One of the best reasons to visit Belfast is that it is the perfect home base to explore Northern Ireland’s famous beautiful coastline. In this post, we’re sharing how you can take a day trip from Belfast to visit Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and the Giant’s Causeway! This day trip was our favorite part of our 4 day itinerary for Belfast.
These two landmarks give stunning views of the region’s craggy coast and are only a 15 minute drive apart, making them ideal destinations to combine in a single day trip. Along the way, you’ll get to drive along an incredibly scenic route and stop in the cutest town for food and shopping.
Your day trip from Belfast will be a day filled with nature, jaw-dropping views, and unforgettable memories made!
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Timeline
Below is the exact timeline we followed during our day trip from Belfast. We’ll dive into the main stops more in this post. Keep in mind, we had a toddler with us which slowed down the timeline a little. However, we also purposefully moved at a leisurely pace. We wanted to truly take in the places we were visiting and not rush through them!
8:15-9:30am – Pickup rental car from Hertz. This took longer than expected but didn’t impact our day overall. The overall checkout time was a little lengthy, and then it took us some time to get the car seat installed and the GPS up and running.
9:30-11:30am – Drive to Ballycastle
11:30-1pm – Lunch and shopping in Ballycastle
1:15–3:45pm – Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Reservations are required, so we recommend booking your time slot and then building your schedule around it.
4-6:30pm – Giant’s Causeway
6:30-7:45pm – Drive back to Belfast
9am The Following Day – Return rental car. We didn’t ask to be able to return the rental car the following day, but it was offered to us at no additional charge as long as we had it back as soon as they opened. Otherwise, we would have had it back by 6pm, which would have significantly cut our time exploring!
There are some cool stop opportunities along the way – The Dark Hedges, Dunluce Castle, and The Gobbins to name a few. We were worried that we wouldn’t have enough time to fully enjoy the rope bridge and Giant’s Causeway if we spent too much exploring along the way though, so we bypassed them altogether. This was a good choice for us, because we filled up our day between the bridge and the Giant’s Causeway.
What You’ll Need for Your Day Trip from Belfast
- Comfy walking shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty – This is a day filled with nature hikes. While the paths are well maintained, they are not all paved. If you want to go out on the hexagonal stones at Giant’s Causeway, you will encounter wet slippery stones and some puddles. You can see our favorite walking shoes in our post 15 of Our Favorite Items for Travel.
- Refillable Water Bottle
- Driver’s License – If you are renting a car, you’ll need to present your drivers license at the time of pickup.
- Sunscreen
- Snacks for the road
Renting A Car in Belfast & Driving in the UK
There are plenty of tour groups that will take you to the Giant’s Causeway. But you’ll be hard pressed to find a tour that takes you to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Why? It’s closed to groups. This is just one of the reasons we recommend that you rent a car for your day trip from Belfast.
If you rent a car, you’ll also be able to maximize your time in the places you visit. A lot of the tours to the Giant’s Causeway only let you explore the area for a little over an hour. And the places you visit along the way are more like pit stops.
If you rent a car, you can spend as much time as you’d like at each place (and you don’t have to deal with the unpleasantries that sometimes come with traveling around with complete strangers).
We rented a car from Hertz in Belfast and had an overall really good experience. They provided a car seat for Kayla’s toddler which was much appreciated and allowed us the flexibility to return the car the following morning when they opened, which gave us a lot more time to explore during our day trip from Belfast.
When giving your card information at the time you pickup the car, we recommend putting a credit card on file instead of a debit card. The hold put on our card took several days to clear, which isn’t ideal when you’re traveling abroad and the hold is for almost $3k!
We were initially a little worried about renting a car in the UK. We had zero experience renting a car abroad, much less driving on the left hand side of the road!
Thankfully, our worries were for nothing. We had an absolutely fabulous experience navigating the roads. Amanda read off the GPS instructions and constantly reminded Kayla to stay on the lefthand side of the road at every turn, which definitely helped. Other than Kayla having a tendency to hug the lefthand side a little too much, we didn’t run into any issues!
It was much easier than we expected and gave us the confidence to rent a car abroad again a week later in Wales.
If traveling with a child that will need a car seat: The UK does not use chest clips on car seats. So if you’re an American renting one, don’t be alarmed if a chest clip isn’t present. Kayla felt that her child was very secure! Check out our post on Must Have Travel Gear for Kids Under 3 if you’ll be traveling with a little one.
The Route
We recommend hitting the road early. We did, and this helped with not having to deal with much traffic coming from the opposite direction (we don’t know how those big tour buses navigate the narrow roads!). And again, you want to maximize your time in the beautiful places you’ll be seeing!
