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

Belfast is very safe, I’m always happy to walk round by myself at night, I don’t think I’ve witnessed ‘random acts of violence’ like I’ve seen in other big cities, or have that on edge feeling on Friday/Saturday nights.
There is the unrest you’ll see on the news at the minute, but in all likelihood you wouldn’t be anywhere near it. Think of an ‘avoid at all costs’ area of your nearest city and it’s pretty much limited to there, it’s not something you’d see in the city centre where you’d be. If you wanted to go and see the murals/peace walls/etc, it would be best to go in an organised tour, like a black taxi tour, both to get the history and so you aren’t wandering around aimlessly.

The majority of people will help you out and are welcoming to tourists. If you looked lost, someone would likely stop and ask if you needed help before you asked them.
Any of the central hotels will be handy, eg around city hall, Great Victoria street, the cathedral quarter. The CQ has more bars etc, so maybe more of a nightlife vibe if you were staying there. The Titanic Hotel is gorgeous but a bit of a walk from most things except the Titanic museum (probably a 20 minute walk into the centre). Anywhere central means you can walk everywhere. If air bnbs are your thing, just check here about where it is, South Belfast would be your safest bet if you still wanted to be central.
The restaurant choice is great, lots of independent places from casual to formal and varied prices, and plenty of options if you have children with you.
You could probably spend about 3 days in Belfast itself, or rush round it in one day if you had to, but if you had time it’s definitely worth a trip up to the North Coast. It’s not particularly stressful to hire a car and drive on the roads, either in the city or motorway.
One thing to bear in mind is that things can shut quite early during the week (many restaurants close on a Monday or Tuesday night) and shops only open 1-6pm on Sundays, so factor that in to what you are doing on which day. St George’s Market would still open earlier and some of the tourist attractions will too.

It is all Lower Falls.

Lanark Way is not the Lower Falls. It's not the Falls at all. And you would know that if you knew the area @MissMarks.🙄

@hopeishere

My point about Glasgow is that it is very like Belfast but without the risk! If you are unable to visit the troubles related activities such as the mural walks, gaol, peace lines you may as well just go to Glasgow.

That's rubbish. There is far more to Belfast than the troubles as all of these posts show. It shows how narrow your own view of the the city is. Like I said above people on the Malone Road wouldn't be able to find Lanark Way on a map!

Ha @hopeishere I actually googled where Lanark Way was last night (I’m not a BT9er, but may as well be). I don’t think any tourist would have a reason find themselves there in all likelihood!

Dione the tribal mentality isn’t helping. Lanark way is just the peace line. Where do you think all those kids rioting last night live! The Lower Falls. They congregate at Albert St and Springfield and walk over- then run back and forth. Stop being in denial about the reality of the situation.

‘it wasn’t my bit’- well it was the kids from that community running over. Take ownership of these situations will never be dealt with.

Hangry they go there on the tours to look at the murals and cross at Northumberland street to the Shankill. Bus loads of them.

Northumberland Street is nowhere near to Lanark Way. And you are right @hangryeyes, no tourist would have a reason find themselves there in all likelihood!

Northumberland street is at the end of Lanark way.

Northumberland street is at the end of Lanark Way.

No it isn't.😂😂😂

Came on to see if any more good suggestions for things to do once lockdowns over, and for the OP for an October trip, and yer one is still going on about riots! Seriously if you’re so concerned about the OPs welfare why arent you mentioning the fact that the shops and hotels and all are closed now cos of the pandemic and who knows where we’ll be in October? Why won’t you let us all have a bit of fun thinking of nice stuff we might be able to do at some point? You’ve made your point (over and over and over) that you don’t think the OP should book because of riots. I think we’ve all understood your position now. Any chance you could leave us to do a bit of daydreaming at this stage? Or do you need to say the same thing again, another 10-15 times?

Safety and security

Political situation
You should follow the advice of police and local authorities regarding demonstrations in Spain.

There have been large gatherings of people and demonstrations in some parts of Barcelona and other areas of the Catalonia region in relation to political developments there. Some demonstrations have become violent, with protesters causing damage to property and disruption to transport. Further gatherings and demonstrations may take place and demonstrations intended to be peaceful can escalate and turn confrontational. If you’re in an area where demonstrations are taking place, you should remain vigilant, follow the advice of local authorities and move away quickly to a safe place if there are signs of disorder.

Above is the Current foreign travel advice above.. FOR SPAIN!!!

