Why Choose a Private Tour of Northern Ireland, and When Not To
Stand on the cliffs of the Causeway Coast on a clear morning, with the Atlantic below you and the hills of Scotland on the horizon, and the long drive to get there is forgotten. The question is how you get there, and how much of the country you see on the way. There are three ways most visitors explore Northern Ireland, by hire car, on a coach tour or on a private tour with a local guide. Each one does something better than the other two, and each one has a cost that is easy to miss when you book.
The choice matters more here than in many places, because the best of Northern Ireland is spread out. The Giant’s Causeway is about 60 miles from Belfast, and the stops worth making along the coast road are scattered between harbours, glens and narrow country lanes. Some of them need booking ahead, a few are closed to traffic altogether, and several are not signposted at all. How you travel decides how many of them you reach in a day.
There is a catch in reading this from me. I run private tours, so this is an interested opinion rather than a neutral one. What I can offer instead is a straight answer, and that includes a section on when a private tour is the wrong choice, because a day that does not suit you is no good to anyone.
I have been guiding on these roads for nine years, in every season and every kind of weather. Below you will find how each of the three options works in practice, what car hire in Northern Ireland really involves, where a coach tour is the sensible choice, what you are paying for with a private tour, a side by side look at the same day done two ways, when to choose something else, and the questions to ask any operator before you book. By the end, you should know which of the three suits your trip.
What Is in This Guide
Three Ways to See Northern Ireland, and How to Choose
Almost every visitor to Northern Ireland ends up choosing between the same three options. You can hire a car and drive yourself, join a coach tour with a group, or book a private tour where a local guide drives your party alone. None of them is right for everyone, and the best choice depends far more on your trip than on the options themselves.
Three questions to help you choose how to travel
Start with time. If you have a fortnight with no fixed plans, you can afford to get lost, take a wrong turn and stay an extra night somewhere you like. If you have two days, or a cruise call with a fixed all aboard time, every hour counts and a wasted morning is a real loss.
Next, think about who is travelling. A couple who love driving want something different from three generations of one family, or a group of friends where nobody wants to be the one behind the wheel. A solo traveller on a budget has different needs again, and so does anyone who finds steps, long walks or a crowded coach hard going.
Last, be clear about what you want from the day. Some people want to see the big sights and be back for dinner. Others want the story behind what they are looking at, the places that are not in the guidebook and someone to answer questions. Both are fair, and they point to different answers.
How this guide compares the three options
In the sections below I take each option in turn, with what it does well and what it costs you in time, effort and attention. Then I set a private tour against a group tour on the same route, so you can see where the difference shows. If you already know the answer is a self drive trip, my Northern Ireland road trip plan will be more use to you than the rest of this page.
Car Hire in Northern Ireland, Freedom With a Catch
Car hire in Northern Ireland gives you something neither of the other options can, a day that is yours from the first minute to the last. If you see a beach you like the look of, you stop. If you want to stay at the Giant’s Causeway until the light goes, nobody is waiting for you. For a long trip, a car is usually the most economical way to cover the ground, especially for a family sharing one vehicle.
The downside of driving yourself on the coast
When you drive, you watch the road, and on the coast that is a full time job. The roads along the Antrim coast are narrow and winding in places, and they are busy through the summer. The person at the wheel sees the least of the country they came so far to see, and on the best stretches, where the road hugs the cliffs, there is often nowhere to pull in and look.
The second cost is what you drive past. Many of the best places on these roads are not signposted. The Game of Thrones filming locations sit down unmarked lanes with nothing to tell you what happened there, and the small harbours worth twenty minutes look like any other turning off the main road. With a map alone, it is easy to miss them.
Driving in Northern Ireland, the practical points
Driving in Northern Ireland is on the left, and speed limits are in miles per hour, generally 30mph in built-up areas, 60mph on other roads and up to 70mph on motorways and dual carriageways. Cross the border into the Republic of Ireland and the speed signs switch to metric, so watch the numbers. Using a hand-held phone while driving is illegal. The official advice for visitors on nidirect sets all of this out, and it is worth reading before you collect the car.
Two more points save trouble at the hire desk. Many hire cars here have a manual gearbox, so ask for an automatic when you book if that is what you drive at home. If you plan to cross the border, check that your hire agreement and insurance cover both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Coach Tours in Northern Ireland, Good Value for a First Look
Coach tours in Northern Ireland do a simple job well. You buy a seat, you sit back, and someone else deals with the driving, the route and the parking. For a first look at the Causeway Coast on a tight budget, a coach day covers the main sights, and the cost per head is hard to beat.
