You can’t really visit Northern Ireland and NOT visit The Giant’s Causeway! It was the one thing our eldest son really wanted to do after we booked our trip. We arrived in Belfast at 8am thanks to an early flight and since we were forecast sunshine for that day and rain the rest of the week, we decided to drive there straight away. This is our Giant’s Causeway Northern Ireland experience.

Giant's Causeway Northern Ireland entrance rock

Giant’s Causeway Northern Ireland : What Is It?

The Giant’s Causeway is made up of around 40,000 basalt stone columns and is Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. But how did the stones get there? Now this depends whether you prefer science or a bit of mythical magic! Scientists tell us the Giant’s Causeway is the result of volcanic crashing, burning and cooling over 60 million years ago. 60 million years. It’s almost impossible to comprehend quite how long ago that was. Not quite as far back as the dinosaurs but still, pretty mind blowing.

However the legend suggests the Giant’s Causeway was created by the giant Finn McCool. Finn was being taunted across the water by Scottish giant Benandonner. Finn, enraged by this, hurls chunks of the Antrim coast into the sea. This creates a walkway across the water to enable him to do battle with his Scottish nemesis. This isn’t the greatest idea as Benandonner is huge! Finn hastily retreats back to Northern Ireland but is followed by Benandonner. With the help of his wife, Finn manages to disguise himself a baby. Not the brightest spark, Benandonner then falls for the trick thinking “yikes, if the baby is that big, how big is his dad?!” He flees back to the safety of Scotland, ripping up the walkway Finn had created to prevent him being followed.

Giant’s Causeway Northern Ireland : Location

The Giant’s Causeway is situated in Bushmills, Country Antrim. We drove our hire car from Belfast Airport up to the Giant’s Causeway. It took a little over an hour for us to complete the journey. It’s well signposted once you’re in the area so it’s pretty easy to find. You can take the alternate, more scenic option and travel the Causeway Coastal Route. However in our haste to get there due to limited sunshine we decided to use the main A roads.

Giant’s Causeway Northern Ireland : Price

The Giant’s Causeway is actually free to the general public. Information surrounding the price can be a little ambiguous but it is definitely free. However the carpark and the Visitor Experience are part of the National Trust and fees are applicable to non members. As National Trust members we received free parking and free entry to the Visitor Experience. If you want to enter the Visitor Experience it’s £31 for a family, including your car parking fee.

Giant’s Causeway Northern Ireland : Visitor Experience

If you chose to enter the Visitor Experience you can obtain an audio guide to enhance your experience. We chose not to, with three kids running around I’d rather be able to hear them! There’s no way I’d be able to concentrate on what the audio guide was saying!

There’s extra information inside, alongside a cafe and a gift shop. Whilst the exterior and the design of the building are pretty impressive, we found it rather underwhelming inside and were glad we didn’t have to pay.

Giant’s Causeway Northern Ireland : Our Experience

There’s a shuttle bus taking you directly to the stones for a £1 each way, or free for NT members. There was one waiting as we left the Visitor Experience so we hopped on. In hindsight we would have walked down and got the bus back up. If you catch the shuttle bus you actually miss some of the famous sights such as the camel and boot so we opted to walk back up the hill on our way back so we wouldn’t miss anything.

Now I’m not exactly an avid geologist! I do not have a particular interest in stones or rocks. I even found Stonehenge a tad underwhelming and dare I say it….a bit boring (to my husband’s horror!) However The Giant’s Causeway is something else. Despite the crowds (it was busy when we arrived) it was easy to see this was so much more than just stones! The columns appear so perfectly placed that I can see why people believe the legend of Finn McCool.

The one thing the kids loved even more than the story of Finn was the climbing! We had our 9, 7 and 4 year old with us and all three delighted in climbing up and over the columns. I did play the part of overprotective mother and held our daughter’s hand throughout the climb while constantly reminding the boys to be careful!

Giant’s Causeway Northern Ireland : Things To Spot

There are a variety of things to spot as you walk down towards the stones, all them related to the legend of Finn McCool. There’s the famous boot, a camel, chimneys and a wishing chair amongst others. You can find these even without the audio guide. If you look out for wooden signs during your walk it tells you where to look!

Giant’s Causeway Northern Ireland : Summary

Out of all the days out with kids we had in Northern Ireland, The Giant’s Causeway was up there as one of our favourites. Yes it’s busy and yes it’s a bit of a tourist trap but for us that didn’t matter. It was a day of adventure and legends and we all loved it!