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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask for your hints and tips re: Belfast

114 replies

HildaZelda · 31/10/2018 21:56

So, DH has holidays which he's now been told he has to take before Xmas or lose them. I work part time so can juggle days a bit.

Anyway, DH was talking about going away somewhere for 3 or 4 days, Because it's only a few days, it can't be that far so we looked at short flights and can do Belfast pretty cheaply for a few days next month.
Neither of us have ever been there before, so before we book anything can I ask if anyone has been, what's it like, is it worth going, hints/tips for what to see and do please?

OP posts:
Fortybingowings · 31/10/2018 22:00

Find an impartial taxi driver (neither Catholic or Protestant) Get him to take you on a tour of the city to all the main sites that featured in the troubles. It's a real education.
Also- the Titanic quarter.

Petitepamplemousse · 31/10/2018 22:01

Yes the black cab tour. Also, try out some bars with live music in the cathedral quarter.

1Wanda1 · 31/10/2018 22:02

Having been there last year for a few days, I'd say Belfast doesn't have a lot to recommend it as a minibreak destination. What about Dublin or Kinsale instead?

MrsWireman · 31/10/2018 22:03

Catch a show at Grand Opera House, stunning inside

UnderMajorDomoMinor · 31/10/2018 22:03

I did a thread on this and had some fab suggestions:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_advice_tips/3335062-Belfast-in-October

treaclesoda · 31/10/2018 22:07

Is it just the two of you, or children as well?

hammeringinmyhead · 31/10/2018 22:08

I really enjoyed Belfast. We did a day trip up to the Giant's Causeway and did the bus tour which includes the Peace Wall. Enjoyed the Ulster Museum and had some good food (breakfast in Maggie May's!). I think 4 days may be too much though, eepecially if it's wet and cold.

Dollymixture22 · 31/10/2018 22:09

Some really good bars and restaurants in the cathedral quarter. Look down the pretty alley ways.

Titanic museum.

Victoria square if you are into shopping.

IlikebigbotsandIcannotlie · 31/10/2018 22:10

We did a coach trip to Giants Causeway and around other coastal sites, it was great.

Plus there’s a Wetherspoons 😂

bigbluebus · 31/10/2018 22:12

Titanic Museum
Crown Bar
Bus tour of city including historic troubled areas .
Trip out to Giants Causeway and Bushmills Distillery.

PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 31/10/2018 22:16

I wouldn’t bother with the black taxi tours- it’s impossible to find an “impartial” driver as everyone here has been touched by the Troubles in some way, and people profiting from that recent history is a bit ick.

Belfast is pretty good for shopping- except we’re now missing our huge Primark (RIP), so a day in the city centre will be well spent.

Plenty of nice bars and restaurants in the Cathedral Quarter in the city centre.

St George’s market if you’re here over the weekend.

Titanic Museum is always worth a visit as well.

3 days will do you though.

2cats2many · 31/10/2018 22:19

The Titanic exhibition is really good.

If you have access to a car, a trip to the Giants Causeway is well worth it.

treaclesoda · 31/10/2018 22:26

HMS Caroline is a really good museum, as is Titanic. If it's nice weather (by which I mean dry, I know it's not going to be warm) the views from either the Black Mountain or Cave Hill are really good if you fancy a walk. Although I think Cave Hill would be more accessible by public transport.

The Ulster Museum is very good, and is free.

There are loads of nice restaurants in the city centre. The city centre is small and easy to walk to most places, although at the moment it is more difficult as there is a chunk in the middle which is cordoned off for safety reasons after a huge fire.

nicebitofquiche · 31/10/2018 22:30

Open top tourist bus is good. Crown bar. Gawping at the worlds most handsome men. I was on a boozy weekend with friends and can't remember much else.

IKnowThisMuch · 31/10/2018 22:30

Absolutely echoing Penny re: Black Taxi Tours. I think you'd be hard pressed to find an impartial taxi driver. One of the "Hop On, Hop Off" tour buses covers those areas if you are interested in hearing the history, but want it in a more neutral way.

Like previous posters have mentioned, Titanic Quarter has a lot to see and do - you have Titanic Belfast, the SS Nomadic, HMS Caroline, and the Pump House all within walking distance of each other, if that's your kind of thing.

The Ulster Museum has free entry, and is very close to Queen's University.

Round the Cathedral Quarter is great for pubs and nightlife - the Duke of York is particularly popular. You also have The Crown bar on Great Victoria Street, which is nice to sit in. Especially if you get a booth.

As others have said, coach trips run to other areas of Northern Ireland from Belfast - you can do the Giant's Causeway, for example. Or if you're into Game of Thrones, they do bus tours around the most famous filming sites.

Bimgy85 · 31/10/2018 22:36

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PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 31/10/2018 22:40

I’ve heard a lot of things said about Belfast, but “dirty/dull” is a new one...

PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 31/10/2018 22:41

Just seeing this gem as well-

“apart from the accent being annoying it was great fun!”

You do realise that there are people from Belfast on this board? And on this very thread?

Bimgy85 · 31/10/2018 22:41

@PennyMordauntsLadyBrain I am not trying to diss the place itself but how can you not agree? Unless I was staying in a bad area, absolutely everywhere I looked there was shut down shops/ old houses with no windows, the place just needs a bit of an urban refurbishment, a bit of paint is all! Apart from that it's a bustling city. Just seems to have been forgotten about in terms of 'colour'

peachgreen · 31/10/2018 22:44

I don't know where you were @Bimgy85 but that's not the Belfast I know. But then I don't find NI accents annoying either.

peachgreen · 31/10/2018 22:46

@HildaZelda You've has loads of good suggestions on this thread - my faves are the Ulster Museum which has a great history of NI, and the Titanic museum which is really worth the entrance fee. Have a night out in the Cathedral Quarter, you'll have a fab time. Belfast is the friendliest city I've ever been in, I love it.

treaclesoda · 31/10/2018 22:48

I think you were staying in a bad place to be honest. There is no Botanic Road that I've ever heard of, so I'm not sure exactly where you stayed. Botanic Avenue area maybe? Up near the university area is lovely and not run down at all. The other end of it is Donegall Pass which is an area so deprived that it gets specific government funding to try to help it.

The areas that have already been redeveloped, down by the Titanic area etc are very far from dirty and run down.

It's a city and like most cities it has wealthy parts and poor parts. And its only 20 years into recovery after 30 years of widespread destruction. Its a miracle that its as nice as it is these days.

TheCraicDealer · 31/10/2018 22:49

everywhere I looked there was shut down shops/ old houses with no windows,

Jeez woman, you're making a trip up north sound like an episode of Dark Tourist.

DH's (English) mates came over for our wedding and are planning another boys trip back so can't be that bad. Although I don't think they'll be planning any excursions the non-licensed places mentioned on this thread.

PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 31/10/2018 22:50

@Bimgy85 I don’t know where you were staying, but that description doesn’t ring true to me (a Belfast native) at all.

This city hasn’t been dealt the greatest hand over the last 50 years, and has come full circle over the last decade.

To find someone sneering about our accents and calling the place dirty is bloody sickening.