There is a direct route straight through the country from Belfast to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, which only takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes. There is also a more scenic route, known as the Causeway Coastal Route or Antrim Coast Road. If you choose this option, it will nearly double your time.
Why choose, when you can do both? Take the Causeway Coastal Road up and the more direct route through the countryside back! From the sea to the sheep, you’ll get to see it all!
If you opt for the Causeway Coastal Road, your GPS may try to pull you off of it to go the more direct route since it is faster. We fell prey to this and ended up giving in to the GPS, which meant we missed some of the highlights along the Causeway Coastal Road.
If you experience this though, the Coastal Road is well marked with signs, so you should be able to follow it through in its entirety with no problems. You’re also literally driving parallel to the shoreline, so it’s hard to get lost if you choose to ignore your GPS and stick with the coastal route.
Ballycastle
Ballycastle wasn’t originally in our plans, but your toddler needing to pee can lead you to unexpected places. The town was a really lovely surprise and one of the few instances we were thankful on our trip for an unplanned toilet break.
Ballycastle is only a 10 minute drive from Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. It has a quaint downtown area lined with bustling shops and cute cafes. If you plug Ursa Minor into your GPS, there is a car park located on the street behind it.
Ursa Minor is actually where we stopped for the toilet and a bite to eat, and we highly recommend it for your trip too.
The cafe had a nice selection of freshly baked sweet and savory treats as well as some packaged items for purchase. It was a very welcoming environment with indoor seating, and they even had a small selection of toys for little ones to enjoy!
After filling your bellies, explore the town of Ballycastle if you have time before your rope bridge reservations. It’s only a 10 minute drive between the two stops, so Ballycastle is a great stop if you need to kill a few minutes before your reservation. Kayla’s favorite store was a little antique shop called Cobwebs. It was a wee treasure trove!
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
Reservations are required for Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, so you’ll want to book in advance to guarantee entry. Not only do we think the bridge is totally worth the visit, it stands out as one of our favorite travel moments of our 2 week trip around the UK!
A Little History
The rope bridge stretches 20 meters (75 feet) and connects the mainland to a tiny rocky island, called Carrick-a-Rede. A bridge was first erected here in 1755 by fishermen who were tired of having to take a boat such a short distance to catch salmon.
Up until 1960, it was common for fishermen to catch up to 300 salmon a day in this area! Nowadays, you won’t see any fishermen crossing the bridge. But you will see small groups of tourists making their way across!
The Trek from the Carpark to the Bridge
Although the number of visitors is limited by timed entry, there is ample parking in the carpark. Adjacent to the car park is a small cafe with restrooms beneath it. We recommend using the toilet before you start the short hike to the bridge, as there aren’t any others available onsite!
From the car park, you’ll walk around just over half a mile (1km) to reach the rope bridge. The first half of this is on fine gravel and considered accessible. After that point, the terrain is more uneven and there are numerous stairs.
The journey is suitable for children who are okay with walking, climbing stairs, and heights. Kayla’s daughter was just shy of turning 3 during our visit, and she loved every second. There are protective railings on the cliffside which was reassuring.
We were able to push the stroller for the first half, but there were some steep inclines! When we reached the first bit of stairs, we collapsed the stroller and made sure it was out of the way. We then continued onward toward the bridge!
Kayla’s stroller is an Ergobaby Metro Plus – it’s great because it collapses down to the size of a carry-on suitcase so is easy to stow away in situations like this! This is one of our must-have items for traveling with children under 3.
Crossing the Bridge
When you finally reach the bridge, you may be required to wait a while for the folks who are making their way across from the opposite direction. Staff do a great job controlling traffic flow and will let you know when it’s safe to cross.
The bridge itself has a planked walkway running up the center, making it easy to cross. However, it is suspended pretty high up in the air, so you’ll feel it swaying slightly as you cross.
Kayla was a little nervous crossing with her toddler – both because her toddler had never experienced a height related activity and because it’s nerve wracking as a mother to have your child cross a bridge dangling between two cliffs!
Her daughter absolutely loved crossing “the wiggly bridge” and did better than a lot of the adults who crossed ahead of us. Between the sturdy walkway on the bridge and the fairly close-knit webbing of the ropes, Kayla’s worries subsided once they are on the bridge (but she did keep a tight hold on her daughter’s hand!).
Carrick-a-Rede Island
Once you cross the bridge, you’ll have made it to the tiny island. The island has the best vantage points of the cliffs, and you’ll possibly see some wildlife in the water and on the cliffs if you look closely. We mainly saw hordes of seagulls though diving for food!
