By air
Belfast (BFS), ~1 h
United Kingdom
Giant's Causeway, United Kingdom
Basalt columns on the Antrim coast
Getting there
Best time to visit
May to September — the long days
Don't miss
The Giant's Causeway
Dunluce Castle
The Dark Hedges
Carrick-a-Rede
Things to do
The Causeway coastal route
The Dark Hedges
Dunluce Castle
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Lindy Buckley from Nanjing, China · CC BY 2.0
What to pack
Windproof layers
A quieter corner
Whitepark Bay beach
Questions travellers ask
When should I visit the Giant's Causeway?
May to September, for the long days. Windproof layers are a must on the Antrim coast.
What else is along the Causeway coast?
Follow the Causeway coastal route to Dunluce Castle, the Dark Hedges and Carrick-a-Rede.
Is there a quieter beach near the Giant's Causeway?
Whitepark Bay beach — the hidden gem of this stretch of the Antrim coast.
Where should I fly into for the Giant's Causeway?
Belfast (BFS), about 1 h away. Fuel up with an Ulster fry, and save a Bushmills whiskey for the evening.
About Giant's Causeway
- Coastal
Where it is
The Giant's Causeway is a stretch of coast in County Antrim, on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about 5 km north-east of Bushmills, where some 40,000 interlocking basalt columns step down into the sea.
History
The columns formed 50 to 60 million years ago, when lava flows cooled and cracked into pillars that are mostly hexagonal. The site won international attention in 1739 through watercolours by the Dublin artist Susanna Drury, which fed a scientific debate about its volcanic origins, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.
People
The villages of the Causeway Coast live from farming, fishing and tourism, and people speak English, with Ulster Scots heard in the local speech. The distillery at nearby Bushmills traces its history to a licence to distil granted in 1608.
Known for
- Basalt columns stepping into the sea
- The legend of the giant Finn McCool
- The Causeway Coastal Route
- The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
- The Old Bushmills Distillery
Did you know?
Legend says the giant Finn McCool built the causeway to cross the sea to Scotland, and identical columns from the same ancient lava flow rise at Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.