin for those 3 days and are unable to cancel at this point, so we must stay in Dublin).

I'd also love anyone's feedback on being in Dublin on Halloween day....I'm actually really excited about this!

Thanks! :)

Posted by
1740 posts

In May, we did a private "Game of Thrones" tour with Dean from Glenara Elite Travel. It includes the locations you mention. We spent 30 minutes inside Dunluce Castle (admission extra), and we also stopped at a location that overlooked it for another photo op.

It was wonderful, and Dean was very informative and interesting.

https://glenaraelitetravel.com/game-of-thrones-tour-2/

Edited to add that, sorry, I didn't read your post carefully enough. This tour is not from Dublin. We paid for pickup in Belfast.

Posted by
2980 posts

Your best option, as well as the cheapest and the one providing maximum freedom of movement in order to cover all of your sights, would be to rent a car at Dublin airport upon returning on the 29th and heading north from there. It's about 3 hrs. to the Causeway by car so trying to do it as a round trip - either as a tour or independently - in one day would be difficult. Planning a one night stay in Belfast (or anywhere along the Causeway Coast) would permit a more leisurely pace spread over the course of a couple of days.
The airport car rental offices open very early, so booking an early arrival from wherever you're flying in from might be a good strategy.

Posted by
6713 posts

Robert has a good idea. Another might be to fly directly into Belfast from your UK/Spain trip and devote those days to Belfast and the Antrim Coast, including the Causeway. You don't want a car in Belfast, and you could probably find multiple options for day tours out to the Causeway, Dunluce, and other sights up there. Or rent the car for a day and drive up to the coast for whatever you choose.

There's frequent and convenient bus service between Belfast and Dublin Airport, I think the companies are Aircoach and Translink. I know Aircoach works great.

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