Top Things to Do in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland, and it has quietly become one of our favourite cities to point people towards in the UK. We’ve visited more than once, taken the Black Taxi tours and local walking tours (often as the only non-Irish visitors in the cab), explored the city centre and driven out along the Causeway Coast, and we’ve come away liking it more each time. This guide gathers together the top things to do in Belfast, from the Titanic Quarter to the political murals, along with practical advice on getting there, how long to stay, and where to base yourself.

Belfast is probably best known as the city where the RMS Titanic was built, and for the violence and division of The Troubles in the later part of the 20th century. Today it’s a compact, walkable city with a historic centre, the Titanic Quarter, hundreds of street murals, excellent (and often free) museums, Victorian architecture, and a pub scene that more than holds its own. It doesn’t get the international crowds Dublin does, and that’s a large part of its appeal: the attractions rarely feel crowded, and the city feels lived-in rather than staged for visitors.

Below we share our full guide to Belfast attractions, from central Belfast out to the surrounding area and the best day trips, plus how to get there, when to go, how to get around, and where to stay.

Quick take: Belfast is well worth two full days, and easily justifies three or four if you want to use it as a base for the Causeway Coast and Game of Thrones country. It’s a safe, affordable, easy-to-walk city. If you only do a handful of things, we’d prioritise:

• Titanic Belfast, the city’s flagship museum, in the Titanic Quarter
• A Black Taxi tour of the political murals and Peace Wall, ideally with a driver who lived through the Troubles
• Crumlin Road Gaol, the beautifully restored Victorian prison
• The Ulster Museum (free), with a wander around the Queen’s Quarter and Botanic Gardens
• An evening in the Cathedral Quarter, taking in the Crown Liquor Saloon and the Duke of York
• A day trip out to the Giant’s Causeway and the Causeway Coast

 

Is Belfast Worth Visiting?

Yes. Belfast is one of the more rewarding city breaks in the UK and Ireland, especially if you have any interest in history, and it tends to over-deliver against people’s (often low) expectations. You can pack a lot into a short visit because the centre is small and walkable, the headline attractions are strong, and prices are noticeably lower than Dublin or the big English cities.

What makes it stand out is the mix. In a single day you can go from the Titanic story at one of the best museums of its kind, to a taxi tour where your driver talks you through the Troubles from lived experience, to a pint in a Victorian gin palace that the National Trust now protects. That combination of maritime history, recent political history, and a warm pub culture is something few cities of this size offer.

It isn’t the place to come for blockbuster nightlife or a huge range of international flights, and if you want a classic Irish city-break with Georgian streets and literary pubs, Dublin does that better. But for value, walkability, and depth of history, Belfast punches well above its size.

 

Belfast or Dublin: Which Should You Choose?

If you can only visit one and you’re drawn to Northern Ireland, the Causeway Coast, or Game of Thrones filming locations, choose Belfast. It’s cheaper, less crowded, easier to get around on foot, and it’s the natural base for the north coast. If your priority is a bigger city with more nightlife, more international flights, and the classic Irish literary and Georgian scene, choose Dublin.

The good news is you don’t necessarily have to choose. The two cities are about two hours apart by train, and the hourly cross-border Enterprise service makes it pretty doable to combine them. We’d suggest at least two days in each. If you’re planning to see both, our 3 day Dublin itinerary pairs well with the Belfast advice here.

 

How Many Days Do You Need in Belfast?

We’d recommend at least two full days and nights in Belfast to get a really good feel for the city. Two days is enough to cover the Titanic Quarter, take a Black Taxi tour, see the City Hall and central sights, and spend an evening in the Cathedral Quarter, without rushing.

Here’s how we’d think about it depending on your time.

With one day, you can still catch the highlights if you focus. We’d do Titanic Belfast in the morning and a Black Taxi tour in the afternoon, then an evening in the Cathedral Quarter, using a hop-on hop-off bus to save time between the centre and the Titanic Quarter.

Two days is our recommended minimum. That gives you one day for the Titanic Quarter and maritime sites, and a second for the City Hall, the murals and Peace Wall, Crumlin Road Gaol, and the Queen’s Quarter museums.

With three or more days, you can add a day trip out to the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast, or a Game of Thrones tour. With four or five, you could fit in Cave Hill, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums at Cultra, and a slower wander around East Belfast.

To plan a two-day visit in detail, our sister site’s 2 day Belfast itinerary maps out a workable route. If the Titanic is your main reason for visiting, our Belfast Titanic attractions guide includes a suggested two-day Titanic itinerary.

 

Is Belfast Safe to Visit?

Belfast is a safe place to visit, and we’ve never had any safety concerns on our trips. It’s a normal, welcoming European city, and the sectarian violence associated with the Troubles is now rare. Millions of visitors come each year, and tourism has become a major part of the city’s life.

It’s no secret that from the late 1960s to the end of the 1990s, Belfast was a place few tourists put on their list. The Troubles brought decades of division, hardship, and violence to the city and much of Northern Ireland. Those scars are still visible, in the murals, the Peace Walls, and the stories people tell, and some divisions remain. But day to day, the city feels calm and easy to move around.

Occasionally tensions still surface, and there can be parades or protests, particularly around the July marching season, that very occasionally turn disorderly (as happened during the 2021 disturbances). Most marches and gatherings are entirely peaceful, but our advice is simply to give any protest or march a wide berth if you come across one. Beyond that, take the ordinary precautions you would in any city: keep an eye on your valuables, watch for pickpockets in busy spots, and stay aware of your surroundings.

 

Belfast Attractions at a Glance

Belfast has far more to offer than you could see in a single visit, so here’s a quick triage table of the main attractions covered in this guide. We’ve grouped them by rough priority, area, how long they tend to take, and whether they’re free or paid, to help you build a shortlist. Full details on each follow further down.

Attraction	Area	Priority	Time needed	Cost
Titanic Belfast	Titanic Quarter	Must-do	2-3 hrs	Paid
Black Taxi mural & Troubles tour	Citywide	Must-do	1.5-2 hrs	Paid
Crumlin Road Gaol	North Belfast	Must-do	1-1.5 hrs	Paid
Ulster Museum	Queen’s Quarter	Must-do	1.5-2 hrs	Free
Belfast City Hall	City Centre	Worth it	1 hr	Free
Cathedral Quarter pubs (Crown, Duke of York)	City Centre	Worth it	Evening	Free entry
St George’s Market (Fri-Sun)	City Centre	Worth it	1 hr	Free
SS Nomadic	Titanic Quarter	Worth it	45 min	Paid
Titanic Dock & Pump House	Titanic Quarter	Worth it	1 hr	Paid
HMS Caroline	Titanic Quarter	Worth it	1.5 hrs	Paid
Peace Wall & street murals	West Belfast	Worth it	30-60 min	Free
Grand Opera House	City Centre	Worth it	Show or tour	Paid
Botanic Gardens & Palm House	Queen’s Quarter	Worth it	45 min	Free
Ulster Folk & Transport Museums (Cultra)	Outside city	Worth it	Half day	Paid
Stormont (Parliament Buildings)	East Belfast	If time	1 hr	Free
C.S. Lewis Square & trail	East Belfast	If time	30-60 min	Free
W5 Science & Discovery Centre	Titanic Quarter	If time (families)	2-3 hrs	Paid
Cave Hill & Belfast Castle	North Belfast	If time	Half day	Free
Belfast Zoo	North Belfast	If time (families)	2-3 hrs	Paid
Giant’s Causeway & Causeway Coast	Day trip	Must-do day trip	Full day	Paid
Game of Thrones filming locations	Day trip	If a fan	Full day	Paid

 

Belfast Basics: Getting There, Getting Around, and Where to Stay

Before we get into the attractions, here’s the practical information you’ll need to plan a trip: how to reach Belfast, how to get around once you’re there, when to go, and where to base yourself.

 

Where is Belfast?

Belfast is the capital and largest city in Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. It is situated alongside the River Lagan on the northeast coast of the island of Ireland.

Note that politically the island of Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom whereas the Republic of Ireland is not and is a separate country.

 

Getting to Belfast

Since 2024, most trains and coaches into Belfast arrive at the new Belfast Grand Central Station, an integrated rail and bus hub in the Weaver’s Cross district just west of the city centre. It opened in phases through late 2024 and replaced both the old Great Victoria Street rail station and the Europa Buscentre (the separate Lanyon Place station, formerly Belfast Central, remains open too). It’s a useful landmark to orient yourself around when you arrive.

By plane, Belfast has two airports, Belfast International Airport and George Best Belfast City Airport, both with flights from a range of domestic and international destinations, primarily within the UK and western Europe. If there’s no direct flight, you can connect via other UK cities such as London, Manchester, Edinburgh, or Glasgow.

From Belfast International Airport, the Airport Express 300 bus runs to Grand Central Station in about 40 minutes; you can also take a taxi or Uber. From George Best Belfast City Airport, which is much closer to the centre, the Airport Express 600 bus, a short taxi ride, or a train (about a 12 minute walk to Sydenham station, or the airport shuttle) will get you in quickly. You can check current airport bus routes and times with Translink.

Alternatively, you can fly into Dublin Airport, which has far more international connections, and then take a bus, train, or hire car to Belfast. It’s about two hours by car or two and a half hours by bus from the airport. If you’re already in Dublin, the train takes a little over two hours.

By train, you can reach Belfast from within the island of Ireland, including Dublin, and connecting services from Cork, Limerick, and Galway. The cross-border Enterprise service between Dublin Connolly and Belfast Grand Central now runs roughly hourly (a frequency boost introduced in late 2025), taking around two hours and ten minutes. You can save on fares by booking in advance. Check routes, fares, and schedules on Irish Rail or Translink.

By coach, if you’re in the UK or Ireland there are daily connections to Belfast from a number of cities, arriving at Grand Central Station. Routes from England, Scotland, and Wales all include ferry transport. Check Translink and National Express for coach connections.

