My wife and are planning a two-week trip to Ireland in September. Our current thinking is that we would fly into Belfast, go see the Giant's Causway, travel on to Londonderry, and then proceed into Eire, eventually to leave via Dublin. I am wondering about transportation in the Northern Ireland part of the trip. We'd be happy to use bus or rail if it won't burn up our time in waiting and riding. I'm also okay with renting a car. So:
Can one get from Belfast to the Giant's Causeway without a car? Is it practical?
If we do that, how would we move on to Londonderry from there?
From Londonderry, what is a good first stop in Eire?
One guide book (Let's go...) says that we could not rent a car in Belfast and then drop it off somewhere in Eire (say Dublin). Is that correct?