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Causeway Coast: Route Guide

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The hexagonal basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway
Photo: Chmee2 · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The Causeway Coast packs a lot into a short drive. Belfast's Titanic quarter leads to castle ruins on basalt cliffs, the Giant's Causeway's forty thousand hexagonal columns, and a rope bridge swaying over the sea. The world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery waits at Bushmills.

Causeway Coast is a 160 km one-way journey (self-drive). It works best as 2–4 days; the plan below is the 3-day version for May, built from 214 verified places, with real road-routed transit times, opening hours and daylight checked.

2–4
days
160km
distance
5
Stops
214
curated stops

Plan your own version → 2-day plan · 3-day plan · 4-day plan · best time to go

The route

Belfast→ 90 kmBallycastle→ 22 kmBushmills→ 10 kmPortrush→ 38 kmDerry

What you'll see

Ulster Museum
Discover diverse exhibits from natural history to art in a grand setting.
Belfast
Giant's Causeway
Marvel at an imposing cascade of hexagonal basalt columns along the coast.
Ballycastle
Giant's Causeway
See Northern Ireland's top attraction, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of basalt columns.
Bushmills
Dunluce Castle
Witness dramatic coastal ruins of a once-mighty medieval fortress.
Portrush
Free Derry Corner
See powerful political murals and a monument marking nationalist history.
Derry
Divis
Hike the basalt crag with sweeping city views and open moorland.
Belfast
Fair Head
Stand beneath towering dolerite cliffs popular with climbers.
Ballycastle
Old Bushmills Distillery
Taste history at the world's oldest whiskey distillery.
Bushmills

Choose your length

2-day plan13 stops · 4.9 h transit6.5 stops/day · 2.5 h transit/daySee the full plan →3-day plan20 stops · 6.7 h transit6.7 stops/day · 2.2 h transit/daySee the full plan →4-day plan24 stops · 7.1 h transit6 stops/day · 1.8 h transit/daySee the full plan →

When to go

Best months: March, April, May, June, July

Long light, sea pinks on the cliffs, and the causeway before coach hour if you're there by 09:00.

See the month-by-month breakdown →

Similar journeys

Plan your own version →