By car, Belfast is about 70 miles from Derry/Londonderry (around 1 hour 30 minutes), 105 miles from Dublin (around 2 hours), and 260 miles from Cork (around 4 hours 15 minutes). If you’re coming from England, Scotland, Wales, or continental Europe, you’ll need a ferry to reach Belfast.

By ferry, services to Belfast regularly depart from Liverpool (England), Cairnryan (Scotland), and the Isle of Man. The main ferry company we recommend is Stena Line. You can check their routes and schedules here.

 

Getting Around Belfast

Central Belfast is compact and the easiest way to get around it is on foot, with most city-centre attractions within a 20 minute walk of one another. For everything further out, Belfast has a good public transport network run by Translink, including the Metro bus network and the Glider rapid-transit routes that run east to west across the city. Grand Central Station ties the buses and trains together in one place.

Driving in and around the city is fairly easy, though parking in the central area can be tricky at busy times (there are several paid multi-storey car parks). For central locations we’d stick to walking or the bus.

There are also taxis and Uber (Uber mostly operates to and from the airports). Taxi tours are a popular way to see the city with a driver guide, and we cover the Black Taxi tours in detail below.

Bikes are available through the city’s Belfast Bikes share scheme (run by Beryl), with docking points around the main tourist areas.

There’s also the City Sightseeing hop-on hop-off bus, which loops past most of the major sights with commentary along the way. It stops near Titanic Belfast, St George’s Market, the Botanic Gardens, and the Shankill Road murals, and it’s a handy way to bridge the gap between the centre and the Titanic Quarter if you’re short on time.

 

What Currency Does Belfast Use?

Belfast is part of the United Kingdom, so the pound sterling (GBP) is the currency, the same as the rest of the UK. Note that Northern Ireland banks issue their own sterling banknotes, which are legal currency and worth the same as Bank of England notes.

If you travel south into the Republic of Ireland (for example, to Dublin), you’ll need euros, as the euro is the official currency there. It’s an easy thing to forget when crossing what is now an invisible border.

 

Best Time of Year to Visit Belfast

The best time to visit Belfast is late spring to early autumn. For the warmest weather and longest days, come in high summer between June and August, while April tends to be the driest month, with the fewest crowds.

Our own favourite months for travelling in Northern Ireland are May, June, and September. The weather is usually reasonable, the days are long, and the attractions aren’t too busy.

Most attractions in Belfast are rarely crowded in any case. The exception is the Titanic Quarter, which can get busy in summer and during holidays and school breaks, and popular sites elsewhere in Northern Ireland like the Giant’s Causeway, which are pretty busy in the summer months.

If you’re coming for a specific event or festival (a concert, the Christmas markets, or the Belfast International Arts Festival), check the events calendar and plan around those dates. Otherwise, any time of year works, as most attractions are open year-round. It’ll be warmer in summer and colder in winter, but the weather is unpredictable at the best of times (it can be sunny in January and wet in August), so pack layers and rain gear whenever you visit.

 

Discount Passes in Belfast

There’s no must-have pass for Belfast, but a couple of discount passes can save you money depending on what you plan to do and how you plan to get around.

 

Belfast Visitor Pass

The Belfast Visitor Pass is essentially a transport pass with added discounts, not a free-entry attraction pass, so it helps to know what it does and doesn’t cover. It gives you unlimited travel on Metro and Glider buses, NI Railways within the Belfast zone, and selected Ulsterbus services, plus the Airport Express 600 to and from George Best Belfast City Airport (but not the Airport 300 to Belfast International).

On top of that, it unlocks money-off discounts at a range of attractions, tours, cafés, and shops, including Titanic Belfast, Crumlin Road Gaol, the Ulster museums, Titanic Distillers, and Belfast Zoo. Those give you a discount rather than free entry.

It’s sold in 1, 2, and 3 day versions, priced from around £7 for one day, and you can check current prices and offers here to decide whether it works for your plans. Buy it online in advance, or in person at the Visit Belfast Welcome Centre (9 Donegall Square North), the airport tourist desks, or any Translink station.

 

National Trust Explorer Pass

If you plan to visit several historic or cultural attractions around the UK, you might save with the National Trust Explorer Pass (previously called the Touring Pass), which gives entry to over 500 National Trust places across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It comes in 4, 8, and 14 consecutive-day versions, priced at £31.50, £42, and £55.10 for a single adult. In Northern Ireland alone it covers the Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Castle Ward, Mount Stewart, and Castle Coole, so if you’re pairing Belfast with a Causeway Coast trip it can pay for itself quickly.

 

Accessibility in Belfast

If you or a travel companion has reduced mobility, or is travelling with a wheelchair or mobility scooter, the accessibility page on the Visit Belfast website is a good place to start. It covers accessible public transport, attractions with step-free access, wheelchair hire, and the locations of accessible public toilets.

 

Where to Stay in Belfast

Belfast has plenty of lodging across all budgets, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding something to suit. We’d recommend browsing the Belfast accommodation listings on Booking.com, which cover a wide range of hotels, apartments, guesthouses, and hostels.

We recommend staying somewhere central, especially with limited time, so you’re within walking distance (or a short bus ride) of the city centre. Alternatively, if Titanic Belfast and the other Titanic Quarter sites are your main reason for visiting, staying in the Titanic Quarter lets you walk to everything in that area (it’s a 25 to 35 minute walk to the Titanic Quarter from the centre, depending on where you start).

If you don’t mind being a little outside the centre and want a well-rated bed and breakfast, we can recommend the James Clow B&B along the waterfront. It’s about a 25 minute walk to the city centre and a 35 minute walk to Titanic Belfast.

Here are some specific recommendations by area.

 

Accommodation in the City Centre / Cathedral Quarter

• Bullitt Hotel – A lively, centrally located 4-star hotel with three room types to suit most budgets. It has a bar, café, restaurant, popular rooftop bar, and 24-hour desk. It’s a 2 minute walk to the Cathedral Quarter and about 8 minutes to St George’s Market or the City Hall. We spent four nights here and can happily recommend it for a central base.
• The Merchant Hotel – For a 5-star historic luxury hotel, The Merchant, set in a grand 1860 building in the Cathedral Quarter, should be high on your list. It offers all the luxury amenities you’d expect, including a restaurant, bar and lounge, spa, hot tub, and rooftop gym.
• Fitzwilliam Hotel – A more modern 5-star hotel (built in 2009) with contemporary decor and all the modern comforts. It has a restaurant, cocktail bar, 24-hour front desk, fitness centre, and valet parking. Located next to the Grand Opera House and a 5 minute walk from Ulster Hall.
• Leonardo Hotel (formerly the Jurys Inn) – A 4-star hotel with spacious rooms, a breakfast buffet, bar, and restaurant, usually good value. It’s near the City Hall and the Opera House, and just a few minutes’ walk from Grand Central Station.
• Ramada – A well-rated 3-star hotel in the Cathedral Quarter with an informal restaurant and bar, 24-hour front desk, and free wifi. Near Belfast Cathedral and The MAC.
• Belfast International Youth Hostel – The best-located option if you want a central hostel. It has private and dormitory rooms, an on-site café, a communal kitchen, self-service laundry, and even free parking.

 

Accommodation in the Titanic Quarter

• Titanic Hotel – A 4-star hotel set within the former Harland & Wolff headquarters and drawing offices (the company that designed and built the RMS Titanic). A lovely historic property with Art Deco rooms, Titanic memorabilia, a bar, restaurant, and room service. We had a lovely three-night stay here, and it’s only a 2 minute walk to Titanic Belfast.
• Premier Inn – A 3-star hotel with an on-site bar and grill, a 7 minute walk to Titanic Belfast. This no-frills budget chain has a couple of other Belfast locations around the centre too.
• CK Serviced Apartments – Well-reviewed serviced apartments, good for a self-catering option in the Titanic Quarter, with an on-site restaurant, grocery store, café, and private parking. About a 7 minute walk from Titanic Belfast.
• The Bullitt Hotel, AC Hotel, and the Hilton (next to the waterfront) sit across the river but are all within a 25 minute walk (or 12 minute bus ride) of Titanic Belfast. These work well for reaching both the centre and the Titanic Quarter if you don’t mind the walk.

We’ve also stayed in an apartment on one of our Belfast visits, which was good value. You can see the local listings on Vrbo here, and this guide to Airbnb alternatives for more apartment rental options.

 

Where to Find More Information

For a ready-made route, our sister site’s 48 hour Belfast itinerary is a good starting point, and we have a suggested two-day Belfast Titanic itinerary for those focused on the Titanic and maritime sites.

Belfast makes an excellent base for exploring Northern Ireland. See our guide to the best day trips from Belfast for ideas, and our suggested Causeway Coastal Route road trip if you fancy a drive along the coast. Game of Thrones fans will want our guide to the Game of Thrones filming locations in Northern Ireland, and we have a detailed guide to visiting the Dark Hedges.

If you’d like a printed or digital guidebook, a few focus on Belfast and Northern Ireland specifically, such as Rick Steves Snapshot Northern Ireland and Lonely Planet Pocket Belfast. Most others cover the whole island of Ireland, such as Rick Steves Ireland. Just be sure to pick up a recent edition.

If you’re also heading to Dublin, see our 2 day Dublin itinerary and 3 day Dublin itinerary, along with our Dublin street art guide and Dublin Pass review.

Once in Belfast, you can get local advice, maps, and bookings at the Visit Belfast Welcome Centre at 9 Donegall Square North (it also covers the rest of Northern Ireland). You can reach them on +44 (0)28 9024 6609 or at info@visitbelfast.com. For trip planning, the official Visit Belfast and Discover Northern Ireland websites are both good resources.