If you’re okay with climbing a short rocky incline without much to hold onto, the path continues on to a large grassy area with views not visible from the bridge. You can stay on the tiny island as long as you wish before heading back.
We recommend stopping in the cafe at the carpark on your way back if you need a snack or a drink. The proceeds go toward maintaining the park and combatting climate change by planting trees.
Giant’s Causeway
Parking
The last stop on your day trip from Belfast is Giant’s Causeway! From the rope bridge, it’s only a 15 minute drive. As you get closer to the Causeway, you’ll see signs for parking. We opted to park in one of the advertised lots hosted by the National Trust, but discovered afterward that we could have parked at the visitor’s center and been a little closer.
The walk from the National Trust parking lot wasn’t bad at all though. It only took around 5 minutes from the car park to get to the starting point of the Causeway Trails and was cheaper than parking at the visitor’s center would have been. So, we were ultimately happy with our decision to park here.
Be advised if you need to use the restroom though that the National Trust closes the one at their carpark at 4pm, so you’ll need to go to the visitor’s center.
If you park at the visitor’s center, its around £15 per adult and £7 per child. The cost includes guided tours or an audio guide and access to the cafe, shop, and restrooms.
A Little History
The Giant’s Causeway is Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site! The scientific reason the rocks have an unusual shape and makeup is due to volcanic eruptions, erosion, glaciers scraping the rocks, and more erosion over a period of thousands of years.
But there’s a much more exciting theory:
The Giant’s Causeway is said to have been built by 2 giants – one who resided in Ireland and another who lived in Scotland. They bridged the space between them with the Giant’s Causeway so they could settle once and for all who was the better giant. When one of the giants was scared the other would get the better of him, he tore up the land bridge they’d created so they wouldn’t cross paths again.
If you have kids, read to them The Tall Tale of the Giant’s Causeway before your trip, so they can know the funny backstory surrounding the place they’re visiting!
Routes
There are 3 ways you can experience the Giant’s Causeway: An accessible short trail to a viewpoint, a 25 minute walk to the Causeway along a paved path (with one flight of stairs leading to the pathway), and a 35 minute walk to the Causeway along a non-paved path with stairs toward the end.
We opted for the paved path which put us level with the shoreline for most of the trek. While it isn’t considered accessible, there was only one flight of stairs at the start of the trail. We carried the stroller down it and were able to push it the rest of the trail.
As you approach the areas with the famous hexagonal stones, you’ll have a rocky beach on one side and enormous hills looming over you on the other. It was easy to imagine that giants might be living among the hills!
Exploring the Stones
It is truly amazing to see such unusually shaped stones that have been formed over time through natural events. The hexagonal shape of the rocks allow them to fit side by side perfectly. There are several areas where the stones rise up out of the earth to form climbable mounds, with the stones themselves making the perfect steps that lead to the top.
Because this is a super popular destination as a day trip from Belfast, there will likely be a lot of tourists there during your visit. This means you may have to be patient and wait your turn to capture pictures of some of the more visually interesting areas.
Visitors are free to walk out on the stones as far as they wish at their own risk. Though, the ones further out will need more caution as they are more slippery. We felt very safe exploring the stones with a toddler and took turns venturing out to the riskier areas so one person could stay in the safer areas with Kayla’s little one.
That’s A Wrap!
After you’ve finished exploring the Giant’s Causeway, it’s time to head back to Belfast! If you zipped through the day faster than we did, you may have time to stop at some other interesting places on the way back.
Regardless, you’ll be ready to rest your weary legs after all the walking you’ve done during the day. You’ll get a great night’s sleep after completing this day trip from Belfast!
Tell us in the comments below what you think about our day trip from Belfast to Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant’s Causeway!
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Great post! I would love to visit this area some day. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge looks really fun, but I’m a little scared of heights – eeek!!
Wow, what a gorgeous day trip! Belfast looks incredible and there’s so much to do there. I love all the greens and blues with the sheep. Hoping to visit Ireland someday on a trip.
I live in Ireland and it is such a pleasure to read a fantastic post on these two locations this is really well done. My little tip for the Giant’s Causeway is to park at the pub The Nook where you can have a pint or a fabulous meal and the parking is free then simply walk through the tunnel behind the Visitor’s Centre to where you can catch the bus for £1 per person and then ride the way down and back up. Most of us locals are not happy with the Trust as they turfed out local businesses that had operated at the site for many years.
This is fantastic advice! Thank you for sharing your perspective as a local. We will definitely be visiting The Nook next time!
Incredible natural scenery and such cute houses, makes me want to visit…