An Enjoyable and Memorable 1 Day Tour Around Dublin and Belfast Area

Of our seven day stay in Dublin, the most memorable time we had was taking the 1 day tour to three famous places around Dublin and the Belfast area. We went and bought our tour tickets at a downtown travel agency a couple of days ago. On the morning of the tour, we took an Uber ( our Canadian Uber app worked in Ireland!) shortly after 6 am and arrived at the Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street in downtown Dublin.There were about twenty passengers; we got on a tour bus and off we went.

This was a whole day trip with the first stop at the Dark Hedges, aslo known as 'The King's Road for those who are familiar with the Game of Thorn show. This road was lined with 150 huge beech trees planted in the 18th century. After many years, the trees have grown big arching over the road. The day we visited this famous place, it was raining a bit, foggy and misty. It added a feeling of mystery to the place. We had to hurry in order not to get soaking wet. But it was beautiful; we felt as if we were in a medieval forest!

The second stop was the Giants' Causeway - It was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986, Northern Ireland's most famous site. Since the tour bus could not drive us close to the causeway, we were dropped off at the parking lot close to the causeway's restaurant. From there we took a 30 minute walk to see this famous Giant Causeway. For those with mobility issues, they could purchase tickets and ride on the tram.

The Causeway was made from over 40,000 basalt columns during a volcanic eruption some 60 million years ago and regarded as one of the world's most prized natural treasures. According to local legend - this causeway was the remains of a bridge built between Ireland and Scotland by a mythical hunter/warrior Finn McCool. Interesting!

The most exciting part of the day for me was visiting the Titiantic Museum in Belfast. The Titiantic Museum was built to the same height as the ship itself. At the entrance, our tour guide gave us each a White Star Boarding ticket - the one the Titantic passengers received for the boarding of the ship. How cool was that. Once inside the museum, we looked out to the dock and got a sense of how tall the ship was. We took a self guided audio tour and walked through nine interactive galleries where we were introduced to the people and the city that made the Titantic. The most interesting interactive gallery was riding in a cable car taking us through the process of how the Titiantic was made in the factory.

We experienced the hammering and engine sounds, the sights, the smell, and heard the stories of the making of the Titantic and saw the tremendous craftsmanship and skills in building this gigantic vessel. However, we spent too much time on the first few galleries learning about the history and the life and the people of Belfast.

By the time we got to the Titiantic ship itself, we had to hurry and skimped through many interesting exhibits and artifacts quickly.

However, we did see displays on the interior decor of the Titantic and the opulance of the first class cabin and the dining room. It was realistic and awesome! I wished we could have a couple more hours at the museum to explore and learn more about this famous ship.

It was a totally enjoyable day trip. I don't thnk we could have seen so much on our own had we rented a car and driven ourselves. It was one of the best one day tour in a strange city for me. 2 thunmbs up for this tour! RT Dublin, Ireland 062024