Visit Giants Causeway for less

The Giants Causeway is a beach on the north coast of Northern Ireland with spectacular geometric rock formations. The National Trust charge £15 per person to park there. However the beach and cliffs above are public, you can visit them for £10 per car if you park elsewhere, or for free with an easy 45 min coastal walk, or a 2 hour spectacular "causeway coast" walk. To be clear, the entrance fee is just for the visitor experience (parking, cafe, toilets, small exhibition), not the cliffs and beach which are free public access. There are steps down to the beach path from the 'coast path' which goes over the 'green' roof of the visitor centre.

Parking nearby is ridiculously expensive, all the nearby roads are private, narrow, or have yellow lines, so the National Trust, with the help of the local council, have a near monopoly on access

From the visitor centre / cliff top down to the beach is about 1km with 100 ft / 30m descent along a car wide track. Its a 10-15 min walk. The NT run a shuttle bus down, available to anyone. Its £1 each way, cash only, not included in the visitor experience admission price. Only the less able need it.

A) National Trust Car Park - £15 per person

This car park next to the visitor centre is free for NT members, or £15 per person for non members. At busy times, its strongly advised to book in advance, even a few minutes in advance using your phone.

The simple solution is to drop off extra passengers by the entrance, and just drive in with one person in the car. Simples. Otherwise you pay per passenger.

B) Nearby Car parks that are cheaper

• The Causeway Hotel, BT57 8SU. Next to the visitor centre. £10 to park, but you get a £10 credit voucher to spend at the bar!
• NT Walker's car park. 60 Causeway Road, BT57 8SU. On the main road, just past the Giants Causway turn off if coming from Bushmills. £10 or free to NT members
• The Nook pub. 48 Causeway Road, BT57 8SU. At the Giants Causeway turn off. Ask, maybe OK if its quiet and you eat/drink
• Giants's Causeway Railway station, Runkerry Road, BT57 8SU. Signposted at the Giant's Causeway turnoff. £10

Yes, all the postcodes are the same!

C) B146 Causeway Road - Free but unsafe

The double yellow (no parking) lines along the main road extend about 1km from east from the visitor centre turn off, and about 500m south, but there's no pavement to walk along, and its a fast road, so too dangerous to walk along. All other nearby roads are either private or too narrow. When I stopped to look at the map, a local asked me if I'd like to use their drive, they think the parking is a rip off too.

Short Coastal Walk from Portballintrae

• Beach Road car park BT57 8RT - free - at the end of the sea front road.
• Bushmills Road car park BT57 8WB - free - slightly inland, use if the beach car park is full. Either head towards the beach (see map), or follow the road round the bend, and continue to railway path, turn left and follow it.

There are 2 options to walk along the coast from Portballintrae, just north of Bushmills

• Easy option (along the beach, then follow the railway line) : 1.7 miles ( 2.7 km) with 100 feet (25 m) of ascent. About 45 mins.
• Harder option (along the beach, then around the headland) : 2.4 miles ( 3.9 km) with 150 feet (50 m) of ascent. About 1 hr 15 mins. Recommended.

Directions

• Beach car park : Follow the Bush River inland to a bridge
• Bushmills Road car park : Either head north towards the Bush River bridge, or, follow the road round the bend, and continue to railway line, turn left and follow the walk/cycle path
• Follow the Bush River inland to a bridge.
• Cross it, and continue, either alongside the narrow gauge railway line walk/cycle path, or along Runkerry Beach
• At the end of the beach, either:
• i) Follow the coast path around the headland (recommended, longer but much prettier)
• ii) Continue along the walk/cycle path. At Giants Causeway station, follow the path signposted for train passengers.

The railway line path is a walk/cycle path from Bushmills.

Long but spectacular coastal walk from Dunseverick Castle

• Layby, or car park nect to it : BT57 8SY

The Causeway Coast path to Giants Causeway is 2.4 miles ( 3.9 km) with 150 feet (50 m) of ascent. About 2.5 hours

Note there is a regular (2 per hour) bus along this road, so you could do the walk 1 way. Both ways would be a full day out, but a great one. Use Google Maps to get the bus timetable.

• Park at the free car park or small layby
• Follow the spectacular Causeway Coast Path walk

OS Northern Ireland Map

Sadly, OSNI maps aren't available to embed. They aren't even easy to link to. Follow this link, then use the '4 squares' symbol (first icon at the top right), then choose 'Activity (1:25,000)' to see a map of the area.