7 days from Belfast
Belfast → Donegal Town & Slieve League · 7 days · ~11h 55m total driving
Belfast to Donegal in a week gives you both routes at their best ends. The border crossing is invisible — the only things that change are the currency and the speed signs.
Heading south · 7 days
Belfast → Donegal Town & Slieve League
~11h 55m total driving
Day 1 · AntrimCauseway Coast
Belfast
City anchor — Titanic Quarter, Cathedral Quarter, the Black Cab tour, the entry/exit to the Causeway Coastal Route.
- Titanic Belfast
- Belfast City Hall
Day 2 · AntrimCauseway Coast
~1h 25m drive
Glens of Antrim
Nine glens running down to the sea. Glenariff, Cushendall, Glenarm.
- Glenariff Forest Park & waterfalls
- The Antrim Coast Road
Day 3 · AntrimCauseway Coast
~1h drive
Ballycastle & Rathlin Island
Ferry to Rathlin — puffins, a flipped lighthouse, the only inhabited Antrim island.
- The Rathlin Island ferry
- Rathlin West Light & the seabird colonies
Day 4 · AntrimCauseway Coast
~25m drive
Carrick-a-Rede & Ballintoy
The rope bridge to a salmon fisherman's island. Ballintoy harbour next door.
- The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
- Ballintoy harbour
Day 5 · AntrimCauseway Coast
~25m drive
Giant's Causeway & Bushmills
40,000 basalt columns, a UNESCO site, and the world's oldest licensed distillery next door.
- The Causeway itself
- Old Bushmills Distillery
Day 6 · DerryCauseway Coast
~1h 55m drive
Derry / Londonderry
Walled city, Bogside murals, the Peace Bridge — and the bridge to the Wild Atlantic Way.
- Walk the city walls
- The People's Gallery (Bogside murals)
Crossing the border
From here you cross the Foyle into the Republic — euro, kilometres, same Atlantic. The Causeway Coastal Route ends; the Wild Atlantic Way picks up.
What changes at the border →Day 7 · Donegal
~6h 45m drive
Donegal Town & Slieve League
The castle, the diamond, and the highest sea cliffs accessible in Ireland.
- Slieve League cliffs
- Donegal Castle
13 regions skipped to fit your time
- Carrickfergus — Norman castle on the harbour, the song everyone half-knows the words to.
- Larne & the Antrim Coast Road — Where the Causeway Coastal Route gets wild — basalt cliffs hanging over the road.
- Cushendun & Torr Head — The quiet drive — caves, white-washed cottages, Scotland twelve miles across the channel.
- Dunluce & the Causeway cliffs — The ruined castle on the cliff edge, the coast path to the Causeway.
- Portrush & Portstewart — Two seaside towns, a championship links, and the surf at East Strand.
- Mussenden Temple & Downhill — A cliff-edge temple, the Earl Bishop's ruined demesne, and seven miles of empty strand.
- Malin Head — The northern terminus. Banba's Crown, Hell's Hole, the EIRE sign.
- Fanad & Inishowen — Fanad lighthouse, the Great Pollet arch, the Inishowen 100.
- Downings — Sheephaven Bay, Tranarossan, the Atlantic Drive.
- Dunfanaghy — Horn Head, Killahoey beach, McAuliffe's bookshop.
- Arranmore & Tory — Two ferries, two very different worlds. Cliffs, kingship, round tower.
- Dungloe & The Rosses — Gaeltacht heartland, hundreds of lakes, ferry to Arranmore.
- Glencolmcille — Folk village, the Tower at Glen Head, end-of-the-road quiet.
Driving times are honest mid-range estimates. The WAW is full of small roads, and you'll want to stop. Plan for slower than Google Maps tells you.
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