 

Top Things to Do in Central Belfast

Many of the best things to do in Belfast sit in or near the centre. We’re loosely grouping “central Belfast” as the City Centre, the Cathedral Quarter (named for St Anne’s Cathedral, the historic trading district full of Victorian architecture, cobbled streets, and characterful pubs), and the Linen Quarter south of the City Hall. Once you’re here, you can reach almost anything in this area on a 20 minute walk or less.

We’re also including the Titanic Quarter in this section, the former shipbuilding area on Queen’s Island where the RMS Titanic was built, since most visitors want to see Titanic Belfast. It’s a 30 minute walk across the bridge from the centre, and the sites within the Titanic Quarter are within a 45 minute walk, a 20 minute bus ride, or a hop on the sightseeing bus.

Use this list to pick out the attractions that interest you and build your own Belfast itinerary.

 

Sightseeing Bus or Walking Tour

A walking tour or sightseeing bus is a good way to get your bearings and see the highlights, and we often do one on our first day in a new city. Most start from the city centre.

Walking tours are ideal for focusing on a particular area or theme. You’ll find tours covering the highlights, the Titanic Quarter, architecture, whiskey, Queen’s University, and the Troubles, among others. You can browse a range of Belfast walking tours here. Bike tours are also an option, including beer bike tours where you pedal a group bike with a guide.

For food and drink tours, we’d point you to Taste and Tour, who run gin, whiskey, beer, and food walks around the centre (more on our own gin tour with them below).

Belfast has two hop-on hop-off sightseeing buses, the City Sightseeing and City Tours buses. Each stops at 20 to 30 points and makes it easy to reach many of the city’s most popular attractions.

You’ll also see the Black Cab tours, a popular way to explore the city and its political history and murals with a driver guide. We cover these in detail further down.

 

Belfast City Hall

Belfast’s City Hall was built after Queen Victoria granted Belfast city status in 1888, to reflect its growth in population, economy, and industry. The building, at the centre of Donegall Square, was designed by Irish architect Alfred Brumwell Thomas in the Baroque Revival style and completed in 1906. It’s a fine centrepiece for the city and still a working government building, home to Belfast City Council.

Inside there’s a free public exhibition that’s larger than we expected, filling a whole series of rooms. It tells the history of Belfast through information, photos, and artefacts, covering the city’s government, people, industries, festivals, and much more.

You can also take a free guided tour of City Hall, which covers the history and government of the city and visits the grandest rooms, including the Grand Staircase, the Principal Rooms, the Reception Room, and the Chamber. One highlight is the large number of stained glass windows, most original to the 1906 building.

Tours run on a first-come, first-served basis, and you need to register at least 10 to 15 minutes before the stated time, so we’d suggest arriving 20 to 30 minutes early to get a spot. Tours last around an hour and run at various times through the day depending on the season. Check the current tour times on the official website here.

Outside, there’s a large park and gardens around the building that’s a popular gathering spot (on our last visit it was hosting a family event with outdoor cinema screenings). There are also several statues and memorials worth a look, including the 11-foot statue of Queen Victoria, the Belfast Cenotaph, a 9/11 plaque, and the Titanic Memorial Garden, which lists all those who died in the disaster.

 

St Anne’s Cathedral

St Anne’s Cathedral, also known as Belfast Cathedral, is an Episcopalian (Anglican) cathedral and one of the best-known churches in Belfast. It was consecrated in 1904 and serves two dioceses, with two Bishop’s seats.

An earlier, smaller St Anne’s, consecrated in 1776, stood here until the larger cathedral was built. The old church had become too small for the population arriving during the Industrial Revolution. The foundation stone for the current cathedral was laid in 1899, and it was rebuilt and expanded over the following century. The most striking recent addition is the stainless steel Spire of Hope, added in 2007 (a spire wasn’t originally possible because the church couldn’t support the weight); it’s usually lit at night.

Inside, look out for the Good Samaritan Window (the only surviving piece of the 1776 church), the mosaics on the baptistery and Chapel of the Holy Spirit, and the Titanic funeral pall. There’s a single tomb in the cathedral, that of Lord Edward Carson, a leading 20th-century unionist and one of the few non-royals to receive a British state funeral.

There’s a small entry fee for tourists. Visits are self-guided, though guided tours can be arranged in advance. It’s an active church with regular services and events.

 

St George’s Market

St George’s Market is one of Belfast’s oldest attractions, with a weekly market held on the site since 1604. The current Victorian building was constructed between 1890 and 1896, and it holds markets every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Since its 1997 refurbishment it has won a string of awards across the UK and Ireland.

Vendors sell fresh produce, arts and crafts, souvenirs, spices, clothing, books, and jewellery, and the market is particularly known for its fish and seafood stalls. There are also food stalls selling prepared meals, sandwiches, coffee, and snacks, and live music from local artists most days. It’s a lively place at weekends.

You can find the latest opening hours here. A free market shuttle bus runs every 20 minutes between 11am and 3pm, to and from central Belfast (Friday and Saturday only). The stalls change from day to day, and the venue also hosts events through the year.

 

Grand Opera House

The Grand Opera House was built in 1895 by the prolific English theatre architect Frank Matcham. It’s become a city landmark, known for its lavish interior, and it’s the only Victorian theatre still standing in Northern Ireland.

Originally seating over 2,500, it hosted operas, plays, musicals, and pantomimes, then variety shows through the early 20th century. In the 1950s it became a cinema, then closed in 1972. It was nearly demolished in the 1970s during the Troubles, but was saved and reopened as a theatre in 1980. Today it seats around 1,000 and stages musicals, plays, dance, family shows, recitals, ballet, pantomime, and opera.

The building completed a major £12.2 million restoration in 2021 and reopened for performances that October, so you’ll find it looking its best.

You can also book a behind-the-scenes theatre tour to learn about its history and day-to-day life, taking in the various rooms of the theatre. Tours last about an hour and usually run on weekends a couple of times a month. If you book one, arrive a little early to explore the self-guided Heritage Exhibition, which tour participants can access. Check the performance schedule, tour times, and tickets here.

 

Albert Memorial Clock

The Albert Memorial Clock is a sandstone clock tower built as a memorial to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. It stands at Queen’s Square in the centre of Belfast, designed by Irish architect W.J. Barre and completed in 1869. It’s a well-loved local landmark.

The tower is 113 feet high and covered in detailed carvings, the main feature being a statue of Prince Albert in his Knight of the Garter robes. The clock’s bell weighs two tonnes. The tower has taken damage from both German WW2 bombs and IRA bombs over the years.

It’s Belfast’s own leaning tower of Pisa: built on reclaimed marshy land, it began to tilt soon after completion, and the lean has worsened over time. A restoration project in 2002 aimed to strengthen the foundations and clean up the monument.

 

Metropolitan Arts Centre (The MAC)

The MAC, Belfast’s Metropolitan Arts Centre, opened in 2012 and holds three main art galleries. The exhibitions change through the year, and most are free to visit, though some carry a fee. The focus is generally modern, contemporary, and experimental work. You can see what’s on during your visit on the exhibitions page.

The MAC also runs regular events and workshops, including art classes, performances, talks, and family-friendly activities (see the full listings here), and there’s a café bar serving coffee, snacks, hot meals, and drinks.

 

Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum

The Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum is a small museum covering Northern Ireland’s part in the Second World War. Its exhibits look at the Belfast Blitz, the roles of women during the war, the Ulster Home Guard, and the large presence of American forces in the area, with uniforms and medals on display alongside a memorial screen.

It’s a small museum in one large room, but thoughtfully done, well organised, and largely run by local volunteers, and we really enjoyed our visit. The highlights for us were the recordings by people who lived through the war, the lovely stained glass window, and learning about the Belfast Blitz of 1941, when the city, thought to be out of range of Nazi bombers, was left badly unprepared for the air raids that came.

The museum is free to visit, though donations are appreciated, and it’s centrally located in the Cathedral Quarter near St Anne’s Cathedral.

 

Crown Liquor Saloon

The Crown Liquor Saloon, better known as the Crown Bar, is the most famous pub in Belfast. It opened around 1826 as The Railway Tavern, but it was the Flanagan family’s renovation and renaming in 1885 that turned it into the pub we know today, one of the most beautiful Victorian gin palaces anywhere.

It’s ornately decorated and still keeps many of its original (now restored) features, including tiled mosaics, gas lamps, stained glass, a granite bar top, snugs, heated footrests behind the bar, and a carved wooden ceiling. It’s now owned by the National Trust, which protects the building, while it operates as a working bar run on the Trust’s behalf.

It’s a popular stop for tourists, and has drawn its share of famous visitors over the years, including Brad Pitt, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and much of the cast of Game of Thrones. There’s a full bar menu with lunch and dinner, plus an upstairs dining area. It gets busy, so if you plan to eat, book a table in advance. You can see the menus and contact details here.

 

Belfast Black Cab Tours

The Black Cab tours are one of the most popular things to do in Belfast, and for good reason. Taxis grew in importance during The Troubles, when they carried locals and visitors around a city where buses were often bombed, attacked, stolen, or burned and used for barricades. With public transport limited, more taxi drivers were needed, many running defunct bus routes, and most operating within either Loyalist/Unionist/Protestant or Republican/Nationalist/Catholic areas. Following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the need for these services fell away as public transport became safer.

Today many of the now-iconic black taxis are used to give visitors tours of the city. Most focus on the political history, the Troubles, and the murals, which makes them one of the best ways to understand the city’s divisions, though you can also take tours covering general neighbourhood history and culture. Some Troubles-focused tours stop at places like the Eileen Hickey Irish Republican History Museum or the Shankill Bombing Memorial, both near the Peace Wall, so let your driver know if those interest you.

Most drivers were driving during the Troubles and can share what those years were like. They try to give balanced, neutral accounts, though as you’d imagine that’s a hard thing when nearly everyone in Belfast lost family or friends, and there are many “versions of the truth” about particular events.

