Local lass goes solo - I’m from Dublin and wanted to visit the Giants Causeway but didn’t want to drive. I found Railtours Ireland online and they fitted the bill for what I was looking for. I apprehensively booked on the day tour up North and yes I am glad I did! It was a super fun trip in no small part due to the engaging host who is a great representative for Irish Tourism. I have tons of photos and could write a paper on the Giants Causeway I now have so much knowledge. Thanks to Railtours Ireland, my fellow travel companions the bus driver Richard and Mr John Todd for such a great day out it was worth every penny.

Amazing Giant’s Causway - We had an amazing day with our guide, John Todd. Train ride was excellent. The weather cooperated, and even though we had a little rain, it cleared up by the time we got to the Causway. We got a bonus stop at Bushmill, too! Would definitely recommend this trip to anyone with time in Dublin!

John was the best! - John our guide to Giants Causeway was the best. He had so much knowledge and information about the history of the area. John pointed out many landmarks while we were traveling on the train and bus. I would highly recommend this one day rail tour from Dublin, especially if you have John!

NORHTERN IRELAND ONE DAY TOUR WITH JOHN - John was our tour guide. He was very invvrf and high energy. He took us to the bottom of the Causeways and squeezed in as much as we could. He also made sure we were always on time and together as a group.

A Must See Tour! - This was the highlight of my vacation in Ireland. I was staying in Dublin for my weeklong vacation and booked this tour to see Giant's Causeway and Northern Ireland. Railtours Ireland made traveling so smooth and hassle free. Peter was friendly and took care of us, offering tidbits of information along the way. This was such a great way to see many things in one day!

Best tour ever! - My husband I booked the Giants Causeway tour and it was incredible! Definitely a must see if you’re visiting Ireland. We took amazing pictures and it was an experience we’ll never forget. Our tour guide, Paddy, was wonderful! He was with us for 13 hours and made the day so easy. He shared interesting Irish culture and history with us. He was very passionate, enthusiastic, and funny which made for a great day! Also making sure the entire group got into a taxi safely after the tour was over was greatly appreciated! Cannot recommend this company enough!

Day tour from Dublin to The Giants Causeway with Railtours Ireland - We left Dublin Connolly Station with our tour guide Marathon John at the helm heading for Belfast and onward to the Giants Causeway. Bad weather as a result of Storm Babette delayed our progress with a landslip requiring our small group of 6 to transfer to a coach for part of the journey. John organised things brilliantly. Having missed our connection at Belfast station for the tour along the Antrim Coast we were met by a luxury 8 seater Mercedes V class minivan. It was driven my Rodney and his wife, the owners of the coach company. They acted as tour guides on our journey to the lunch stop at the Fullerton Arms on the North Coast. Fuelled by a Guinness and a pie we travelled onward to the Giants Causeway with spectacular views across to the Scottish Isles. John our guide escorted us from the coach down to the causeway. He was very knowledgeable and informative and showed us the best photo stops on the loop down to the sea. Back on the coach Ray our driver took us to Dunluce Castle and the Dark Hedges, both well known Game of Throne Landmarks. That left us just enough time for a 25 minute stop at the Bushmills Distillery for a quick sampling experience in the visitor area. Rebecca from New York, one of our small group on the tour, beat us to cashier and treated us to a tasting tray of 3 shots of the good stuff. Due to rail delays caused by Fridays storm we were keen to get back to Belfast for the slightly earlier 6pm train back to Dublin. Ray our driver cleared it with his boss and we made good time to the station arriving with 5 minutes to spare before departure. On our rail trip back to Dublin John our guide talked to us about the history of the land and its hidden treasures. We had a brilliant day which ended around 9pm on arrival at Connolly Station. A special mention goes to John our guide for the day. He was full of information and facts and our small group had a fabulous day.

Great Tour - Overall it was a great trip, my mom and I loved it. Our tour guide, Paddy, was super sweet and helpful through the whole experience. The only downside was that we wanted to spend more time in certain areas and did not get to due to time constraints, but we knew that might be an issue. Also depends on who you are sharing the tour with as some of the people on our tour were not super considerate of other people nor were they kind to Paddy in the beginning. However, over time the other people on our tour were nicer. Ultimately great tour :)

Tour was fine but not first class - Don't let the name fool you, like it did me. There is nothing really "first class" about the tour. I mean it was OK, but misleading in several ways. 1) It said there would be reserved seats on the trains. There weren't. We all got seats, but they weren't reserved, so we always had to hustle to get on fast. And they were just standard coach fare seats. 2) Our itinerary (even what they handed us that morning) said the train went to Belfast where we'd get off and take a coach. Now the tour "host", Paddy, said that we'd get off in Newry but didn't say why. And he was a bit hard to understand so I didn't understand why. We all followed him off the train at Newry, were led to a crowded bus where my husband and I couldn't even sit with each other, and we drove in silence for about 45 minutes. No explanation and I was super confused the whole time. When we finally got to Belfast, we transferred to a smaller coach that was ACTUALLY part of the tour. (I asked later why this happened and Paddy explained there was railwork being done to put in a new line in Belfast and this meant the Belfast stops were not functional and therefore they were having to bus passengers to the Belfast train station. It sounded like it was that way for a while, so why they didn't explain this or put it in our itinerary I have no idea). 3) Our itinerary document showed what was included and it explicitly said "Visitor Attraction Admissions", but on this tour, the two stops that had admissions--Giant's Causeway Visitor Center/Bus and Bushmill's Tours or Whiskey tastings, were NOT covered. So I felt that was very misleading. Another thing that bugged me was that details of the actual tour and stops/times, was very hard to come by. Nothing in writing. And lunch was at our own cost. Breakfast too we had to bring. It was hard to find info on the food aspect. Now with that said, the tour was fine. Paddy got us safely from point A to point B and back, and at times it was like herding cats. So my hat is off to him. And our tour guide/driver Ray was very informative and energetic in his narration. So they were good. But to be clear, the tour is not first class by any stretch.

LONG LONG Day - The description of this tour was a bit vague. First off the description says it is a 13 hour tour , which is a long day to begin with, but in total ours was about 15 hours. The first and last 2.5 hours are on a commuter rail without much scenery (no scenery on the return trip since it is dark). When we arrived in Belfast on the rail a van picked us up to transfer to the bus tour already in progress. Not sure we missed much on the bus tour but the drive in the van was about an hour to meet up with the bus. The views from this point were very nice. We did stop at various places for photos and then had a little under 2 hours to explore at giants causeway. This is a large group tour and, although the driver ask passengers to return to the bus at specific times, with that many people there was always some inconsiderate participants who did not comply. For our second to last stop, we had a stop at Bushmills Distillery, which the driver said was an optional stop and up to the driver whether to stop or not. We had 25 minutes there, which really was just a rushed stop with barely enough time to slam down a few samples of whiskey (we are thinking the driver must get some sort of kickback from the distillery to include the stop) In the end, we returned too late to catch the 6:00 train which is where the additional 2 hours comes in. There is not much near the train station food-wise other than the restaurant inside the Hilton. We grabbed dinner at the Hilton while waiting for the 8:00 train. Sounds like it is quite normal for participants to return on the 8:00 train rather than the 6:00 train. We would not have chosen this tour had we been given the details above, so hopefully this will help others know what they are signing up for so you can make your own decision.