Holiday in Belfast

[catsandchaos]

Hope it's ok to post this here. Would love to visit Belfast in October. Which is the best area to stay in? any recommendations what to see and what to avoid? Thankyou

Titanic centre is great but go early. Get out to the Antrim coast is you can, it's so beautiful. I stayed in the Europa and the Fitzwilliam,both nice. I really loved my visit there, it's a great city.

Following as I have exactly the same holiday planned!

Titanic Hotel is a nice place to stay if you want central. St Anne's Square is lovely for restaurants. I would highly recommend an Italian place called Coppi. It is never warm here, and October is especially cold so make sure you wrap up warm!
If you're happy enough staying in Belfast City then you're fine with public transport but if you do plan to explore I'd recommend you hire a car.

There's lots of hotels in the city center.
The Titanic Hotel in the Titanic Quarter is lovely.
It's easy to walk into the center of Belfast from it.
The Coastal route up to the Giants Causeway is breathtaking.
Botanic Gardens is nice and the Ulster museum is in it.

Belfast is a small city and is really easy to get about on foot. Any of the city centre hotels would be a good bet, the university area is only a short walk so the hotels there are convenient, and the titanic quarter is also easy to walk to and from. Titanic hotel is lovely, and feels almost like a museum with its various bits of info and artefacts.
Tourist-wise, I’d do titanic museum, crumlin road jail tour, a black taxi tour, have a drink in The Crown, and potter about the cathedral quarter looking at the murals and stopping for coffee or a beer.
How long are you staying for? If you have time to leave Belfast and access to a car you could drive the Antrim coast road and visit the sights along the way (Glenarriff waterfall
Park, cushendun, ballintoy harbour, kinbane castle, giants causeway).

Enjoy, I’ll cross my fingers that we are all opened up by then, and that the weather is good for you :)

Is it a safe place ?

Some really lovely hotels in the city centre which means you would be close to the museums and the Titanic centre. If you have access to car definitely try Giants Causeway and Antrim coast. I wouldn't go to the zoo as it is a bit run down. If you are interested in the history of NI over the last 60 years book a black taxi tour. Very interesting. Loads of nice bars and restaurants in the city centre. I am from Belfast, although live in England, and I love it. Such a warm welcoming city (despite what you might read/see in the news)

It's as safe as any big city, probably safer I think. Unfortunately we have trouble at the moment with rioting. But like any city there are some spots to avoid.

Bring a raincoat.

Definitely Titanic, Crumlin Road Goal, Black taxi tour. We stayed with friends but I agree, The Europa was good, we had a meal there.

Don’t know how long you’ve got and would need a car but as above poster said the Antrim coast/Giant’s causeway is gorgeous. If going south then the Mountains of Mourne are beautiful too.

@catsandchaos

Is it a safe place ?

Yes. There's places to avoid like in any city.

I was also looking to stay in Belfast for 4 nights in the summer. We have looked at the cathedral quarter - is this a nice place to stay or one to avoid thanks

If you're a Game of Thrones fan there are organised tours of the Dark Hedges and Giants Causeway etc - really good. It's cold in Oct so warm coat def needed

Titanic Hotel is gorgeous, very historic but maybe a bit fancy and less set up for families, it's also a trek to the city centre. The Titanic museum is great though. You can stay in any of the hotels in the city centre, or maybe find an Airbnb. All very safe. If in the city centre you will be able to walk to a lot of places. There are great day trips by coach to the Antrim coast/giants causeway and black taxi tours that would be great if on a car free holiday.

@Lovingtheglitter

I was also looking to stay in Belfast for 4 nights in the summer. We have looked at the cathedral quarter - is this a nice place to stay or one to avoid thanks

Cathedral Quarter is fine. Places to avoid would be housing estates outside the situ centre. Although you'd probably be fine and there are organised tours eg the Blaxk Taxi tours that go there anyway. The only hotel is avoid is an Ibis one that's at a massive road junction.

Cathedral Quarter is fine lovingtheglitter, lots of bars and cafes there.

And Ulster Museum was fab & its free

Cathedral quarter is lovely. Quite arty, with lots of bars restaurants. Very central.

@catsandchaos

Is it a safe place ?

You’ll be fine in October.

@TwinklyTits, yes absolutely. I always forget about the Ulster Museum. It’s great.

Right now, there are riots here and there. Keep an eye on it. Police hurt and police cars set alight.

Overwhelmingly likely to be fine but I have seen tourists caught up in things and regretting coming.

Cathedral quarter is very central to nightlife and shopping.
Budget end Premier Inn.Top end the Merchant Hotel. Both on same street lol.

Also pretty central are Jury’s Inn, The Fitzwilliam and Ibis. Grand Central is a new hotel. There’s a Hilton Hotel and Marriott.

Visit Titanic, St George’s market, Crumlin Road Gaol, Bus Tours , City Hall, Ulster Museum near botanic gardens.

If you are bringing kids there’s We R Vertigo, W5, The zoo, Cultra Folk and transport museum near Bangor

If you are bringing or hiring a car defo try and venture out of the city. Go North along Antrim coast road takes you a beautiful road trip right up to the Giants Causeway and Rope Bridge, then round to Portrush/ Portstewart

We had a fantastic weekend in Belfast in 2019. We stayed in the Hampton by Hilton hotel which is right next to the bus station , so we stepped off the plane onto the bus and straight into the hotel. It was right near the Crown bar which is gorgeous.
The bus tours are really good for getting a feel for the city. It’s quite compact.
We enjoyed the titanic centre and the crumlin road jail.
We had an amazing meal at the Ginger bistro.

We stayed in an air bnb in east belfast and encountered no hassle at all. The black taxi tour of west belfast was my favourite part of our trip. Found it absolutely fascinating

Good music in Pug Uglys bar too