Equally exhilarating when cloaked in mist as when bathed in sunshine, the Giant's Causeway is one of Ireland's most atmospheric landscape features. Uneven stacks of tightly packed hexagonal columns stand in neat clusters along the water’s edge, forming a causeway that inspired the legend that the stones were put in place by a giant.
Visitor Centre
The geological phenomenon of the rocks and the legends associated with them are explained in the National Trust's Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre. Visiting the Causeway is free of charge, but you pay to use the car park on a combined ticket with the visitor center; parking-only tickets aren't available. Admission includes an audio guide to listen to as you explore the rocks. There are also hourly tours down to the rocks with a storytelling guide from the visitor center.
Exploring the Causeway
From the visitor center, it's a gentle 10- to 15-minute walk downhill to the Causeway itself, where you can walk out onto the stones as the ocean laps around you. You can also take the shuttle bus from the visitor center to the causeway (£1).
The lower coastal path leads east as far as the Amphitheatre viewpoint, passing impressive rock formations including the Organ, a stack of 60 vertical basalt columns resembling organ pipes.
From here, you can retrace your steps west to the Shepherd's Steps, and climb to the clifftop path and walk west to return to the visitor center, or head east past the Chimney Stacks headland as far as Dunseverick or beyond.
