First-time visitors
Belfast, Properly
If it is your first weekend in the North, this is the order we would read in. The city first, the coast second, the politics threaded throughout.
The Editorial Guide
Northern Ireland, Slowly
The North is the part of Ireland most American visitors almost skip, and the part they remember most clearly when they leave. Belfast is one of Europe's most exciting small cities. The Causeway Coast is the most dramatic drive on the island. The golf is, quietly, the best in the world. Most people try to do it in a day. We think it deserves three.
The places we recommend to friends.
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, located on the northern portion of the island of Ireland. Belfast is the capital. Major destinations include the Giant's Causeway (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Titanic Belfast, the Causeway Coastal Route, the walled city of Derry, the Mourne Mountains, and world-renowned links golf at Royal County Down and Royal Portrush.
How to Experience Northern Ireland
Six ways into the North
The North rewards a worldview, not a checklist. Choose the pathway that matches the trip you actually want, then read it in order.
The most dramatic drive in Ireland
The Causeway Coast
Glenarm to Ballycastle, with the basalt cliffs falling into the Atlantic. Two days, three stops, a whiskey at the end.
Dark Hedges, Ballintoy, Castle Ward
The Game of Thrones North
Studio set to filming location, end to end. The North is where most of Westeros was actually shot, and it shows.
Walls, murals, and a quietly extraordinary city
Derry, Walled & Whole
The only fully intact city walls in Ireland and a small city with an outsized story. Walk it slowly.
Bushmills, Belfast bars, hotel snugs
The North by Whiskey
The world's oldest licensed distillery, the most beautiful Victorian bars in the UK, and quiet hotel fires when the rain comes in.
Royal County Down, Royal Portrush
The North by Golf
Two of the finest links in the world, less than two hours apart. The reason serious golfers fly to Belfast, not Dublin.
If you only do three things
The three we would not let you miss
01
Stand at the Giant's Causeway after four o'clock
Wait for the coaches to leave. The basalt columns, the Atlantic, the late afternoon light. This is the one image of Northern Ireland that earns the trip on its own.
Plan the visit02
Spend three hours at Titanic Belfast
Built on the actual slipway. Nine galleries, no sentimentality, and easily the most sophisticated museum on the island. Allow longer than you think.
Reserve the visit03
Take a Black Cab tour through the Falls and Shankill
A driver who lived through the Troubles, the murals as primary sources, an hour of history told without sides. Essential for understanding everything else.
Book the tourFeatured Experience
Giant's Causeway Tour
Co. Antrim · Guided · Half Day
Duration: Half DayLocation: Co. Antrim
40,000 hexagonal basalt columns stepping into the North Atlantic. A UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Why We Recommend It
Go early morning or late afternoon when the day-trippers leave and the light turns golden.
How to Do It
Best Ways to Experience the Causeway Coast
Self Drive
Rent a car in Belfast and drive the A2 north. Maximum flexibility, but you will manage parking at the Causeway and miss the local context only a guide provides.
A decent option, but not our first recommendation.
Coach Day Tour
Affordable, set departures from Belfast or Dublin. You'll see the Causeway, Dark Hedges and Carrick-a-Rede, but at the pace of a coach.
A decent option, but not our first recommendation.
⭐ Our PickBook Experience
Private Guided Day
A private driver-guide from Belfast for the day. Causeway at the right hour, Bushmills tasting, dinner reservation booked. The civilised way to do the coast.
The Causeway is twice the experience after four o'clock when the coaches leave. A private guide is the only way to time it properly.
“Wait until four o'clock. The coaches leave, the light turns, and the Causeway becomes the photograph you came for.”
From the Notebook
Featured Experience
Titanic Belfast Experience
Belfast · Self-Guided · 2-3 Hours
Duration: 2-3 HoursLocation: Belfast
Nine interactive galleries on the actual slipway where the Titanic was built. Europe's leading tourist attraction.
