Northern Ireland Holidays and Escorted Tours
Northern Ireland packs a great deal into a short flight. Belfast has rebuilt itself around the shipyard that launched the Titanic, the Antrim coast road runs for miles between basalt cliffs and open sea, and Derry still has the only complete set of city walls in Ireland. It suits a five or six-day holiday better than almost anywhere else in these islands.
Our tours here are guided throughout, with a coach for the touring and a local guide who can explain the murals, the shipyard and the siege without taking sides. Entrance fees to the places on the itinerary are included, so there is nothing to pay at the door.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Northern Ireland Tours
Five days is the usual length, with some itineraries running to six. That gives you four or five nights in one hotel in Belfast and enough time for the city, the Causeway Coast, Bushmills and, on the longer tours, a day in Derry. Durations and prices are shown on each tour above, and they vary by departure date.
Both, in a sense. The journey to Northern Ireland is by air from UK airports, which takes around an hour, and all the touring once you arrive is by coach with a local guide. Coach travel is what fills your days rather than your travel time. Which airport a particular departure uses depends on the tour, so ask us and we will confirm.
The visitor centre sits at the top of a hill and the stones are about half a mile downhill on a surfaced path, with the climb back up at the end. A shuttle bus runs between the two for a small charge. The columns themselves are uneven and can be slippery when wet, so you can see them perfectly well from the path without stepping onto them. Sturdy shoes make a real difference.
Each tour page lists this in full, and it is worth reading because the tours differ. In general the price covers return flights from UK airports, transfers, hotel accommodation with breakfast, a number of evening meals, all coach transport for the itinerary and the entrance fees for the excursions named — Titanic Belfast and Bushmills among them. Drinks, optional extras and anything not listed are not included.
Yes. The centre is compact and flat, the Titanic Quarter is modern and level, and city tours are done largely by coach with short walks at the stops. The murals are seen from the roadside. If stairs, standing or distance are a concern for you or anyone in your party, tell us before you book and we will go through the itinerary honestly, day by day.
Yes — that is our Private Group arrangement, and it is a large part of what we do. Your group travels together with its own guide, and the itinerary can be shifted to suit your interests, whether that is more time on the coast or an extra visit in Derry. Get in touch with rough numbers and preferred dates and we will put a proposal together.
Belfast, the shipyard and the murals
Titanic Belfast stands on the slipways where the ship was built, and the building is angled to echo the bows of four hulls. Inside, six floors take you from the linen mills and rope works of Victorian Belfast through the drawing offices and the launch to the wreck itself. The scale of the yard is the thing that surprises people: Harland and Wolff employed some 15,000 men, and the Samson and Goliath cranes are still visible from half the city.
The other half of Belfast's story is more recent. Guided city tours take in City Hall, the Victorian centre and the political murals on the Falls and Shankill roads, where local guides explain what the painted gable ends actually commemorate. It is handled directly and without drama, which is how people who live there tend to talk about it.
The Causeway Coast and Bushmills
The road north from Belfast along the Antrim coast is one of the finest drives in the British Isles, cut into the cliff base in the 1830s and passing the mouths of the nine Glens of Antrim. Dunluce Castle sits on its stack above the water, half of it having fallen into the sea.
The Giant's Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of roughly 40,000 basalt columns, formed when lava cooled and cracked into hexagons around 60 million years ago. Legend gives the credit to Finn McCool. The visitor centre sits at the top of the hill and the stones are a walk or a shuttle bus down.
Bushmills, a few miles inland, has held a licence to distil since 1608. Tours follow the process from mash tun to the warehouses, and finish with a tasting.
Derry's walls and the Siege Museum
Derry, or Londonderry, was laid out in the 1610s by London guilds and enclosed by walls that were never breached. You can walk the complete circuit, a little over a mile, looking down into the Bogside on one side and across the Foyle on the other.
The Siege Museum tells the story of 1689, when the city held out for 105 days against the forces of James II and thousands died inside the walls. It is a small museum and a good deal more moving for it. Walking tours take in the Guildhall, the Bogside murals and the Peace Bridge, and give you a sense of a city that has changed considerably in twenty years.
Derry appears on our longer Northern Ireland itineraries rather than all of them.
How these tours are run
Our Northern Ireland holidays are based in Belfast, with a coach going out each day to the coast, to Derry or around the city. That means one hotel, one unpacking, and no long transfers at the end of a day out.
What is included is set out in full on each tour page. Broadly, expect return flights from UK airports, transfers at both ends, breakfast daily, a number of evening meals, all coach travel for the itinerary and the entrance fees to the places listed.
Two ways to travel:
- Open Group — join a scheduled departure with other individual travellers and couples.
- Private Group — a club, U3A branch, church or group of friends takes the whole tour, with the itinerary adjusted to suit.
