To ask if you would visit Northern Ireland?

I've been twice and loved it - the first time was a general holiday and the second time a short break in Belfast (and we went to Carrickfergus too). I actually think Belfast is really well kept - has loads of shops where most GB cities would have lots of empty units (this was in 2022 so I don't know if things have changed since). I think it feels more affluent than Scotland but there again it's a while since I was last in Scotland as well. There's clearly been a lot of investment in Belfast.

It cost me £36 return to fly into Belfast international from Manchester airport last year and about 7 quid on the bus into Belfast. It costs me about £100 return on get the train to London and about the same if not more to get the train into Scotland! It’s far far cheaper and no more of undertaking!

Absolutely the same.

It would be interesting if you could expand?

No, I’ve been to Belfast for work for a few days and couldn’t wait to get out.

My sister used to live there so I visited a few times and did enjoy it but I've never felt any compulsion to return. It's OK but overall I felt it was a bit like a down-at-heel Scotland with a lot more overt sectarian bigotry, so not really worth the ferry trip without family there.

Yes, went to a wedding on the Antrim coast about 10 years ago, had a day in Belfast on the way home and have always wanted to go back!

Donegal is in ROI and not actually in Northern Ireland though.
You’re right, it is beautiful.
I haven’t seen the Antrim coast yet unfortunately.

Lived there for a few years. As an English person (with Irish roots), I was always othered. Too English to be Irish and too Irish to be English. And beyond the surface level friendliness in pubs, people weren't overly welcoming. Felt like a really insular community (no offense to anyone from NI). I'd imagine people who don't look like they are from there probably suffer from regular discrimination.

Great for a weekend away, fantastic pubs, amazing restaurants and some beautiful scenery but the secreterianism remains strong on a day to day basis. I wasn't even able to sit on an interview panel as I had a Catholic surname!

When I revisited recently, I felt a definitely "undercurrent" when out in town, lots of junkies and feral kids about. But it's the same case in most UK cities TBF.

You have to fly or get a ferry though, it's a hit of an undertaking for somewhere not much different to a city in the rest of the UK. Much nicer places in Scotland imo.

Yes I went to Belfast for work and had no expectations and thought it was a fabulous city

I should really go, to challenge my pre conceived ideas, as I'll admit I've still got leftover thoughts of it being a bit rough and dangerous.
I'm only basing this on what I saw on the news as a kid in the 80s
I'd love to visit the Titanic Museum.

For those that are looking for an alternative to the giants causeway/antrim coast, head down the Ards peninsula towards Portaferry. Catch the ferry to Strangford. You can head down to Newcastle and The Mournes. Me and DH live here and went to Newcastle on Saturday.
We haven't been for a while and Id forgotten just how stunning it is, and the sun shone all day 😄

I went to Belfast six years ago and absolutely loved it. Wouldn't hesitate to go back!

So did I until I first went there. It was 1998 and my mum thought I was going to Beirut! My bloke comes from Belfast and we’ve visited numerous times in the last 20 odd years.

It’s not dangerous any more and it’s cleaner and better kept than a lot of England on the whole. Belfast is a very pretty, welcoming city and the Antrim coast is breathtakingly beautiful.

Went there last summer. Had a great time. Stormont is amazing, people are so friendly, the causeway coast is beautiful. Would go again in a heartbeat.

I had never visited until this year (I'm 41) but went to Belfast for a conference in May and really liked it, so I'd like to go back with the family sometime.

It's not that I had a particular aversion to going there, just that having to arrange flights/ferry makes it a bit more faffy than holidays in England/Wales/Scotland. I've still never been to the Republic of Ireland

To be honest, I wouldn’t. I may be wrong but I have an idea in my head that it’s slightly dangerous and a bit grim.

Northern Ireland is a fantastic place with the friendliest people in the UK and Ireland imo. Beautiful scenery, lots of interesting places to visit, all sorts of accommodation options from scenic campsites and glamping to 5 star hotels. The quality of produce, especially meat, is exceptional.

People were certainly reluctant to visit NI during the Troubles, but thankfully the region has recovered well from
those dark days. Would highly recommend it for a holiday.

Voted YABU as it is a silly question to ask these days. I have been to NI about 8 times in the last decade and spend weeks there at a go. I have friends there. I am not white and not from the Uk and have not experienced any racism there at all but there are socio-political faultlines in every conversation and despite my friends' warnings I have stepped into one or two. The worst was when I visited Derry (never call it Londonderry, they intone gravely). Went to the Museum of Free Derry and signed up for a guided walk. The guide, an aggressive scrote of a man who claimed to be an ex-political prisoner walked off and refused to guide me and my friend (Indian and Chinese females from East Asia). Initial conversation was all about the very young people (he brought up this topic) involved in the protests. We were a bit shocked at how the guide seemed to be glorying in the violence and I demurred that perhaps minors should have been kept away from violence, no matter how glorious the cause. Just that one anodyne remark and it set off the man who started scolding us and flounced off saying he would not guide us. I am a museum docent myself and I was shocked at his unprofessional behaviour.
Then there are the flags and murals in different neighbourhoods. I am not a fan of the maoist Shining Path and stalinist Tamil Tigers. I find the William of Orange adulation and crate bonfires desperately pathetic too. Honest political conversations are quite impossible - you have to pick a side.

Been twice, once with family and once with work. Family trip started off epically rainy - a month’s worth of rain in a day. Fortunately the month was July or it could have been worse. Other than that it was a good holiday. Had to get the slow ferry on the way out as the weather was bad, so slightly unnerving - we sailed Holyhead to Dublin for a shorter crossing as DH doesn’t sail well.

Work trip - weather was gorgeous. It was a little contentious in places, eg having a formal list of places not to go, including the pub next to one of our destinations, but all was good.

I would go again. I’d like to do something like a black cab tour, but DH would probably veto again. We never went when I was a kid as my dad was in the RN so it wasn’t safe … now I have a SIL from Belfast so the Troubles still seem close in some ways, and it’s good to be educated on the ground, imo.

The closest I’ve come to Troubles tourism
for now is that I put myself in the Europa for the work trip. The team followed, and one was a bit alarmed to discover it’s the most bombed hotel in the world … she felt better when I pointed out the last times was before she was born …

We had a lovely holiday at strangford Lough a few years ago and have also had a couple of weekends in Belfast for a wedding and a 40th party. Absolutely gorgeous place. There was one small town we had to drive through on the way which had union flags everywhere and a picture of the queen hanging above on of the roads and I did find that a bit disconcerting, but overall it’s a beautiful place and everyone we met was lovely and friendly x

I went to Belfast a few years ago mand would highly recommend it. Really enjoyed it and everyone was very friendly bar the taxi driver who seemed offended at my non northern, Irish accent 🤣

Yes why wouldn't you.

I've been to Dublin many years ago but I'm keen to see more of Ireland including NI.

I've been to the Scottish Highlands and Edinburgh. I loved it. The people and architecture and countryside were all beautiful.

My parents used to take us on holiday in Wales when I was a child in the late 1980s. I have been to Cardiff once for football as an adult, in the 2000s, but we didn't have time to look around town. I might go back as an obvious English person and check out what pp are saying about the place. 🤔