We did our own Black Cab tour with Touring Around Belfast, and had the pleasure of one of the city’s best-known drivers, Billy Scott, as our guide. Billy is a Blue Badge guide (the highest guiding qualification in the UK), and he was friendly, informative, and good fun, often stopping and hopping into the back seat to talk us through the history and share a story. He knows an enormous amount about Belfast, the Troubles, and the city, and he’s always up for a bit of craic.

We’d booked a two-hour tour, and Billy let us decide what to focus on. We asked for an even split of politics and general history and culture, and, not knowing the city well, to see some of the main neighbourhoods. It was a superb introduction to Belfast. We took in parts of the Cathedral Quarter, Queen’s Quarter, the Linen Quarter, Sailortown, and the Titanic Quarter, visited the Peace Wall, and saw plenty of murals in both traditionally Loyalist and Republican areas along the Falls and Shankill Roads. Most of the tour was in the cab, but we got out to walk around at several stops.

We’d definitely recommend a Black Cab tour if it’s your first time in Belfast, or if you want to understand the Troubles. It’s best to book ahead. We booked with Touring Around Belfast, and there are other good options too, including this private tour focused on the political murals.

 

Victoria Square Shopping Centre

Victoria Square is a central public square and a popular spot for shopping and dining. The Victoria Square Shopping Centre is a four-storey mall and leisure complex that opened in 2008, with shops, restaurants, a spa, and a cinema. There’s also a viewing platform inside the central glass dome that gives a good panorama over the city.

Outside is the Jaffe Memorial Fountain, erected in 1874 by Otto Jaffe in memory of his father, Daniel Joseph Jaffe. Otto Jaffe was Belfast’s first Jewish Lord Mayor, and his father, a linen merchant, had helped fund the building of the city’s first synagogue on Great Victoria Street.

 

Explore the Waterfront Area

The waterfront runs along the River Lagan, and it’s a pleasant area to walk. Here you’ll find sculptures, bridges, Sinclair Seamen’s Church, the old Custom House, the Barge Museum, and Waterfront Hall, a large entertainment venue.

If you have time, we’d suggest walking the Maritime Mile, a mile-long trail connecting a number of maritime sites, with information panels along the way. It starts at the City Quays and continues across the river into the Titanic Quarter, ending near HMS Caroline and the Titanic Dock. You can find out more here. A pedestrian footbridge, built in 2015, crosses the Lagan and links the waterfront to the Titanic Quarter.

Outside the AC Hotel is the first of six large Game of Thrones stained glass windows, placed here in 2019 to mark ten years of the show’s filming. Each depicts an iconic scene, and you can see all six by following the Maritime Mile along the waterfront.

If you’re short on time, two of our favourite things to stop and see here are the Salmon of Knowledge and the Beacon of Hope.

 

Salmon of Knowledge

The Salmon of Knowledge, better known as the Big Fish, is a large salmon sculpture on the waterfront by local artist John Kindness. It stands at the meeting point of Belfast’s two rivers, the Farset (from which Belfast takes its name) and the Lagan.

The Salmon of Knowledge is a mythical creature from the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, said to have gained all the world’s knowledge after eating hazelnuts from a holy tree, granting that wisdom to whoever caught and ate it. In one tale it’s eaten by Fionn mac Cumhaill. The sculpture is covered in printed ceramic tiles, each telling a different story from the city’s history, from historical images to drawings by local schoolchildren.

 

Beacon of Hope

The Beacon of Hope, or Thanksgiving Square Beacon, is a large stainless steel and bronze sculpture of a woman holding a ring, symbolising thanksgiving. She stands on a globe marked with the cities historically connected to Belfast’s people and industries, celebrating peace and harmony. It sits in Thanksgiving Square near the Victorian Queen’s Bridge, and was made by artist Andy Scott in 2006.

 

Belfast Barge Museum

The Belfast Barge is a small floating museum telling the story of the city’s industrial heritage and maritime history. The MV Confiance, a former cargo barge, was bought in 2006, sailed to Belfast, and converted into a museum, event space, and café. It’s moored on the River Lagan in the waterfront area.

The barge is open and free to visit (donations invited), and it relaunched in 2021 as a floating arts and heritage centre after a spell closed during the pandemic. Opening hours are generally Tuesday to Saturday, so do check current times before you go. You can find out more here.

 

Titanic Belfast Museum

Titanic Belfast is the most popular attraction in the city, and the one most visitors build their trip around. It’s a large, self-guided museum spread across nine interpretive galleries (refreshed and expanded in a 2023 relaunch) that tell the story of the RMS Titanic.

Belfast was chosen for the museum because the Titanic was built here, in the dockyards of local shipbuilder Harland & Wolff. Other famous ships built here include the RMS Olympic and HMS Belfast (now a museum ship in London). The shipyard kept building ships until 2003 and today focuses on offshore wind turbines.

The self-guided route (audioguides can be rented for a small fee) starts with Belfast in the early 20th century, then moves through galleries on shipbuilding, the building and launch of the Titanic, its maiden voyage, the sinking, and the aftermath. There are informational panels, models, photographs, replica interiors, artefacts, and interactive exhibits, and one gallery is explored from a small ride car. There are references to James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic too, and the final gallery shows footage of the wreck as it lies on the ocean floor.

If you have any interest in the Titanic or shipbuilding, we highly recommend it. Most visitors spend an hour and a half to two hours here, but leave more time if you’re a real enthusiast or plan to eat on site. There’s a large gift shop, a grab-and-go café, and a restaurant, plus Hickson’s Point pub just outside.

Titanic Belfast uses timed ticketing, with entry slots every 15 minutes from opening. It’s the busiest attraction in the city, so we recommend booking a timed ticket in advance to skip the queue and coming early to beat the crowds. Tickets bought online also include entry to the SS Nomadic next door.

If you’re visiting, our Titanic sites in Belfast guide covers Titanic Belfast alongside several other Titanic attractions in and near the city. We’d also leave time to explore just outside the building: the Titanic and Olympic slipways and Rowan Gillespie’s Titanic sculpture are right next door, as is the Titanic Hotel in the former Harland & Wolff drawing offices where the ship was designed.

 

SS Nomadic

The SS Nomadic was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast as a tender to serve White Star Line ships like the RMS Titanic and RMS Olympic where they were too large to dock. It launched in April 1911 and is now the last surviving White Star Line ship in the world.

On 10 April 1912, the SS Nomadic ferried first and second class passengers, their luggage, and supplies out to the Titanic at Cherbourg. Many of the most famous passengers, including John Jacob Astor IV and his wife, Margaret Brown, and Benjamin Guggenheim, boarded the Titanic from her decks. She later served as a tender for the RMS Olympic and Cunard liners, and as a minesweeper and troop transport in both world wars. Retired in 1968, she spent almost 30 years as a floating restaurant on the Seine in Paris.

In 2006 the Northern Ireland government bought the ship and brought her back to Belfast, and after extensive restoration she opened to visitors in June 2013. Today you can tour the beautifully restored ship and learn about her construction, uses, and history. Built by the same company at the same time as the Titanic, she’s the closest you can get to a sense of what that ship was like.

We’d recommend visiting the SS Nomadic alongside Titanic Belfast, as the standard combination ticket covers both on the same day, and the two sit only a short walk apart. Standalone SS Nomadic tickets aren’t always available, so the combination ticket is usually the simplest way to visit.

 

W5 Science & Discovery Centre

The W5 Science & Discovery Centre is an interactive science centre built to entertain and inform children and families. It has over 250 hands-on exhibits across four areas, plus a daily programme of live science demonstrations, talks, and shows. There’s a coffee shop on site serving sandwiches, soup, snacks, and drinks.

There’s a fee to enter, with tickets available on site or online in advance. W5 sits within the larger Odyssey complex in the Titanic Quarter, about a 25 minute walk from the city centre or 10 minutes from Titanic Belfast, with on-site parking and public bus and sightseeing-bus links. The same complex is home to The O2 (formerly the SSE Arena), where the Belfast Giants ice hockey team play, along with a multiplex cinema, a bowling alley, and various bars and restaurants.

 

HMS Caroline

The HMS Caroline is a light cruiser built in Birkenhead, England, in 1914 for the Royal Navy. She served in the First World War, including at the Battle of Jutland, the war’s largest naval battle, and is the last surviving ship from it.

In 1924 she was moved to Belfast Docks as headquarters for the Ulster Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and served as a depot ship during the Second World War. She continued with the reserve until 2009, was decommissioned in 2011, and reopened as a museum ship in the Titanic Quarter in 2016.

After an extended closure, HMS Caroline reopened to visitors in April 2023, with long-term funding now secured to keep her in Belfast into the late 2030s. She runs on a reduced model, typically with guided tours through the day and free-flow access during Northern Ireland school holidays, so check the current opening days before you go. On board you can learn about her construction, history, and the living and working conditions of her crew through exhibits, films, recreated spaces, and touchscreens. Start at the small Dockside Museum next to the ship, then board, and enjoy the harbour views from the decks.

There’s a small café and gift shop on the ship. Adult tickets are around £10.50, available on site or in advance online. HMS Caroline sits in the Alexandra Graving Dock next to the Titanic Pump House, about a 15 minute walk from Titanic Belfast, with parking and bus links.

 

Samson & Goliath Cranes

Samson and Goliath are two enormous shipbuilding cranes owned by Harland & Wolff, standing in the shipyard within the Titanic Quarter. They were built in 1969 and 1974, when Harland & Wolff was still one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, and named after the Biblical figures.

They weren’t used to build the Titanic (that was the vast Arrol Gantry, erected in 1908 over the Olympic and Titanic slipways, which dominated the skyline until the 1960s). You can’t get close, as the cranes sit in an active private industrial area, but the two yellow cranes with the H&W logo are pretty easy to spot from all over the city. Though rarely used now, they’ve been kept as much-loved symbols of Belfast, and there’s hope they’ll remain.

