Three days in Derry and the north Antrim coast
Derry's walls, the Bogside murals, the Causeway Coast and a base in the only fully-walled city in Ireland.
Derry (officially Londonderry, locally Derry) is the only city in Ireland with fully intact 17th-century walls — a 1.5km circular battlement you can walk in 45 minutes. It is also where the Troubles began (Bloody Sunday, 1972) and where the Good Friday Agreement transformations are most visible.
Three nights covers Derry properly with the north Antrim coast — Portrush, the Causeway, Dunluce — as a single coastal loop.
Carbon math, up front. Every IMPT hotel booking retires one tonne of UN-verified CO₂ on-chain — roughly 28× the per-night footprint of a hotel stay.
The route at a glance
- Day 1–2: Derry/Londonderry — 2 nights
- Day 3–4: Causeway Coast (Bushmills) — 1 night
Getting around: Bus Eireann or NI Railways from Belfast to Derry (2h 15m); or fly to Belfast and hire a car
Day 1–2 Derry/Londonderry — 2 nights
Train or bus from Belfast (2h 15m) or 100km drive from Donegal Town (90 minutes, the cleanest entry from the Republic). Derry's walled city is small and walkable; base inside the walls or on the riverfront.
Morning
Walk the 17th-century walls — full 1.5km loop, free, signposted, 45 minutes. The walls are the only fully-intact city walls in Ireland and one of the best-preserved in Europe. Four gates, four bastions, four cannons (including 'Roaring Meg').
The walk worth doing
Bogside Murals — the 12 Free Derry Murals on Rossville Street, painted by the Bogside Artists, documenting the Troubles. Walk the Bogside with a local guide (Free Derry Tours runs the established service); 90 minutes; properly important for understanding the recent history. Then the Museum of Free Derry (the Bloody Sunday Centre, in the Bogside, 30 minutes).
Where to eat
Browns Restaurant on Strand Road for the formal dinner — modern Irish, properly excellent. Pyke 'n' Pommes (a takeaway-on-a-trailer that has become a destination) for the lunch — fish-finger sandwich. The Sandinos pub on Foyle Street for the late drink.
Day-trip from here
Inishowen Peninsula (Republic of Ireland, immediately west of Derry, no border check) for the half-day — Malin Head (Ireland's northernmost point), Mamore Gap, Carrowmena beach. Inishowen is the cleanest day-trip from Derry.
Day 3–4 Causeway Coast (Bushmills) — 1 night
Derry to Bushmills is 50km east on the A2 + A29 — 70 minutes' coastal drive. The route passes Downhill House, the Mussenden Temple (clifftop neoclassical rotunda), and Castlerock beach.
Morning
Giant's Causeway — UNESCO World Heritage site, 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns, free to walk from the visitor centre (parking fee at the centre). Best 9am or after 4pm. Allow 2.5 hours including the cliff-edge walk.
The walk worth doing
Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (10km east of the Causeway) — 20m rope bridge across a 30m chasm to a small fishing island. Book ahead in summer for timed tickets.
Where to eat
Bushmills Inn for the formal Irish dinner (the bar is in a converted gas-lit Victorian interior). The Distiller's Arms in Bushmills for the casual. Old Bushmills Distillery (1608, the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery) for the afternoon tour.
Day-trip from here
Dark Hedges (15km east, the Game of Thrones avenue of beech trees) for the morning. Or Dunluce Castle (4km west of Bushmills, dramatic clifftop ruin).
Practical notes + how to extend
From the Causeway, return to Belfast (90km, 90 minutes) for the train to Dublin or the flight from BHD/BFS. Or continue west back into Donegal via Derry for the natural loop into the Republic's northwest (see the Donegal-Sligo itinerary).
Derry is the underrated Northern Ireland city — Belfast gets the visitor count, Derry has the walls and the political history in a single compact centre.
The carbon mechanic — in plain English
Every hotel booked through IMPT triggers the retirement of one tonne of UN-verified CO₂ — roughly 28× the per-night footprint of a hotel stay. The room price is the standard rate. The offset is funded from IMPT's commission, recorded on-chain on Ethereum, and tied to your booking ID. For a multi-night Irish itinerary booked through IMPT, the per-traveller offset comfortably exceeds the carbon cost of the hotel-stay portion of the trip.
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Same price as direct, free cancellation on most stays, 1 tonne UN-verified CO₂ retired on-chain per booking.
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