Belfast private tour providers

[lladage]

Can anyone PLEASE recommend a tour provider in Belfast?? I'm looking for a small private (no more than 12 passengers) reasonably-priced tour up the Antrim coast to the Giants Causeway, then on to Bushmills Distillery where I hope to have time for their tour and lunch at their cafe/restaurant. I've already contacted the better-known operators, and either get no response at all, or a response to the first email and then nothing.:confused: I'm really getting frustrated - it's a good thing I've got almost a year before our cruise!

 

Lynn

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I have to say we loved our ship tour to this area. It was very scenic.

 

When you get to the Causeway parking.. you walk down or you can take their curtesy shuttle. We walked up and back (it's about 1/2 mile each way). The Causeway is fascinating and the drive to and fro is really scenic.

 

One thing I would tell you is make a b-line for the Causeway Hotel Pub before the hords (yep- there are lots of people there) go there for lunch. It was great though and I've never had Steak and Guiness Pie anywhere else. It was delicious. It's served with a side of Champs which are mashed potatoes with green onions and cheese.

 

Perfect day. If you rent a car for the day- you can do it yourself easily and driving in Ireland is easy. Roads are not crowded at all.

Edited July 31, 2012 by rebeccalouiseagain

[soloadventurer]

I can recommend titanic tours by susie millar her father sailed on the Titanic

[kelzbelz77]

http://www.belfasttours.com/causeway.htm

 

He is on vacation until 8/8/12 but there is a phone # as well. I sent an email for our 9/13/13 British Isle cruise.

[hubofhockey]

We did this tour with Paddywagon Tours. Even though they are Dublin based, they sent a driver with a 12-seat van for six of us. It was nice having all of that space.

 

We did the Antrim Coast drive. After a brief stop at Ballycastle, we went to the Rope Bridge, Giants Causeway, lunch, and Old Bushmills in that order. The price was 400 euros (charged us in euros because they are a Dublin company) and would have been the same even if we put more people in the van.

 

We had originally signed up for a Black Taxi tour but we decided against it after thinking more about two of the four of us (original group was smaller) having to sit on a jump seat for the entire day.

 

Others on our roll call used more local companies at close to the same rate and did similar tours. If it rains, you may want to come up with a Plan B. Much of this day is outdoors and the Causeway and Rope Bridge are really not places you want to be if it's pouring.

[SweetGG]

Paddy Campbell's Black Cab tours. Paddy is wonderful. Nothing better than the north coast in wind and rain! :) We had a spectacular day of sunshine.

[Gibby55]

We used Odyssey Tours. Paddy's was fully booked and we thought we'd try Odyssesy. We were not disappointed! Their customer service was excellent and the tour guide informative, humorous and professional. They had two buses that day on the pier. They pick you up directly from the pier next to the ship and drop you off in plenty of time for sailaway. In our case we booked a tour to the Causeways. They had others from the ship who did the same, so we were placed in a large, clean and comfortable bus. The second bus was for a private group tour of 16. They were on the cruise together and arranged their own tour through Odyssesy. So they will work with you on what you want. Very reasonably priced. http://odysseycoachtours.co.uk/giants-causeway-tours/

[takinpics]

We were on the Aug 5th Infinity sailing. For Belfast, I booked a private tour with Premier Tours Ireland, http://www.premiertoursireland.com/.

Through the Roll Call we connected with 4 other to share our tour. Our guide met us when we docked. Our tour was in a 6 passenger Mercedes van. The itinerary was customized to our wishes. We went to Carrickfergus castle, the Antrim coast with photo stops, Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge (2 of our 6 crossed it), and the amazing Giant's Causeway. This tour was Excellent!

[capriccio]

We used Odyssey Tours. Paddy's was fully booked and we thought we'd try Odyssesy. We were not disappointed! Their customer service was excellent and the tour guide informative, humorous and professional. They had two buses that day on the pier. They pick you up directly from the pier next to the ship and drop you off in plenty of time for sailaway. In our case we booked a tour to the Causeways. They had others from the ship who did the same, so we were placed in a large, clean and comfortable bus. The second bus was for a private group tour of 16. They were on the cruise together and arranged their own tour through Odyssesy. So they will work with you on what you want. Very reasonably priced. http://odysseycoachtours.co.uk/giants-causeway-tours/

 

Another vote for Odyssey Tours! Our roll call filled 2 16 person vans and a coach. We visited the Antrim coast including Giants Causeway and the Rope Bridge and then had a quick but incredibly informative tour of Belfast. Our guide was very knowledgeable and obviously loved his job and country.

[bubblesqueaker]

Hi everyone, I am reading this with my mouth hanging open! I am a local and some of these prices are extortionate! You might be better looking into hiring a private taxi (Fona Cab or Value Cab) and ask them how much it is to hire for the day. the greatest distance involved here is about 50 miles away. If you are a happy driver then consider hiring a car for the day. They are good main roads (the coastal road is a little more winding and narrow) and will cost you a fraction of the price. All of these attractions are easy to find.

.

[Gondo Girl]

I want to write this to praise the trustworthy service of Odyssey Tours.

 

In September 2013, we were scheduled to take a Giants Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge tour out of our port in Belfast. Unfortunately, our ship did not make port due to very bad weather. I immediately emailed James Monaghan of Odyssey to say we could not make that tour. He assured me our money would be refunded.

 

We corresponded by email a few times, and he was always courteous and reassuring that the company and Pay Pal would make the refund. It took 8 weeks to make the refund, but that was not an issue. He kept us fully informed along the way. There was an issue with Pay Pal in that we had paid for the tour in July and they had a time limit for a refund -- yet, for cruises you wouldn't know that far in advance that you would not be making port. In short, Mr. Monaghan and Pay Pal worked it out, we got our refund, and Odyssey is altering its mode of payment so they can more easily accommodate ships' cancellations of ports.

 

I applaud Mr. Monaghan and Odyssey Tours as we know there were other passengers with different companies who reaceived no refund at all. They felt cheated while we were quite satisfied . . . except that we missed a tour we really wanted to take.

 

Thank you, Odyssey.

 

Jerie Morrison