 

Titanic Walkway

The Titanic Walkway is a 500 metre (0.3 mile) walkway on Victoria Wharf, connecting the Titanic slipways to HMS Caroline. It first opened in 2018 to make it easier for pedestrians to reach the popular sites in the Titanic Quarter. The walkway runs along the water and docks, taking in Titanic Belfast, the Titanic and Olympic slipways, Mew Light, public art (including a couple of the Game of Thrones windows), HMS Caroline, and the Titanic Dock and Pump House. From here you can also see the Titanic Exhibition Centre and Titanic Studios (where Game of Thrones was filmed), with the Samson and Goliath cranes in the distance.

Mew Light, also called the Great Light, is the world’s largest hyper-radial lighthouse lens. First used at Tory Island Lighthouse in 1887, then Mew Island in 1928, it was removed in 2014, restored, and set up along the walkway, with panels explaining its history and how it works.

The Titanic Walkway is a great way to link a visit to Titanic Belfast with HMS Caroline and the Titanic Pump House and Dock. Head out from the front of Titanic Belfast towards the water to reach the slipways, then follow the walkway northeast towards HMS Caroline. If you’d like a different perspective, a River Lagan boat cruise lets you see the Titanic Quarter sites from the water with commentary, and in summer there’s a chance of spotting seals.

 

Titanic Dock & Pump House

The Titanic Dock and Pump House is a great place to grasp the sheer scale of the RMS Titanic. This is where the ship sat in dry dock before her sea trials and maiden voyage in April 1912. The White Star liners Olympic and Titanic were the largest ocean liners of their time, so larger dry docks had to be built for them, and this is where they were fitted out and completed after construction on the slipways across from Titanic Belfast.

Work on the Titanic began in 1909 and took three years. The Thompson Graving Dock, now called the Titanic Dock, is where she was fitted out and finished in 1912, and the adjacent Titanic Pump House pumped water out of both the Thompson Dock and the Alexandra Graving Dock (where HMS Caroline now sits).

Visitors can do a self-guided tour of the Pump House and the dock. Walking around and climbing down into the Thompson Graving Dock gives you a real sense of the scale of these liners, as the whole footprint of the dock matches the ship’s hull. Information panels explain the construction, the fitting-out, the lives of the dock workers, and how the pump room worked. There’s a small fee, payable in Café 1404, which is also where you access the sites. The Pump House and Dock are about a minute’s walk from HMS Caroline and 10 minutes from Titanic Belfast.

 

Check Out the Street Murals

Belfast’s street murals are known worldwide, and it’s a really rewarding city for street art. Even if you’re not seeking them out, you’ll run into some, as they’re everywhere.

The earliest murals were political, tied to the Troubles and painted by people from across the divide. Most of the strongly political murals are further from the centre, many around the Peace Wall, and they’re a primary focus of the Black Cab and street art tours. Some serve as memorials to those killed or imprisoned during the Troubles. We saw a number of them on our Black Cab tour, which is a good way to reach them as they’re spread out.

In the city centre there’s plenty of street art too, but most of it isn’t strongly political or religious. Alongside serious themes you’ll find murals of dogs, famous faces, fairies, local landmarks, dragons, and monkeys, some by relatively unknown local artists and some by bigger names like Smug, helped along by local initiatives that fund legal street art.

We did a street art walking tour focused on the non-political murals with Seedhead Arts, but there’s a range of mural tours in Belfast, including walking tours such as this one. See our guide to street art in Belfast for more on finding the murals, along with a photo essay of some of the best.

 

Check Out Some Evening Entertainment

There’s always something on in Belfast, whether it’s a play, a comedy night, an art opening, or a local band in a pub. You can find out what’s happening by asking around, calling into the Visitor Centre, checking a local paper, or looking at this page and this site.

We’ve mentioned the Grand Opera House already, but two of the city’s other main central venues are Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. If you’re after a concert, play, comedy show, or festival, it’s worth seeing what’s on at each during your visit.

Ulster Hall, opened in 1862 and designed by William J. Barre, has hosted everything from readings by Charles Dickens to concerts by AC/DC and Iron Maiden, and political speeches by Lord Randolph Churchill and Lord Carson. It underwent a major restoration in 2007 and holds one of the few working classic English pipe organs. Belfast Waterfront, opened in 1997, is a multi-purpose entertainment and conference centre on the waterfront, used for concerts, theatre, comedy, and conferences, and a key venue for the Belfast International Arts Festival. You can see what’s on at both venues here.

 

Try the Local Drinks in Belfast

Belfast is a great place for a drink. It’s best known for beer and whiskey, though gin has become really popular too, and craft breweries and new distilleries keep opening across Northern Ireland. If you’re after craft beer on tap, names to look out for include Hilden, Sheelin, Hercules Brewing (makers of Yardsman beer), Whitewater, and Farmageddon. Northern Irish gins include Shortcross, Jawbox, and Copeland.

The best-known Northern Irish whiskey is Bushmills, though Echlinville and Rademon Estate distil whiskey too. Head to The Friend at Hand whiskey shop in the Cathedral Quarter to learn more and pick up a bottle; the shop is said to hold the largest collection of Irish whiskey anywhere. For something more hands-on, Titanic Distillers opened in 2023 in the restored Thompson Dock Pump House, becoming Belfast’s first working whiskey distillery in about 90 years, and it runs tours with tastings.

We did a really fun gin tour around the centre with Taste and Tour, which took in seven generous drinks and some nibbles across several venues, mixing famous international gins with local ones. They also run whiskey walks, beer crawls, and food tours around Belfast.

If you’d like a few specific spots we’ve enjoyed:

• The Crown Bar. The ornate Victorian gin palace covered above, a local landmark and popular stop. Full bar and restaurant, with reservations recommended if you want to sit and eat.
• Muriel’s Cafe Bar. The place locals point you to for a cocktail, though you can get everything from a traditional pint to a range of craft gins at this small, eclectic bar. Also serves food.
• John Hewitt Bar. A traditional bar with live music and a full range of drinks, owned and run by the Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre.
• The Duke of York. A traditional pub that’s been a Cathedral Quarter staple for over 200 years, rebuilt after being flattened by a bomb in 1972 during the Troubles. It’s full of local brewing and distilling memorabilia and has colourful outdoor murals.
• Sweet Afton Bar & Brewery. A bar and restaurant in the Linen Quarter serving classic favourites, local craft beers, and a few American ones.
• Sunflower Public House. A simple, characterful pub, best known for keeping the security cage around its front door that became common during the Troubles. Good for a pint, often with live music.
• Babel Bar. A rooftop bar in the Bullitt Hotel, one of the few rooftop bars in the city, with a second bar in the hotel courtyard and a full range of drinks and cocktails.
• The Cocktail Bar. The classy (and pricier) bar at The Merchant Hotel, set in a beautiful Victorian building. The hotel also has a jazz bar, a classic pub, and a champagne lounge.
• Whites Tavern. One for lovers of old taverns, serving drinks since 1630, with hearty pub food and regular live music.
• Bittles Bar. A curiously shaped pub near Victoria Square, a little like New York’s Flatiron building, built in 1868 and serving good beer ever since.

Hilden, in Lisburn about 10 miles from Belfast, was long known as Ireland’s oldest independent brewery, and its site now operates as the Threads at Hilden bar and restaurant. Check what’s currently open at the Hilden site before making a special trip.

 

Sample the Irish Food

The dish most associated with Northern Ireland is the Ulster fry, the local version of the British full breakfast. It usually includes fried eggs, sausage, back bacon, soda farl, tomato, black pudding, and potato bread, often with white pudding, hash browns, fried mushrooms, and baked beans, served with tea or coffee.

You’ll also find many dishes common across Ireland and the UK, like Irish stew, bangers and mash, Sunday roasts, and fish and chips. Potatoes have long been central to Irish cooking, so look out for colcannon (mashed potato with cabbage or kale), potato bread, boxty (potato pancake), and champ (mashed potato with spring onion, cheese, and butter). Seafood is common too, particularly fried eel and salmon.

Agriculture is a major industry in Northern Ireland, and there’s a lot of locally grown and produced food, easy to find at St George’s Market and on local menus. Look out for dairy (Abernethy butter, cheese, ice cream), local seafood (salmon, eels, oysters), breads (soda and potato bread), Bramley apples (and apple juice, jam, and cider), and locally raised beef, pork, and venison.

If you have a sweet tooth, a popular Northern Irish treat is Yellowman, a chewy honeycomb toffee. Aunt Sandra’s Candy Factory is a popular spot for handmade sweets, chocolates, and fudge.

 

Things to Do Beyond Central Belfast

With more than a day or two, you’ll have time to explore beyond central Belfast and the Titanic Quarter. The options are varied: museums, gardens, parks, a zoo, political sites, and a Victorian prison.

We particularly recommend the Queen’s Quarter, which takes in Queen’s University, the Ulster Museum, and the Botanic Gardens. Crumlin Road Gaol appeals to anyone who enjoys touring old prisons, and Cave Hill Country Park bundles hiking trails, Belfast Zoo, and Belfast Castle into one hillside. The Peace Wall is a popular stop for the political murals, usually as part of a Black Cab tour, and there are plenty of green spaces around the city for walks and even wildlife watching.

Most of these are within the city, though some sit just outside it. Most can be reached by public bus in 30 to 40 minutes, some via the sightseeing buses, and all are within a 30 minute drive of the centre (some less than 10 minutes).

 

Peace Wall

The first “peace lines” were built in 1969, after the outbreak of rioting in Northern Ireland and the start of the Troubles. These walls, fences, and barriers divided predominantly Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist areas from predominantly Catholic/Nationalist/Republican ones. Meant as temporary measures to protect people on both sides, they grew bigger, longer, and more permanent over time.