When a coach tour is the better choice
If you are travelling alone, a coach has a real social advantage. You spend the day with other travellers, you have someone to share lunch with, and you come home with a few new names in your phone. A coach also suits anyone who would rather not make decisions on holiday, because every choice has been made for you. Groups arriving by coach at the Giant’s Causeway have to be booked with the National Trust in advance, and the tour company handles that for you.
The downsides of a coach tour
The downside is the timetable. A coach day is planned for a large group, so you stop where the coach stops, for as long as the coach stops, and you leave when the last passenger is back on board. If a place grips you, that is a pity. If it does not, you are still there for the full stop.
Coaches also reach the main sights at much the same time as each other, because many keep to similar timetables and follow the same road. And there are places a coach simply cannot go. The road down to Ballintoy Harbour is steep and narrow, and the scenic road over Torr Head is not suitable for coaches at all, so the coach tour sees the coast from the main road.
Is a coach tour right for you?
If you are on your own, on a budget and happy to follow a fixed plan, yes. A coach day is an easy introduction to the coast, and you can always come back another time to see it more slowly. Just go in knowing that the day runs to the timetable, not to you.
A Private Tour of Northern Ireland, What You Are Paying For
The case for a private tour of Northern Ireland is not luxury. It comes down to three things, control of the clock, access to what is not marked, and a day that bends around you instead of the other way round. Each of them is worth looking at on its own.
Choosing your own start time and pace
On a private tour the start time is yours. An early start means you are clear of the city before the morning traffic and standing at the Giant’s Causeway while it is still quiet. A local guide also knows when the coaches tend to reach each stop, and can turn the day around to arrive before or after them. The Causeway is busy whatever you do, but much of the coast can be enjoyed with hardly anyone about if the timing is right.
Reaching the places that are not signposted
This is where a local guide earns their place in the front seat. The filming locations down unmarked lanes, the harbour worth stopping at, the viewpoint that is not in the guidebook and the beach where you should not swim are all things you learn from years on these roads, not from a map. A smaller vehicle also reaches places a coach cannot, from the steep road to Ballintoy Harbour to the scenic road over Torr Head.
Changing the plan when the weather turns
If the weather turns, the plan turns with it. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge needs a crossing booked ahead by every visitor, and it can close in high wind, so a good private day always has another stop ready. If someone wants an extra hour at the Causeway, or a long lunch, or to skip something altogether, that is a conversation in the vehicle rather than a problem.
Comfort for families and anyone who finds walking hard
For anyone who finds walking or steps difficult, a private vehicle makes a real difference. The vehicle can be brought closer, the route can be planned around what each person can manage, and nobody is holding up a coachload of strangers. The same goes for families with young children, who need stops that no coach timetable allows for. A Giant’s Causeway tour from Belfast done this way is the same coast and the same stones, but a very different day.
Private Tour vs Group Tour, the Same Day Two Ways
The easiest way to see the difference in a private tour vs group tour is to follow the same day both ways. Take the classic run from Belfast to the Giant’s Causeway and back, along the Causeway Coastal Route. The road, the sea and the stones are the same either way, but the day itself is not.
The Giant’s Causeway day on a group tour
Your coach collects from a set meeting point in the city at a set time. The stops are fixed before you board, and each one has a set length, long enough for a photograph and a walk but rarely more. The commentary comes over a microphone, and questions wait for the stops. Lunch is wherever the coach stops for lunch. The day is efficient and good value, and it shows you the main sights of the coast.
The Giant’s Causeway day on a private tour
Your guide collects you from your hotel, at a time you choose. The stops are agreed with you, and they change if you want them to. If you love the Causeway, you stay, and if the rope bridge is closed in the wind, you go somewhere else. Questions are answered as they come up, in conversation rather than over a speaker. The road to Ballintoy Harbour and the quiet lanes between the stops are part of the route, because a smaller vehicle can take them.
The real difference between the two days
The difference is not in the main sights. Both days reach the Giant’s Causeway. It shows in everything around them, the time you spend where you want to be, the places you would never have found, and the story behind what you are looking at. It also shows at the end of the day, when the private tour drops you at your own door. For some people that is worth a great deal, and for others it is not, which is why the next section matters.
When a Private Tour Is the Wrong Choice
I would rather tell you this than have you book something that does not suit you. A private tour is a good day out, but it is not the best answer for every trip. There are times I would point you somewhere else, and these are the main ones.
