Belfast, the Causeway Coast, Derry and wild Donegal in one private week, with a driver-guide who knows both sides of the border.
Start Point
Dublin Airport
(Start and Finish)
Duration
7 Days,
6 Nights
Group Size
Couples to
Groups of 26
Seven days through the north and north-west, the part of Ireland too many trips skip. This tour goes well beyond Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway. From Belfast and the Titanic story to the Antrim coast, the walls of Derry and the wild beauty of Donegal, this private tour takes you off the standard loop and into some of the island’s most dramatic country. On the way back south, you pass through Sligo and Mayo to the River Shannon, with your own driver-guide and time to take it all in.
It is a week that crosses between Northern Ireland and the Republic more than once. There are no border checks on the road, and your driver handles the practical side, from the switch between euro and sterling to the change from kilometres to miles.
Your driver-guide meets you at Dublin Airport, and within the hour you are at Monasterboice, an early Christian monastery whose high crosses are carved with scenes from the Bible. Muiredach’s Cross is one of the finest in Ireland, still sharp after a thousand years of Irish weather. From there it is about 90 minutes north to Belfast and Titanic Belfast, built beside the slipways where the ship was constructed, with galleries that take you from the shipyard to the sinking. In the evening, your driver can point you to one of the city’s best restaurants.
Overnight: Belfast
It is about 90 minutes up the coast to the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where tens of thousands of basalt columns step down into the sea. Your guide tells both stories: the volcanic one and the one about Finn McCool. In the afternoon comes the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, a short, swaying crossing to a rocky island, with views along the coast to Rathlin Island. An hour’s drive brings you to Derry for the night.
Overnight: Derry
Start with a guided walk on Derry’s walls, the only complete city walls left in Ireland, with the city’s long and complicated history told from the ramparts. Just across the border stands the Grianan of Aileach, a hilltop stone fort that was once the royal seat of the northern Uí Néill kings, looking over Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle. The afternoon brings you to Donegal town and its restored castle, the stronghold of the O’Donnell chieftains, before you settle in for two nights.
Overnight: Donegal (2 nights)
Killybegs, Ireland’s largest fishing port, is the first stop, where the trawlers unload their catch on the quays. From there the road climbs to Slieve League, with sea cliffs among the highest in Europe and a walk along the top for the brave. Glencolumbkille, at the end of the road, is an Irish-speaking valley with a folk village that shows how Donegal families lived. The Glengesh Pass then winds down through the mountains in a series of hairpins before you head back to Donegal.
Overnight: Donegal
Belleek Pottery, just over the border in Fermanagh, has been making its fine, basket-weave porcelain by hand for generations, and the factory tour shows every stage. In Sligo, the ruined Dominican abbey still keeps its carved cloister. You finish in Westport, a planned Georgian town beneath Croagh Patrick.
Overnight: Westport
The Doolough Valley is one of the emptiest and most beautiful drives in the west, and a memorial beside the lake recalls the famine walk of 1849. At Killary, a catamaran cruise takes you along one of only three fjords in Ireland. Then it’s inland to Athlone on the Shannon, where the Norman castle tells the story of the town’s great siege. The day ends with a drink at Sean’s Bar, reputed to be Ireland’s oldest pub.
Overnight: Athlone
After breakfast, it is under two hours to Dublin Airport for your flight home, or to your hotel if you are staying on.
Included
Every tour is bespoke, so tell us your dates and group and we will tailor it and quote.
Northern Ireland packs a lot into a small space, and this tour covers the highlights most visitors come for. In Belfast, there is Titanic Belfast, on the site where the ship was built. Up on the Antrim coast, you will find the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and the views across to Rathlin Island. Derry is the only city in Ireland with its walls still complete, and a walk along the top is one of the best introductions to the north’s story. In Fermanagh, Belleek Pottery still makes porcelain by hand. This tour then goes further than most, into Donegal for Slieve League and the Glengesh Pass. If you would like to add the Mourne Mountains, the Dark Hedges, or a full day in Belfast with a Black Cab tour of the murals, tell us and we will build it in.
You need a valid passport for the trip, and most visitors from the United States, Canada and Australia also need a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation, or ETA, because Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. That applies even though you arrive in Dublin and cross by road. There are no checks at the land border, but UK law still requires the ETA, so apply before you fly through the official UK ETA app or the GOV.UK website. British and Irish citizens do not need one, and neither do some legal residents of Ireland. The Republic uses the euro and Northern Ireland uses sterling, so it helps to carry a card that works in both. Road signs switch from kilometres to miles as you cross, which is one more thing your driver takes care of. Entry rules can change, so check them for your passport before you book flights.
The best time for this tour is from May to September, when the days are long and the Causeway Coast and Donegal are at their greenest. Early summer is a lovely window, with light that lasts well into the evening in the north, so there is time to linger at the Causeway or over dinner in Derry. July and August are the busiest months at the big sites, and your driver can time visits to avoid the worst of the crowds. Spring and autumn are quieter and often mild, a good choice if you would rather have the cliffs and castles more to yourselves. Winter tours are possible too, with shorter days and a slower pace, cosy pubs and very few coaches. Whatever the season, the weather in the north-west changes quickly, so pack layers and a waterproof. A private tour can simply reorder the days around the forecast.
Seven days is enough for a rewarding first look at Northern Ireland and the north-west, as long as the pace is right. This tour gives you one night each in Belfast and Derry and two in Donegal, then a gentle return south through Sligo, Mayo and the Shannon. You will see the Causeway Coast, Derry, the Donegal cliffs and plenty in between at a steady pace. What you will not have is time for the south and west as well: Kerry, the Cliffs of Moher and Connemara need a longer trip. If you want the north and the classics together, The Full Irish covers the whole island in fourteen days, including a full day in Belfast. You could also add a night or two to this tour, perhaps in Belfast or on the Causeway Coast, to slow the pace further. Tell us what matters most and we will shape the week around it.
The north rewards a guide who knows its history and can tell it with care. Lloyd Creagh is a certified, badged tour guide and a member of the Independent Tour Guides Association, and Creagh Travel has been guiding visitors since 2006. Lloyd’s father Greg adds more than 40 years as a driver-guide, and the family has driven for visiting heads of state.
Travellers rate the company 5.0 on TripAdvisor, and the reviews single out the storytelling, the humour and the singing on the road. The fleet runs from a Mercedes V-Class to a 26-seat coach, so couples and large groups travel the same way. For other routes, browse all our private tour packages.
Tell us your dates and group, and whether you want more Belfast, more coast or more Donegal, and we will build the week around you.
Tell us your dates and plans. We reply personally, no obligation.