There are now around 97 separate barriers across Belfast, stretching for miles, mostly in residential areas of the north and west of the city, with more in a few other towns such as Derry/Londonderry. The number of barriers actually rose after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 rather than falling. Some have gates that open during daylight and close after dark, and while sectarian violence has fallen sharply, many residents who grew up with the walls still find them reassuring.

In recent years the walls and the murals along them have become tourist attractions, and most Black Cab tours stop here, as ours did. Visitors can add their own message to the Peace Wall, which has been signed by figures including the Dalai Lama and former US President Bill Clinton.

There’s a long-standing aim to take the walls down by mutual consent, but progress is slow. The Northern Ireland Executive’s 2013 pledge to remove them all by 2023 was missed, and the barriers still stand, though none have been newly built since around 2008, and a handful of interfaces have been opened or softened in recent years. Any removal is community-led and depends on agreement from both sides.

 

Crumlin Road Gaol

HMP Crumlin, better known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison that opened in 1846. For over 150 years it was one of Northern Ireland’s main prisons, and it’s now the only surviving Victorian-era prison in the country.

When it was built, it was one of the most modern prisons of its day, designed to hold up to 500. In later years, during the Troubles, it was forced to hold many more than that, in cramped conditions. It closed as a prison in 1996 and, after an extensive restoration, reopened as a visitor attraction in 2012.

Visits are timed and guided. The Guided Gaol Experience leads you through the main parts of the prison and explains the intake process for new inmates, taking in the cell blocks, the tunnel that linked the prison to the courthouse across the road, and the execution chamber (seventeen prisoners were executed here by hanging, the last in 1961). The guides are knowledgeable and share plenty about the prison’s history, architecture, and notable inmates. The standard tour lasts about 75 to 90 minutes, and there are sometimes specialty tours, including paranormal and night tours.

There’s a fee, and it’s well worth booking your tour in advance, as it’s cheaper and guarantees your time slot. Tours run about every 30 minutes, and there’s a gift shop and a café serving sandwiches and drinks.

 

Stormont Estate and the Northern Ireland Parliament

The Northern Ireland Parliament Buildings sit on the Stormont Estate. The Northern Ireland Assembly, the region’s legislative body, was established under the Belfast Agreement 1998 (the Good Friday Agreement). Before its government use, the estate belonged to Reverend John Cleland.

The main Assembly building was designed by Sir Arnold Thornely and is 365 feet wide (one foot for each day of the year), with six floors and six front pillars (one for each historic county of Northern Ireland). It was completed in 1932.

The public can visit the Parliament Buildings during most of the year, Monday to Friday. Tours are free and last about an hour, covering the history and architecture and taking in the Great Hall, the Senate Chamber, and the Assembly Chamber; you can also sit in on Assembly debates and committee meetings. Check the latest tour times here.

Outside, you can admire the building and walk the nature paths around the parkland, which has statues and memorials, a picnic area, and a children’s play area. There’s a coffee shop and gift shop inside, and the Members’ Dining Rooms are open to the public for meals and afternoon tea (reservations recommended). The estate has parking and is reachable by public bus or the sightseeing bus. There’s no fee to visit, but you’ll go through airport-style security to enter the building.

 

C.S. Lewis Square

C.S. Lewis Square in East Belfast is dedicated to the Belfast-born author Clive Staples Lewis, best known for The Chronicles of Narnia and for adult nonfiction such as Mere Christianity. The square holds a set of bronze sculptures of characters from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, including Aslan, the Beavers, and the White Witch, made by Northern Irish artist Maurice Harron, close to where Lewis was born. It’s a fun stop for any Narnia fan!

Fans can follow a wider C.S. Lewis trail around East Belfast, taking in his birthplace on Dundela Avenue (marked with a blue plaque), the family home Little Lea on Circular Road, St Mark’s Church (where he was baptised and his grandfather was rector), the “Searcher” statue at Holywood Arches Library, Belmont Tower, and Campbell College. You can follow it self-guided or with a local guide. For more, fans should also seek out the C.S. Lewis Reading Room in Queen’s University’s McClay Library, a Narnia-themed room with a carved wardrobe door and a hand-painted ceiling (it’s a working university library, so check access before visiting).

Next to the square is the EastSide Visitor Centre, a good place to learn about things to do in East Belfast, including self-guided walking trails and tours. The local Greenways (walking and cycling routes on disused railway lines) run right past here, and the centre has a coffee bar, JACK Coffee Bar, serving locally sourced food. The square is about a 20 minute bus ride from the centre, with parking nearby.

 

Queen’s University

Queen’s University was chartered in 1845 and opened in Belfast in 1849, founded to widen university education to Catholics and Presbyterians at a time when Trinity College Dublin was an Anglican institution.

The campus has some lovely architecture, particularly the Lanyon Building by English architect Charles Lanyon. You can visit the Naughton Gallery, an art gallery with permanent and temporary exhibitions and free admission, or see what’s on at the Queen’s Film Theatre, a popular independent cinema.

Queen’s sits next to the Botanic Gardens in the Queen’s Quarter, a lovely part of Belfast full of coffee shops, independent shops, small venues, and the excellent Ulster Museum. It’s a great area to wander.

 

Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens are in south Belfast, in the Queen’s Quarter near Queen’s University. Begun as a private park in 1828, they became a public park in 1895, and were one of the most popular Belfast attractions of the Victorian era. Several of the garden structures have been restored in recent years.

Two of the main features are the Palm House conservatory and the Tropical Ravine. The Palm House is a curvilinear cast-iron Victorian glasshouse designed by Charles Lanyon and built by Richard Turner, displaying a range of tropical plants. The Tropical Ravine features a sunken ravine with some of the oldest seed plants around today, plus banana, cinnamon, bromeliad, and orchid plants. There’s also a rose garden. The gardens host concerts, festivals, and events, and are a popular spot for Queen’s students to walk and study.

The Botanic Gardens are open during daylight hours and free to visit; the Palm House and Tropical Ravine keep more limited hours.

 

Ulster Museum

The Ulster Museum is Belfast’s largest museum, and one we highly recommend making time for. Its collection runs to over a million objects across art, history, and natural science, and it sits near the main entrance to the Botanic Gardens.

We really enjoyed our visit, as there’s a bit of everything, so almost anyone will find a section to enjoy. There were dinosaur bones, Neolithic stone axes, jewels, fine art, meteorites, and history exhibits covering ancient and recent history, including the partition of Ireland and the Troubles. If you want relative objectivity on Belfast’s history, this is probably the best place to find it.

Alongside its permanent exhibitions, the museum runs changing temporary shows. When we visited, one exhibit was a huge Game of Thrones Irish linen wall hanging, sewn locally, telling the full story of the series (it isn’t always on display; you can read more about it here). There’s an on-site coffee shop, a cloakroom with lockers (£1), and the museum is free to visit, though donations are appreciated.

 

Museum of Orange Heritage

The Museum of Orange Heritage covers the history, culture, and traditions of the Orange Order (the Loyal Orange Association). If you want to learn about the Order, this is a good place to do it, though it helps to be aware of the religious, cultural, and political significance involved before you visit.

If you’re not familiar with the Orange Order, it’s a Protestant fraternal organisation strongly associated with Ulster loyalism and British unionism, whose stated aim is to protect and promote Protestantism (critics have accused it of being anti-Catholic). It’s best known for its marches and parades, the Orange walks, particularly on 12 July, some of which have been controversial. Its history dates to 1795, and it takes its name from King William III, the Prince of Orange, the Protestant king who defeated the Catholic James II in the Williamite War in Ireland. The first Orange societies formed to commemorate William’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690.

The museum has informational and interactive exhibits and artefacts, including items owned by King William III. The presentation naturally carries a pro-Loyalist perspective, given who runs it, so a good counterpoint is the Eileen Hickey Irish Republican History Museum. There’s also a research and genealogy facility for tracing family history within the Order. The museum is at Schomberg House in the Castlereagh area, generally open Monday to Saturday, a 15 to 20 minute bus ride from the centre.

 

Eileen Hickey Irish Republican History Museum

The Eileen Hickey Irish Republican History Museum is a small museum in West Belfast dedicated to the history of Irish Republicanism since the 1960s. It’s in the Conway Mill complex (the mill dates to 1842), and it focuses heavily on internment and imprisonment during the Troubles.

It’s named after Eileen Hickey, who was herself interned in Armagh in the 1970s and collected a large part of the artefacts. The museum has informational exhibits and objects related to the Troubles, particularly internment. It carries a Republican (Nationalist/Catholic) perspective and focuses on the more positive aspects of the Republican side, though it includes some broader material too, so keep that in mind going in. It makes a good counterpoint to the Museum of Orange Heritage.

The museum is free to visit, though donations are appreciated, and some Black Cab tours stop here. There’s parking for drivers, and you can reach it by bus, though the nearest stop is a 10 to 15 minute walk away. We’d suggest visiting it as part of a Black Cab or Troubles-focused tour, as it’s near the Peace Wall.

 

RSPB Window on Wildlife (Belfast Lough Reserve)

The Belfast Lough Reserve is an area of grassland, lagoon, and mudflats that’s a special place for local wildlife, protected and maintained by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). It has four parts: Belfast’s Window on Wildlife, Harbour Meadows, Holywood Banks, and Whitehouse Lagoon.

The reserve is home to local and migrating wildlife. Over 100 bird species have been recorded here, with regulars including wigeon, teal, oystercatchers, Arctic terns, curlews, and godwits, plus konik ponies and small mammals. The best place to see them is the RSPB Window on Wildlife, a small centre run by staff and volunteers with a large viewing window over the lagoon and mudflats, plus a couple of hides. Staff sometimes run guided walks at certain times of year.

