Giants Causeway a Giant Waste of Time

[cruisegal415]

On the Emerald Princess’s British Isles tour. Had wonderful tours and excursions in Guernsey, Cobh and Dublin. Felt that Giants Causeway from Belfast was a waste of time. If you’re a member of the National Trust, you can get the $13 Causeway Experience for free but if not they won’t even let you into the cafe to grab a takeaway or an ice cream cone.  Be sure to bring cash (4 pounds total for two people round trip) for the shuttle that takes you up and back from the top. Otherwise it is a very long walk. 
 

Maybe it’s just me but I didn’t think spending almost 2 hours to get there and about 90 minutes to get back was worth it to look at a bunch of rocks. 
 

Our ship was supposed to dock at 8 am but due to some issues with the tide or something we didn’t dock till 9 and weren’t able to leave the ship until about 9:45. Our excursion which was supposed to start at 8:30 didn’t leave until maybe 10:15.  Since our tour guide had booked tickets for the Titanic Experience for 3, we ended up having to skip our lunch stop. So I was glad I had taken along some protein bars and crackers at the last minute. 

 

The ride to Giant’s Causeway from Belfast was almost two hours including a 10-15 minute stop to see the rope bridge. Honestly we could have gone to the Titanic Museum on our own rather than being on a bus for most of the day.

[ISLABONITA]

Thanks for sharing this info, even though I am on NCL I had booked with them unaware of the length of time on the bus.. making other plans now. 

[John Bull]

50 minutes ago, cruisegal415 said:

Maybe it’s just me but I didn’t think spending almost 2 hours to get there and about 90 minutes to get back was worth it to look at a bunch of rocks. 

 

 

 

Now you know the similar "bunch of rocks" thoughts  of many of us Brits about Stonehenge 😉

Diff'rent folks, diff'rent strokes

 

JB 🙂

[MeHeartCruising]

I, for one, enjoy looking at a bunch of rocks.  Geology is fascinating.  I also have thoroughly researched the timing and costs involved for the trek to see them on my cruise starting next week.

 

I also chose to not try and cram the Titanic Experience into this as a combined excursion.  I knew the timing would be too tight.  So I will just have to come back another time to see that.  I will enjoy a more leisurely tour focused on one major site.

 

 I'm sorry that the OP was disappointed.

Edited August 29, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[JimmyTheSaint]

It's free to look at the rocks, you pay if you want in to the visitor centre. The path leading to the Giants Causeway is free if you walk, pay for the bus if you don't want to walk. The Giants Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage site attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Can't please everyone, if looking at unique geological features isn't your thing then the Giants Causeway probably is a waste of time.

[Cotswold Eagle]

9 hours ago, cruisegal415 said:

Maybe it’s just me but I didn’t think spending almost 2 hours to get there and about 90 minutes to get back was worth it to look at a bunch of rocks.

Genuinely curious to know what you thought you would be seeing at Giants Causeway when you booked? 

[Salem615]

Wow -We were in Ireland on a land trip and the Giants Causeway was one of our favorite stops.  It took us about 15 minutes to walk down to the "rocks" and we spent over an hour exploring the area and climbing the rocks and marveling at the beauty. 

 

I feel that sometimes the cruises do not give you enough time to explore the area and maybe that is why the op did not really enjoy the experience. 

[caripoo]

This is an awesome place....It actually is FREE unless you go into the visitor center, and what you really pay for is parking.....THIS IS AN AWESOME PLACE....We have been twice, and would go again, plus if you go the right route, the scenery is beautiful.

[Host Bonjour]

On 8/29/2022 at 9:43 AM, cruisegal415 said:

member of the National Trust,

 

To be fair, it's the same in the U.S. for the National Parks. Unless you have a yearly pass, there are fees to enter, and camp etc. Otherwise, upkeep would be impossible, and sending out rescues for the folks who go off on hikes that they hadn't thought out prior to getting underway.

 

We're all for thoughts and opinions around here, because everyone is into all kinds of different things. Travel can bring all kinds of surprises, some great, others less so. I'm not sure any of it is useless... if anything, we learn something.

 

Might be a yeah (!) more of that please, or a nay: been there, done that, no thank you. What's next?

 

I would recommend skipping Cliff Walk if you're ever in Newport, R.I., which I'm not comparing to Giant's Causeway by any means, but it's more rocks by the sea. (And some cottages 😂)

 

What's wonderful is the world has something for everyone 😎 (and oh to be at Wembley today... kind of jelly)

[Mr&MrsHendricks]

The Giant’s Causeway is a wonderful place to visit.  
Geologically it’s great!