Why We Recommend It
The most sophisticated museum experience on the island. Allow longer than you think.
One Perfect Day
Belfast morning, Causeway evening. Done properly.
The single Northern Ireland day we send every American friend on. Three phases, paced honestly, with the things worth reserving in advance flagged clearly.
Morning
8:30. 12:30
Belfast first, properly. Coffee in the Cathedral Quarter, then the museum that finally explains the Titanic without sentimentality.
8:30
Coffee at Established in the Cathedral Quarter
A flat white among Belfast's red-brick warehouses before the city wakes. The best ten quiet minutes of the day.
9:30
Titanic Belfast, on the actual slipway
Built where the ship was launched. Nine galleries, three hours, and one of the most sophisticated museum experiences in Europe.
11:45
Walk the Cathedral Quarter to City Hall
Murals, Victorian banks, the Crown Bar from the outside. This is Belfast at its most legible.
Afternoon
13:00. 18:00
A long lunch at St George's, then north to the coast. The Causeway is the rest of the day, and you should not rush it.
13:00
Lunch at St George's Market
Friday to Sunday only. Oysters, sourdough, an Ulster fry done properly. The most honest meal in the city.
14:30
Drive the Causeway Coastal Route
An hour and a half north to the Giant's Causeway, with stops at Carrickfergus and Ballygally. The road itself is the experience.
16:30
The Giant's Causeway, late afternoon
Wait until the coaches leave at four. The columns, the sea, and the light at five o'clock are the photograph you came for.
Evening
18:30. Late
Bushmills first. Dinner by the fire at the Inn. A final whiskey at the bar where the distillery workers still drink.
18:30
A tasting at Bushmills Distillery
The world's oldest licensed distillery, fifteen minutes from the Causeway. The Black Bush is the one to remember.
20:00
Dinner at the Bushmills Inn
Peat fire, gas lamps, scallops from Rathlin and lamb from the glens. The most atmospheric dining room in the North.
22:00
A nightcap in the Gas Bar
Hidden behind a bookcase in the Inn's library. One Bushmills 21, a fire still going, and the day rounding off perfectly.
Featured Experience
Derry Walking Tour
Derry · Guided · 1.5 Hours
Duration: 1.5 HoursStyle: Walking Tour
Walk the only completely intact city walls in Ireland while learning about Derry's complex and fascinating history.
Why We Recommend It
The city walls offer a unique perspective on one of Ireland's most storied cities.
Forty thousand basalt columns stepping into the North Atlantic. Older than memory, and unforgettable in person.
Giant's Causeway · Co. Antrim
Seasonal Notes
The North changes by the month
Spring
The Glens turn green
April and May along the Antrim coast. Lambs in the fields, the Causeway empty before lunch, hawthorn coming in along the lanes.
Summer
Light until eleven
June and July deliver seventeen-hour days. Drive the Coastal Route in the evening, when the cliffs at Ballintoy turn pink.
Autumn
The Mournes in October
C.S. Lewis's mountains in their best light. Fewer hikers, fires lit at the Slieve Donard, the off-season at its most generous.
Winter
Belfast bars, properly
The Crown, Muriel's, the Duke of York. Low ceilings, gas lamps, no music. The North does winter pubs better than anywhere.
The Northern Itinerary
Five days, three hotels, zero regrets
Our Belfast and Causeway Coast itinerary is the way we send every American friend through the North. Two nights in Belfast, two on the coast, one in the Mournes. The way to do it once and do it properly.
Read the Northern itineraryPlan Your Visit
Book This Trip. Northern Ireland
Stay
Experience
Common questions
FAQ: Visiting Northern Ireland
Giant's Causeway Tour
The Ireland EditN° 01
Seven Days
The Wild Atlantic Journey
The Printed Edit
Take The Wild Atlantic Journey with you.
The travel-ready version of our 7-day route. Bases, drives, hotels and the bookings to make first.
The version readers print and bring with them.