Belfast, first timer. Can I ask your advice?

[amdel]

Looking for hints and tips if you have any. A good mid price hotel in a nice buzzy location close to shops, restaurants, public transport and so on. I don't want to be out in the suburbs. I have three days two nights mid week. Budget for two is around £200 - 250 a night for hotel. Obviously less than that if available! I can check the websites, so am looking for hotel recommendations in the city centre.

What are the must sees, I know about Titanic and the Black Taxi tours, what else would you recommend?

Would I have time to go to London/Derry for a day trip? I hear the train journey is very scenic. I am not leaving until late evening on the last day.

Anything you can add would be very welcome. Thank you.

Look around the Europa bus station / city hall area for hotels.
The city hall had some interesting local history exhibitions on.
Crumlin Goal
HOHO bus (might not need this as well as the black cab tour but some of the black cab ones focus on the murals)
St George's market
botanic gardens

We went to Derry for the day and really enjoyed it. Bit of a slow journey in the train though.

also did giants causeway but to do that and Derry would be too much I think unless you have a fair bit of time of the days you fly in / out.

Titanic and giants causeway are very good.

We had 3 nights, 2 days in Northern Ireland when we visited, we allocated a day to visiting Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, Dunluce castle and Giants Causeway (by hire car) and the second day we did Titanic museum in the morning and the murals in our own hire car in the afternoon. I think a tour would be better, but our kids were pretty small at that time. Our day in Belfast city was Easter Sunday and most things were shut, probably shouldn't have been surprised by that, but hopefully you are not visiting Easter weekend.

We stayed in the Room 2 hotel, it was great. Our room had a double bed and a single lift bed. It also had a nice little kitchen, comfortable seating and a dining table. They call themselves a Hometel. The bar and restaurant is nice as well.

Titanic was great and we really enjoyed the Sunday market, lots of local crafts people and good food stalls.

Try the Merchants Hotel in the city. Has a good rep.

If you are hiring a car then you can do the Wild Atlantic Way, including Giant's Causeway, rope bridge etc, very comfortably in a day.

A coach trip will take the best part of 10 hours but is very reasonable and leaves from Europa Hotel - across the road from Merchant, and stops for a pub lunch. So, you would need to set aside one full day, but it's usually very enjoyable. Don't forget your emergency rain ponchos.

Crumlin gaol is very good and the open job buses are surprisingly pleasant.

I personally wouldn't try to do the coach trip and visit Derry within the same few days as it might be a bit much. Unless you are one of those couples who just can't sit still. I am lazy.

Have fun and don't be worrying about accents and politics. Obviously don't go singing in the streets or anything, it might turn out to be the wrong street.

Oh and bring cash. Do not rely on your phone and cards, especially for tourist attractions and buses. The tech has a habit of failing just when you need it the most. Tipping is not frowned upon.

Enjoy

Sunday opening hours for shops are 1-6.

The Europa hotel isn’t over the road from the Merchant!

We did a murals tour but not in a black can - it was half the price and probably more comfortable than some of the group travelling backwards

we loved our giants causeway trip which had a few other stops as well

The Europa hotel is nice. It’s central, beside the bus/train station. Opposite the road from The Crown bar, a famous Belfast pub and the Europa is famous for being the most bombed hotel in the world!

Maybe normal Sunday hours but Easter Sunday was definitely completely shut. In fairness supermarkets and things are shut where we live too on Easter Sunday. I think I just expected in a tourist spot more places in the city centre would be open.

Merchant hotel is lovely get an art deco room

Hi everyone, and thanks so much for your tips so far. I'm a bit busy at the moment, so I'll check back later and read all about it! Appreciate it.

My bad. As I have recently pointed out to another delightful poster, I am so full of imperfections I really don't deserve to live. 🥱

I did a black cab tour. It was brilliant, highly recommend it. The gentleman grew up in the troubles and really helped us understand what it was like to live through this time. We saw the murals, peace wall and learnt so much about the history.

We really enjoyed the Ulster Museum and the botanic gardens. It's one of the stops on the bus tour which we also used to visit Crumlin gaol. The guides on the bus tour were mixed - the first one we had was really interesting and engaging, the second was a bit Colm from Derry Girls...

Hotels : merchant, Europe or grand central. Grand central has an observatory bar for drinks.

to see:
city hall (inside there’s a history of the city)
titanic museum. The hotel is also nice for cocktails/ food.
a black taxi tour
botanic gardens and museum
crumlin rd goal
grand opera house/ waterfront have shows/ events on

lots of lovely restaurants and bars in the city. Cathedral quarter (umbrella st) has venues with live music starting early and going on late (Harp bar etc).

No shops are allowed to open Easter Sunday, same as Christmas Day, apart from small shops and petrol stations.

Some great suggestions for hotels, I was looking on the map and most are in the part of the city that I would like. I think I might take the hoho bus and do a tour outside of the area as others suggested. I'd love to go to see the walls of London/Derry (never sure what to call it in order not to offend one side or the other!), and see the view from the train, but I might leave that out due to time constraints.

I'll keep an eye on the thread, in case there are other tips etc. Thanks for all that so far x.

The train journey from Coleraine to Derry is absolutely stunning.

I also stayed here. Very central and good value for money.

we did this exact journey recently and the views were indeed stunning but the windows were so filthy we could barely see out unfortunately

My husband is a NI Protestant but calls it Derry. I think if you’re not sure then Derry is a safer bet than Londonderry. I’ve been told (by my husband) that it can also be called Maiden City or Stroke City (Derry stroke Londonderry) but I’ve never actually heard them used in real life.

Hello. I thought I’d recommend a few places to eat. Mourne Seafood Bar, Whites Tavern (the old bar), Ora tapas (not local clearly!). Kelly Cellars and John
Hewitt are also good for atmosphere/ music. The observatory in Grand Central
and Bert’s Jazz Bar and Bullit Hotel are also good for cocktails and trend. The Bullit is very funky if that’s your vibe. Hope that’s useful!

My daughter lives in Belfast, and I went over at a really expensive time - the Irish Dancing championships! I paid a ridiculous price for a Premier Lodge room in the city. Do take a door stop to wedge inside the door, I’m concerned about the recent publicity. Good luck!