Scenery-wise it’s superb!

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip there last September, and we really liked to coach journey to and from ‘the rocks’ as the  countryside and coastline are lovely.  
Were we on the bus for “most of the day?”  Nope.  Not at all

Is it a “very long walk” from the top? Nope.  It’s a lovely leisurely stroll with some fab views and vantage points. *
Is the Giants Causeway worth a visit? YUP, Most Deffo.  Recommended.  

We must Thank God that the OP had the foresight to take along those protein bars and some crackers or the day could have ended tragically.  🙄

 

* and to clarify the “very long walk” issue… We are v early 50’s and were on SAGA tour, and everyone else had a good few years on us.  
The shuttle thing wasn’t working that day, but did anyone  just sit on the bus? Nope. Did everyone walk there and back? Yup

Did everyone have a grand day? Yup

Did anyone moan?  Nope!

 

@ISLABONITA Check with NCL about timings and make up your own mind. The original post suggests you spend a day on a coach.  This was deffo not the case in our experience. 
 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Mr&MrsHendricks
Alter pics

[cruisegal415]

On 8/29/2022 at 12:38 PM, MeHeartCruising said:

I, for one, enjoy looking at a bunch of rocks.  Geology is fascinating.  I also have thoroughly researched the timing and costs involved for the trek to see them on my cruise starting next week.

 

I also chose to not try and cram the Titanic Experience into this as a combined excursion.  I knew the timing would be too tight.  So I will just have to come back another time to see that.  I will enjoy a more leisurely tour focused on one major site.

 

 I'm sorry that the OP was disappointed.

To each their own! I'm sure some people enjoyed it.  I would have rather just taken a ride into Belfast and done the Titanic on our own, or, taken an historic tour of Belfast and learned more about the troubles. We are more into history than geology.

[cruisegal415]

On 8/29/2022 at 7:42 PM, Cotswold Eagle said:

Genuinely curious to know what you thought you would be seeing at Giants Causeway when you booked? 

The photos I had seen before booking it looked much more beautiful than it did to me, in person. Maybe it's our age, maybe more youthful people would have enjoyed walking over the rocks.  Maybe it was because we were rushed, and our guide had told us that if we walked there and back, we'd only have about 15 minutes to actually look at everything.  It just seemed that we spent more time getting there than actually being there and to me, it wasn't worth it. I'd rather just look at the pretty pictures other people posted.  

[ColonyGirl2]

We were on the Viking Venus last month and took this tour with Odyssey bus tours.  We were actually in a small van with about 15 others.  I didn't even notice how long the drive was because the scenery was so beautiful.  We had 90 minutes at the Causeway and were warned by our driver not to go into the Visitors Center due to cost and nothing much there.  When we left there, we took a scenic drive along the coast and had a wonderful lunch in the town of Ballycastle.  Before returning to the ship, our driver, took us to see the mural about the "Troubles" and gave us a history lesson.  

Wonderful excursion for us!

[karatemom2]

I just want to say a few things to some who have made slightly snarky responses. First of all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and we don’t all enjoy the same things. 
 

I was actually on this tour with Cruisegal and although I did enjoy our time at Giant’s Causeway and found it worth our time, I can totally understand her feelings.   
 

ColonyGirl2 - you got the tour we were supposed to get. We only got an hour at the Causeway and we never got our lunch in Ballycastle due to our ship arriving late and our day being cut short. 
 

Mr&MrsHendricks - despite what you say, it IS a long walk if you have a short time and can’t be “leisurely”. Also the return walk is straight up hill. We did the walk both ways and it does require one to be in good shape and able to handle a pretty vigorous hike as does jumping around on the rocks. It’s not for everyone. And as to your kind of snide comment about snacks - you try going all day without lunch, especially when you are exerting yourself like that. I was starving. We managed to get a small snack and drink at the hotel there but I wished we had brought something. We were never given an opportunity to have lunch during a 9 hour excursion - so you can imagine  why Cruisegal was thankful she had snacks. 
 

i am not blaming the tour company - they did the best they could given we were two hours late. If the Titanic Museum had given them any flexibility to push our reserved time back it all could have been different. But it was a bank holiday and they were packed and couldn’t change our time. So we all tried to make the best of it but it didn’t lend itself to an optimal experience at the Causeway. 
 

I would have loved more time there and we did find it beautiful and worthwhile for us, but I can certainly understand why others on our tour would feel differently.