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

I’m from Belfast (but live in Birmingham now) and we’ve had some great trips over the last few years. Stayed in the Premier Inn (Cathedral Qtr)....great location but no parking and Premier Inn, Titanic Qtr which is perfect and has a car park. Recommend the Titanic Museum, Crumlin Rd Jail, the bus tour and the Antrim Coast.
The current issues will blow over soon. Get booking.

Hundreds of thousands of people go to the Titanic Quarter every year, it's where the cruise liners dock ffs, the UDA aren't parading around there in their ballyclavas,

Of course it will blow over! None of it ever lasts forever does it?

‘A senior police officer’ no less :D

I'm originally from the north coast area, I don't live there now but all my family still do. If you can I would highly recommend hiring a car and driving up the coast road towards Portrush/Portstewart and on around to Castlerock/Mussenden Temple/Downhill or even up to Binevenagh for stunning views across Lough Foyle to Derry/Londonderry and Donegal. Cushehdun/Cushendall, Glenariff and Murlough Bay are all worth a stop en route but you may not have time to fit it all in!

If you're into GoT the Dark Hedges aren't far (near Ballymoney) and you'll pass Ballintoy on the coast road, which is the Iron Islands. Portstewart Strand and the dunes doubled for parts of Dorne and Downhill beach/Mussenden Temple for Dragonstone.

Even if you're not a GoT fan it's just a stunning coastline, there are so many incredible beaches - Runkerry/Portballintrae, White Park Bay, White Rocks/Portrush East Strand, Portstewart Strand and Downhill are all outstanding. You'll also pass the Giant's Causeway near Bushmills and the ruins of Dunluce Castle on the cliffs between Portballintrae and Portrush.

You're spoilt for choice with amazing independent cafés, coffee shops, bakeries and restaurants - Native Seafood, Harry's Shack, Coffee Hut, Ramore, Mermaid, Basalt, Neptune and Prawn, Harbour Bistro, Bean at the Beach, Vittle Bake Shop, Kraken, Amici, JamJar, Indigo, Morelli's ice cream are just some places serving amazing food, coffee and baking around the Portrush/Portstewart area alone. If it's open Roarke's Kitchen at Ballintoy Harbour is another gem. You definitely won't go hungry

OP wants to come in October. Your making NI sound like some crazy lawless society where we all run around throwing home made bombs

Yes tiny area of about 2% of the population live. Not the titanic quarter.

I am another one who lives just outside Belfast - and I 2nd (or 3rd) that it will be FREEZING! Bring all the jumpers!

Lots and lots of great advice about places to visit, so I just wanted to say that no matter which airport you fly into, don't bother with a taxi to the hotel- Translink have great airport/city links that run regularly and if you are planning on staying in the Cathedral Qtr they will drop you off with just a 5 minute walk. There are loads of really handy maps that you can get at the Tourist Information (directly opposite the City Hall which you will see if you get the bus )

If you’re staying in Belfast itself, titanic quarter, cathedral quarter, botanic gardens, ulster museum, and a few pints in the crown and some of the other brilliant bars/restaurants above will make for a great few days. I’m dying to get out and about again, reading all the suggestions here! A wee trip out to Rathlin is on my list for this year :)

Following with interest

Ignore the scaremongering on here, it’s like saying London isn’t safe to visit because of the rise in knife crime among gangs on estates...
Coppi by the Mac does really good, inexpensive food.

Id like to bring campervan over, maybe this summer, are we allowed to holiday in NI from April / May does anyone know? ..

We’re planning on going in May, flights booked. It should all be fine by then but keep an eye out for announcements @Laska2Meryls
Just make sure you book flexi with the ferry just in case.

@catsandchaos if your staying longer than a weekend deffo plan to get a bus up the coast or even better a car for a few days of your trip. If it’s just a weekend though you’ll have tons to do in the city. And if you’re bringing kids there’s lots of stuff to do - W5, the Science centre is fantastic, we’ve been 10/12 times and still find stuff to do in it. And everything’s a lot cheaper, cinema, bowling, things like that are sooooo much cheaper than in England.

@MissMarks

Which part?? Can you honestly say at this present time Belfast is a safe place to be? Much of the tourism is built around the troubles. The gaol, the peace walls, the murals, even the churches such as Clonard and St Peter’s are not in areas you want to be dandering about at this present time. Sorry to be brutal but I wouldn’t book anything until we see what happens over the next couple of weeks.

Yes it is safe. There is trouble and it may escalate. But there's never riots in the Malone Road or in Stranmillis or Cultra or the nice parts of east Belfast. It's always confined to where the rioters live and so it's impact is negligible, apart from sadly on their own community.

People where I live know nothing of the areas your talking about and care even less.

Re coming to NI. Unless on essential business at the minute there is a 10 day isolation but expect things to begin lifting from next week so hopefully that will go too.

If you are interested in motorcycles get the train down to Ballymoney to Joey's Bar. It was run by legendary racer Joey Dunlop & his family still run it now. Right next to the station & full of memorabilia.
The memorial garden to the Dunlop brothers is just up the road from the bar about 2 minutes away.

I wasn't quite as wowed by the Titanic centre as I'd expected to be - it's very good (definitely worth a visit) but not amazing. Very thought-provoking, though, re the issue of survival or not. Dh took our dc (then 10 and 7) to W5 while I went shopping and they were impressed - we'd been to quite a few science centre places around that time and by all accounts it was one of the better ones.

We were staying on the coast and loved, utterly loved the landscape and the changeable weather (tbf we came there from a baking European summer so it was just incredibly refreshing). Went on the ferry to Rathlin Island which was stunning and huge fun pitching about on the crossing.

Layers, take lots of layers. The weather can change in a heartbeat but that also meaning rain turning suddenly to sun as well as the other way round. Autumn is a lovely time to come. But it’s like going from London to Scotland, the temperature really drops!

I've done a couple of weekends in Belfast and one up on the north coast around Portrush / Portstewart and love it. I'll definitely be back to both areas as there's so much we didn't have time to do. I've always felt very safe and found the locals to be very friendly. If you've got time I would probably do a few days in Belfast city and then hire a car to go further afield. I never found the weather particularly bad oru unusual but my standards are based on Scottish weather ;)

Agree with @MitheringSunday - I found the titanic museum a bit disappointing. (I preferred the small one I visited on a different trip to Cobh near Cork.)

The science center, on the other hand, was the best I've been to. We spent a full day there, and could have spent longer. It was amazing for young kids.

Which part?? Can you honestly say at this present time Belfast is a safe place to be? Much of the tourism is built around the troubles. The gaol, the peace walls, the murals, even the churches such as Clonard and St Peter’s are not in areas you want to be dandering about at this present time.
I will say that Clonard and the area around St Peter's is completely safe to be wandering around atm, given that all the current trouble is happening miles away and is being carried out by "the other side", so to speak.

Something that anyone who's familiar with Belafast knows @MissMarks.