You can borrow binoculars at the centre, and staff will help point out different birds. When we visited we saw several bird species as well as rabbits, and the staff member we spoke to was lovely, and the whole place feels a world away from the city centre! There’s a small charge to visit (free for RSPB members).

 

Cave Hill Country Park

Cave Hill (also written Cavehill) is a large basalt hill overlooking Belfast. It’s long been popular with locals and visitors, and some believe its “Napoleon’s Nose” rock formation inspired the sleeping giant in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

Cave Hill Country Park is known for its caves, rock formations, ring fort, and walking trails, and for being home to Belfast Zoo, Belfast Castle, and a large playground. It’s a great escape from the city, with good hiking and fine views (on a clear day you can see all the way to Scotland), and there’s easily enough here to make a whole day of it.

The well-signed trails range from short and easy to longer and more strenuous, passing landmarks like Belfast Castle, Napoleon’s Nose, the caves, McArt’s Fort, the Devil’s Punchbowl, and the Volunteer’s Well stream, with interpretive signs along the way. Cave Hill is about a 5 mile (8 km) drive from the centre, and also reachable by bus.

 

Belfast Zoo

Belfast Zoo sits on the slopes of Cave Hill on the edge of the city, covering 55 acres with over 1,000 animals from more than 100 species. It runs daily keeper talks, feeding times, and activities.

The zoo opened in 1934 and is one of Belfast’s most popular paid attractions. It suffered badly during the Belfast Blitz, and the 2018 family film Zoo tells the true story of the “elephant angel” who cared for a baby elephant during the war. The zoo has added a children’s playground, the Adventurers’ Learning Centre, and is home to the 1930s Art Deco Floral Hall, once a popular dance venue, which fell derelict during the Troubles and which there are plans to restore.

There are two cafés on site, a picnic area, a visitor centre, and a gift shop. Most of the zoo is wheelchair accessible, though it’s on the side of Cave Hill so parts are steep and uphill (free wheelchair rental and a zoo-mobile can be reserved in advance). It’s reachable by public bus, with free parking, and tickets are available on site or in advance.

 

Belfast Castle

Belfast Castle was commissioned in the 19th century by George Hamilton Chichester, the 3rd Marquess of Donegall, and designed by Charles Lanyon and his son. If you’ve been to Scotland, it may look familiar, as it was built in the Scottish Baronial style. An original Belfast Castle, built by the Normans in the 12th century, stood near where the City Hall is today.

Only a small part of the castle is open to visitors, as much of it is used for offices, event rooms, and dining, and it’s a popular wedding and conference venue. But if you’re visiting Cave Hill Country Park, it’s well worth a stop, whether before or after a hike or a visit to the nearby zoo. There’s a small exhibit inside on the castle’s history, plus a restaurant and café. Outside, the formal gardens are lovely, with fine views over the city and, fittingly for the Independent Travel Cats, cat statues to spot.

 

Ulster Folk Museum and Ulster Transport Museum

The Ulster Folk Museum and the Ulster Transport Museum are now run as two separate museums at adjacent sites in Cultra. You can buy admission to each separately, or a dual ticket for both.

The Ulster Folk Museum tells the story of the people and culture of Northern Ireland, with a focus on the early 1900s. It’s spread across more than 20 buildings laid out as a traditional village, including thatched cottages, farmhouses, schools, churches, shops, a mill, and workshops, some original and some replica, with costumed guides and daily demonstrations such as open-hearth cooking, needlework, and weaving.

The Ulster Transport Museum covers the history of transport in Ireland, from horse-drawn carriages to aircraft. One of its draws is the largest railway collection in Ireland, including steam locomotives and passenger carriages, and other popular exhibits include pogo sticks (invented in Northern Ireland), a DeLorean DMC-12 (built in Northern Ireland), a vertical take-off aircraft, and a Titanic exhibition with some original artefacts.

If you plan to visit both, get the dual ticket to save on admission. There’s a café on site in the Ulster Folk Museum. The two museums are in Cultra, about 7 miles (11 km) east of Belfast, with free parking, and reachable by bus (a 30 to 40 minute ride) or train (the nearest stop is Cultra Halt).

 

Minnowburn

Minnowburn is an area of meadows and woodland around the Lagan on the southern edge of Belfast, a perfect place for a walk, family picnic, or gentle hike. Terrace Hill is a popular spot for views across the Lagan Valley, with a garden at the top built by Frederick Russell (whose family made their money in linen, then flour) to go with Terrace Hill mansion (around 1856).

The area is now maintained by the National Trust and makes a lovely escape from the city, with a few main trails, some running through the small village of Edenderry. It’s easy to spend a few hours here on a nice day. If you’d like a gentle hike, we can recommend the Giant’s Ring trail, an easy 2.2 mile circular route along the riverbank and through woodland and farmland, past the Giant’s Ring, a Neolithic henge thought to date to around 2700 BC. Minnowburn is about 4 miles outside Belfast, with limited public transport, though there are bus stops within a 15 minute walk.

 

Sir Thomas & Lady Dixon Park

Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park is a 128 acre park in South Belfast, made up of woodland, meadows, a walled garden, formal rose gardens, and a Japanese garden, with a children’s playground and a café in the former stables. It’s a popular spot for local families and walkers.

The park was laid out around Wilmont House, a Victorian house originally built for James Bristow and later bought by Sir Thomas Dixon and Lady Edith Stewart Dixon. The Dixons left the house and park to the city, and it’s now maintained by Belfast City Council.

The park is best known for its formal gardens and roses. The roses are world-famous and draw thousands of visitors each year, and the annual highlight is Rose Week, with a flower show, games, concerts, puppet shows, family events, and food stalls. We attended Rose Week in 2018 and had a great time. The park is about 6 miles from the centre, with free parking and bus stops within a 5 minute walk.

 

Map of the Top Things to Do in Belfast

The map below shows the locations of the main things to do in Belfast covered in this guide, both central and nearby, to help you plan your itinerary. We’d recommend grouping together attractions that are close to one another. You can open the interactive map here for a closer look and exact locations.

 

Best Day Trips from Belfast

Belfast works well as a base for exploring the rest of Northern Ireland, with plenty to see within a one to two hour drive. For a day trip or quick overnight, our top picks (depending on your interests) would be to drive a stretch of the Causeway Coastal Route, visit the Giant’s Causeway, do a whiskey tour, explore Saint Patrick country, follow a Game of Thrones tour, or take in some of the many castles and historic homes around Northern Ireland.

Here are a few of our favourites. For the full picture, see our complete guide to the best day trips from Belfast.

 

Giant’s Causeway

The Giant’s Causeway is the most famous natural attraction in Northern Ireland and its only UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s a geological formation of roughly 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns forming a staircase-like path out to sea, and it has featured in countless films and advertisements.

The site is managed by the National Trust, with parking, a shuttle bus, an exhibition centre, a gift shop, and a café. It’s free to visit the stones themselves if you arrive on foot or by bicycle, but there’s a fee for parking, the exhibition centre, the audioguide, and the shuttle bus, and it’s worth paying for those services. Entry is free for National Trust members, and if you’re also visiting Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, the National Trust Explorer Pass can cover both, along with other Trust properties across Northern Ireland and the UK.

You can drive (about an hour and 20 minutes from Belfast), take public transport, or join a group or private tour from Belfast (or Dublin). One well-rated option is this fully guided day tour from Belfast.

 

Causeway Coastal Route

The Causeway Coastal Route is a scenic driving route winding roughly 120 miles from Belfast to Derry/Londonderry, mostly along the coast, taking in some of Northern Ireland’s top attractions. Popular stops include the Giant’s Causeway, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, Dunluce Castle, and the Bushmills whiskey distillery, with the Glenariff Nature Reserve, Rathlin Island, and the Dark Hedges just off the route.

Most of the route is fine for all drivers, though there’s a narrow, winding section not suited to larger vehicles and campervans. Depending on the time of year, many of the attractions can be reached by public transport. We wouldn’t recommend trying to drive the full route in a single day, but you can take in a few highlights on a day trip. If you’d like to self-drive, you can compare hire car prices at Discover Cars.

Many people see parts of the route on a day tour from Belfast, which avoids the drive and the worry of driving after a whiskey tasting. Options include this full day tour from Belfast. We’ve driven the Causeway Coastal Route twice and really enjoyed it; see our guide to the highlights of the Causeway Coastal Route to plan your own trip.

 

Learn About Saint Patrick

If you’re interested in the life and legacy of Saint Patrick, there are several sites in Northern Ireland associated with him. Patrick was born in Roman Britain and came to Ireland first as a slave of Irish pirates, then later as a Christian missionary, becoming a bishop in the 5th century and being regarded as the founder of Christianity in Ireland.

He’s the patron saint of the whole island, and a venerated saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. Saint Patrick’s Day, 17 March, is marked in Ireland and around the world.

Some of the key sites are The Saint Patrick Centre in Downpatrick (an interactive exhibition about his life, a good starting point), Down Cathedral (where Patrick is believed to be buried) and Struell Wells nearby, Slemish Mountain (where he’s said to have worked as a slave), and the two Saint Patrick’s cathedrals in Armagh. Counties Down and Armagh, together known as Saint Patrick’s Country, have the most sites; for more, see this list of sites. Most are within an hour’s drive of Belfast. If you want just one place to focus on, we’d head to Downpatrick, which has several sites in and around the town.

 

Game of Thrones Tour

The HBO series Game of Thrones (2011 to 2019) was filmed mainly at Titanic Studios in Belfast, but also at real-world locations around Northern Ireland. Over 20 filming locations were used, most of them outdoors, standing in for places like Winterfell, Lordsport Harbour, the Dothraki grasslands, the Kingsroad, and Robb Stark’s camp.

