Causeway Coastal Route

The Antrim Coast Road, the heart of the route, was built in the 1830s by William Bald, blasting a shelf out of the cliffs at sea level so that the glens, which had been reached mainly by boat, were connected by land for the first time. The full route runs about two hundred and sixty kilometres from Belfast to Derry. Along it are the nine Glens of Antrim cutting inland, the Giant's Causeway with its forty thousand basalt columns, Dunluce Castle on a stack, Bushmills, which holds a licence to distil dating from 1608, and long beaches at Whiterocks and Portstewart. On clear days the Scottish coast is visible across the North Channel, at one point only twenty kilometres away, and the Rathlin ferry runs from Ballycastle.

What you actually see

• The cliff-cut road - a shelf blasted at sea level in the 1830s.
• The Giant's Causeway - basalt columns formed by cooling lava.
• Dunluce Castle - a ruin on a sea stack reached by a bridge.
• The Scottish view - Kintyre and Islay across a twenty-kilometre channel.

When to go

April to October for the best weather and full opening of attractions; the Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede need advance tickets in summer. Winter driving is fine but many businesses reduce hours and the coast is exposed.

Honest expectations

The road is busy in summer with slow-moving traffic and limited overtaking. Parking at the main sites is charged and fills early. Rain and sea fog can remove the views entirely for days at a time. The full route needs more than one day to be worth doing.

Nearby

Belfast is the southern end; Derry and Donegal lie west beyond the route.