Causeway Coastal Route: Belfast to Derry

Overview

The A2 out of Belfast hugs the Antrim coast for 120 miles of castles, glens and basalt, and mile for mile it stands with any coastal drive in Europe. Three days is right: one for the nine Glens of Antrim and the hair-raising single-track shortcut over Torr Head, one for the Causeway heartland, one for the run west to Derry's walls. The moment is the Giant's Causeway an hour before dusk, after the coaches leave, when you can sit alone on 40,000 interlocking columns as the Atlantic booms in. Bracket it with the swaying rope bridge at Carrick-a-Rede, the gaunt clifftop ruin of Dunluce Castle, and a tasting at Bushmills, the world's oldest licensed distillery. Downhill Strand and the Mussenden Temple perched above it close the show before Derry. The variables: Carrick-a-Rede works on timed tickets that sell out in summer, so book online; the Causeway itself is free if you walk in and skip the visitor centre; and sea mist can erase Torr Head's views — take the main road in poor weather. Around £380 per person for three days in B&Bs, hiring from Belfast.

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Prefilled for 1 May 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.