How many of you were aware the Catalans are still rioting since 2019? Last month it happened again in Barcelona over the arrest of a rapper. Not so different to here.

Honestly give tourists some credit. People will research current affairs for any country before they travel or cancel if it is really bad. They will go on organised tours or ask advice from hotel reception.

And yes I largely expect it to die down as it has always done in the past. Politicians and media commentators will be speculating at present because it either serves their political interest to finger point to the other side, or in the case of the media they make money from the coverage. Thankfully the politicians are appealing for it to stop.
It might not die down and if it doesn’t there are other areas of NI to visit like most of us have been pointing out or you know.. people can always cancel their trips!!

I’ve been googling now to find stuff to do when lockdowns over! What about this - a wee boat trip on the Lagan: laganboatcompany.com/guided-tour/ (Obviously a bubble would be better than a boat but it’ll do ) I never knew there were seals down there. Class.

That boat trip is class and really good value. Make sure you have a coat because it gets Baltic when the boat gets into the lough.

give tourists some credit.

No! I have seen tourists caught up in the middle of things here. It's easy to be clueless when you don't know the region or the culture - and when half the tourism involves visiting 'troubled areas' to see the shenanigans.

The sad thing is, this doesn't have an end point like the parade season. We hope it will blow over but we have no way of knowing if it will and no indication that it's going that way.

It's not really like Catalonia. There are armed paramilitaries here who break the legs of young people in their own communities even when things are 'good'.

The MAC exhibits amazing art and has free activities for children. Well handy if you want to de-excite DC before dinner at one of the restaurants in the square.

Don’t want to derail by mentioning the pandemic again but can not wait til it fucks right off and we can do some of these things again. Dinner out... how amazing does that sound? Nothing fancy like, plate of chips and a few drinks would do me!

@3littlerabbits Coppi are doing 3 course meals that you reheat at home for £25. Have you tried them? Proper restaurant food with minimum fuss. It's well worth it and the portions are massive.

'Hangry they go there on the tours to look at the murals and cross at Northumberland street to the Shankill. Bus loads of them.'

i hate those misery Troubles tours, but tourists absolutely do have the choice not to go on them. Besides, it's not like the police just let anyone wander into riots... FFS...

Love, love, love The MAC! They get some really good live music acts there, always worth checking out if gigs are on again by Oct

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This week's menu. I'm sitting on my hands to stop myself ordering the duck ragu for the weekend.😬

@blubberyboo

Marble Arch Caves are the ones near Enniskillen. We spent some fantastic time there boating on the waterways of Lough Erne and all the tiny islands there. Really recommend hiring a cruiser for a few nights and doing that. There’s also a boardwalk over the hills and loads of hotels in that area and just a quick drive into county donegal. About 2 hours from Belfast

I have to say I’ve lived in Northern Ireland for over 40 years with many days and nights spent in Belfast and I’ve yet to stumble across any kind of violence in any part of the country... touch wood. It’s usually pockets of youths at night in their own housing estate areas.

Similar could be said at times about London/ Germany/ France /Spain or various places in the world where terrorist attacks have happened. I went on a cruise from Barcelona when the Catalans were rioting. I actually saw them in the streets on the way from airport to cruise terminal. Never seen anything in Belfast in my life.

The OP is talking about October. If we all put our plans on hold because of something that might happen in 6 months we’d never go anywhere.

There’s plenty to see and do in Northern Ireland other than viewing the old troubles areas. Worth a visit yes but if you have to scrub it off your itinerary there’s plenty more to do and see.

Similarly, I’ve lived in NI for all of my 40 years, and the only time I’ve been caught up in a riot was in 2011 when we visited Athens. There were strikes, riots, the lot. And it was still a fab holiday :).

Obviously tourists shouldn't go to where there is a riot happening, but that is in a tiny area of Belfast. If they can't see exactly that bit of the peace wall, then they can go elsewhere, or even just go see other stuff. I would think the main reason not to go to Belfast right now is due to things being closed because of corona, not because of the riot. Anyway, the OP is talking about going in October, so the situation this week isn't relevant.

My person recommendation if the weather is nice and you like a walk: walk up to the top of Black Mountain. The view over Belfast is spectacular.

I will RTFT later, but does anyone know of any good city centre hotels with parking?

@NellePorter the premier inn titanic has a car park, not sure if it’s free for residents but probably discounted.