Some locations are on private land and aren’t accessible, but most are open to the public, including Tollymore Forest, Cushendun Caves, Murlough Bay, the Dark Hedges, Ballintoy Harbour, Larrybane, Castle Ward, Inch Abbey, and Downhill Strand. See this list of Game of Thrones filming sites in Northern Ireland to help plan your itinerary.

You can visit many of these on your own, or join a tour. If you’d like to be among other fans and learn the behind-the-scenes stories, there are plenty of Game of Thrones tours from Belfast, some led by people who worked on the show, and many offering the chance to use props and dress up for photos. A few to consider:

• This full day tour takes in nine stops, including the Dark Hedges, Ballintoy Harbour, Larrybane, and Cushendun Caves, plus the Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
• This full day tour visits Castle Ward, Inch Abbey, and Tollymore Forest.
• This private guided day tour includes a guide who worked as an actor or extra on the series.

 

Go Whiskey Tasting

Ireland is well known for its whiskey, and one of the most famous and oldest distilleries in the country is here in Northern Ireland. Along with Jameson in Dublin, Bushmills is one of the brands most associated with Irish whiskey worldwide.

Bushmills was established in 1784, though the first licence to distil on the site dates back to 1608. Today it produces both blended and single malt whiskeys, using water from Saint Columb’s Rill, a tributary of the River Bush. The Old Bushmills Distillery is a popular place to visit, with tours of how and where the whiskey is made, tastings, a gift shop, and a restaurant. Public tours run first-come, first-served unless you’re in a group of 15 or more, so we’d arrive at least 20 minutes before you want to tour. It’s about a 1.5 hour drive from Belfast.

Another distillery, Echlinville Distillery, opened in 2013 and also runs tours and tastings (book ahead). Echlinville was the first Northern Irish distillery granted a distilling licence in almost 125 years, and it’s about a 50 minute drive from Belfast. A number of new distilleries are due to open around Ireland in the coming years, so if whiskey is a strong interest it’s a good idea to check for recent openings (just note that most new distilleries aren’t yet selling their own aged whiskey).

If you don’t have a car, you can reach Bushmills by bus, or a combination of bus and train, or join a group tour that stops there, like this one. Note that most group tours only allow time for a quick tasting rather than a full distillery tour.

 

Castles, Palaces, and Country Homes

The UK is known for its castles, palaces, and stately homes, and Northern Ireland has several open to the public, most within an hour’s drive of Belfast. Some open only seasonally, so check dates and hours before you go. A few to get you started:

• Carrickfergus Castle – A 12th-century castle built for Sir John de Courcy on Belfast Lough (water on three sides), now one of the best-preserved medieval buildings in Northern Ireland. It saw plenty of action, besieged by the Scottish, Irish, English, and French, and was used by the military until 1928. There’s a fee to visit.
• Castle Coole – An 18th-century neoclassical mansion and park in Enniskillen, built for the Corry family. It’s now National Trust, though many of the contents still belong to the Earl Belmore (Corry family), who still lives on the estate. The house opens in summer and the estate year-round. There’s a fee to visit.
• Castle Ward – An 18th-century mansion built for Lord Bangor and his wife, famous for its two contrasting architectural facades (one Palladian, one Georgian Gothic). The estate has a medieval tower house, farmyard, and gardens, was home to the Ward family from the 16th century until it passed to the National Trust in 1952, and is a Game of Thrones filming location with a GoT archery experience. There’s a fee to visit.
• Dunluce Castle – A 15th-century clifftop castle ruin lived in by the MacDonnell family until around 1690, a popular stop on the Causeway Coastal Route. There’s a fee to visit.
• Hillsborough Castle – An 18th-century Georgian house built for the Hill family, now an official government residence managed by Historic Royal Palaces. It’s used by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and as the official residence of the British monarch and other royals when in the region. There’s a fee to visit, and it’s best to book ahead for the house interior, as ticket numbers and tour times are limited.
• Mount Stewart – A grand 19th-century neoclassical mansion and garden in County Down, built for the Marquesses of Londonderry and now National Trust. It’s known for its interiors, art and furniture, and world-class gardens (if you love gardens, visit in late spring or summer). There’s a fee to visit.

Note that Castle Ward, Castle Coole, and Mount Stewart are all National Trust properties, so members enter free. If you’re planning to visit these or other Trust properties in Northern Ireland, such as the Giant’s Causeway or Carrick-a-Rede, you may save with the National Trust Explorer Pass.

 

What We’ve Learned About Visiting Belfast

After more than one trip to Belfast, a few things stand out that we’d pass on to anyone planning their own visit.

First, give it two days if you possibly can. The centre is small enough to walk, but the Titanic Quarter, the murals and Peace Wall, and the beyond-central sites all take longer than you expect, and a single day means choosing between the Titanic story and the Troubles story rather than doing both justice.

Second, take a Black Taxi tour early in your visit, ideally on your first day. Hearing the history from a driver who lived through it gives everything else you see, the murals, the Peace Wall, the divided neighbourhoods, a context that a museum can’t. We’d rate it the most worthwhile thing we did.

Third, book the big-ticket attractions ahead. Titanic Belfast, Crumlin Road Gaol, and the popular tours all use timed slots or fill up, and booking online is usually cheaper as well as guaranteeing your time. It’s a small bit of planning that saves queueing on the day.

Fourth, a lot of the best of Belfast is free. The Ulster Museum, the City Hall and its exhibition, the Botanic Gardens, the street murals, and much of the waterfront cost nothing, so you can build a full, rewarding day around a couple of paid highlights without spending a fortune. The city is noticeably better value than Dublin or the big English cities.

Fifth, stay central and plan to walk. Basing yourself in or near the Cathedral Quarter puts you within a short walk of the City Hall, the markets, the pubs, and the start of most tours, and saves you fiddling with buses for the core of your visit.

And finally, use Belfast as a base rather than just a stop. Some of the best days out in Northern Ireland, the Giant’s Causeway, the Causeway Coast, the Game of Thrones locations, are within easy reach, and the city is the natural launch point for all of them. If your trip allows, we’d build in at least one full day trip.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About Visiting Belfast

 

Is Belfast worth visiting?

Yes. Belfast is one of the more rewarding city breaks in the UK and Ireland, especially if you enjoy history. It packs a world-class Titanic museum, a moving recent-history story you can explore through the murals and Black Taxi tours, excellent free museums, and a warm pub culture into a compact, walkable, affordable city.

It tends to exceed people’s expectations, partly because those expectations are often low. Two days is enough to see the highlights, and it works brilliantly as a base for the Causeway Coast.

 

How many days do you need in Belfast?

We’d recommend at least two full days to see the city’s highlights without rushing: roughly one day for the Titanic Quarter and maritime sites, and one for the City Hall, the murals and Peace Wall, Crumlin Road Gaol, and the Queen’s Quarter museums.

One day is enough for a taste of the city if you focus and book ahead. With three or more days, you can add a day trip to the Giant’s Causeway, the Causeway Coast, or the Game of Thrones locations.

 

Is Belfast safe for tourists?

Belfast is a safe city to visit, and we’ve never had any concerns on our trips. The sectarian violence of the Troubles is now rare, and tourism is a major part of city life.

Take the ordinary precautions you would anywhere: watch your valuables and stay aware of your surroundings. The one Belfast-specific piece of advice is to give any parade or protest a wide berth if you come across one, particularly around the July marching season.

 

What is Belfast best known for?

Belfast is best known as the city where the RMS Titanic was built, now marked by the flagship Titanic Belfast museum, and for the political history of the Troubles, which you can explore through its street murals, Peace Walls, and Black Taxi tours.

It’s also known as a base for the Giant’s Causeway and the Causeway Coast, as a major Game of Thrones filming location, and for its Victorian pubs like the Crown Liquor Saloon.

 

What are the top things to do in Belfast?

The top things to do in Belfast are visiting Titanic Belfast, taking a Black Taxi tour of the political murals and Peace Wall, touring Crumlin Road Gaol, and exploring the Ulster Museum and the Queen’s Quarter.

Add the City Hall, St George’s Market (Friday to Sunday), an evening in the Cathedral Quarter pubs, and a day trip to the Giant’s Causeway, and you have a strong two to three day visit.

 

Is Belfast or Dublin better to visit?

For value, walkability, and a base for Northern Ireland and the Causeway Coast, Belfast is the better choice, and it’s cheaper and less crowded too. For a bigger city with more nightlife, more international flights, and the classic Georgian and literary scene, Dublin wins.

The two are about two hours apart by train, with an hourly cross-border service, so many visitors combine them. We’d give at least two days to each.

 

Do you need a car to visit Belfast?

No, you don’t need a car to visit Belfast itself. The centre is walkable, public transport is good, and tours cover the murals and further-out sites.

A car becomes useful if you want to explore Northern Ireland at your own pace, particularly the Causeway Coast, though even then you can join a day tour from Belfast instead. If you’d like to self-drive, you can compare hire prices at Discover Cars.

 

What is the best time of year to visit Belfast?

The best time to visit Belfast is late spring to early autumn. Our own favourite months are May, June, and September, when the weather is usually reasonable, the days are long, and the attractions aren’t too busy.

Summer (June to August) brings the warmest weather but busier sites, especially in the Titanic Quarter and at the Giant’s Causeway. Belfast is a year-round destination, though, as most attractions stay open through the winter.

 

How do you get from Dublin to Belfast?

The easiest way from Dublin to Belfast is the cross-border Enterprise train between Dublin Connolly and Belfast Grand Central, which now runs roughly hourly and takes a little over two hours.

You can also take a coach (around two and a half hours) or drive (about two hours). Booking train tickets in advance can save you money.

So there’s our guide to the top things to do in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Have you been to Belfast? If so, do you have any favourites among the above, or places you’d add to the list? And if you haven’t visited yet, which of these Belfast attractions would make your itinerary? As always, feel free to ask us any questions you have about things to do in Belfast or planning a trip to Northern Ireland in the comments below.

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