You are travelling alone on a tight budget
On a private tour, the cost of the vehicle and the guide’s day is shared only among your own party. A solo traveller carries all of it alone. If money is tight, a coach tour or a hire car will serve you better, and you will still see the Giant’s Causeway.
You want to meet other travellers
A day in a private vehicle with your own guide is a lovely day, but it is not a social one. If part of the reason you are travelling is to meet people, the coach is where that happens, over lunch and on the walk down to the stones. That company is part of the day, and a private vehicle cannot give it to you.
You have weeks and no fixed plans
The great advantage of a private day is fitting a lot into a short time. If you have two weeks with nowhere you need to be, that advantage matters much less. Hire a car, take your time, stay in the small towns and enjoy finding things for yourself.
You already know the country
If you have driven the Causeway Coast before and simply want to go back to the places you loved, you do not need a guide to show them to you. A hire car will take you straight there. Spend the money on a good dinner instead.
You love to drive
Some people come to Northern Ireland for the roads themselves, and the Antrim coast is one of the great drives of these islands. If being behind the wheel is part of the pleasure, keep the wheel. A private tour takes that away, and for you that would be a loss rather than a gain.
Who a Private Tour Suits Best
Turn the last section round and you have the people a private tour suits best. In my experience they fall into a handful of groups, and if you see yourself in one of them, a private day is likely to be worth it. If you do not, one of the other options may suit you better.
Short trips and cruise passengers
If you have one or two days in Northern Ireland, or a single day off a cruise ship, there is no time to waste on a wrong turn or a queue. A private day makes the most of the hours you have, and on a cruise call it is built around your all aboard time. My guide to the best Belfast shore excursions goes into that in detail.
Families and mixed groups
Three generations travelling together rarely want the same thing at the same pace. A private vehicle lets grandparents take it gently while the younger ones climb the stones, with stops for toilets, snacks and a rest whenever they are needed. The same is true of groups of friends with different interests.
Anyone who cannot or would rather not drive
Not everyone wants to drive on the left on narrow coast roads after a long flight, and not everyone can. A private tour means nobody in your party has to give up the view to watch the road. Everyone gets to look out of the window, and everyone can have a glass of something at lunch.
Travellers with a special interest, such as golf or Game of Thrones
If you have come for one thing, a private day can be built entirely around it. Fans can spend the whole day on a Game of Thrones tour, golfers can play the great links courses on a private golf tour, and anyone curious about the city’s past can spend a day with the murals and peace walls on a Belfast city tour. The day follows the interest, not a fixed route.
First time visitors who are here once
If this is your one visit to Northern Ireland, you want that one visit to count. A local guide makes sure you see the places that matter and understand what you are looking at. You go home with the stories as well as the photographs.
Questions to Ask Before You Book Private Tours in Northern Ireland
If you decide to go private, a few questions separate a good operator from the rest. There are plenty of private tours in Northern Ireland to choose from, and the answers to these tell you most of what you need to know. A good operator will be happy to answer every one of them.
Is the vehicle licensed to carry paying passengers?
This is the first question, and it matters more than any other. In Northern Ireland a vehicle carrying fare-paying passengers has to be licensed as a taxi, and the law says nobody may operate a taxi service without an operator’s licence. The driver needs a taxi licence too, and the insurance must cover passengers. A good operator will tell you all of this without hesitation.
What vehicle, and how many people?
Ask what vehicle you will travel in and how many seats it has. A private tour should be your party alone, so check that you will not be sharing with strangers, and ask how a larger group is carried. Two smaller vehicles travelling together can reach places that one minibus cannot.
Are the tickets booked?
Carrick-a-Rede needs a crossing booked by every visitor, and coach and minibus groups at the Giant’s Causeway must book with the National Trust ahead of time. Ask who books these and when, because on a busy summer day you cannot rely on buying at the gate. A good operator books these as soon as your date is confirmed.
What happens if the weather closes something?
The rope bridge can close in high wind, and a good operator has an answer ready. Ask what the alternative would be, so you know the day will not simply lose a stop. On this coast there is always somewhere else worth seeing.
Can the day change as it goes?
Ask whether the route can change on the day, and whether the person driving is also the person guiding. Ask where you will be collected, and whether a hotel, airport or cruise terminal pick-up is included. If anything is unclear, ask us or any operator before you pay a deposit, because a good one will be glad to explain.
