What would you do in Belfast alone?

[BrunchMonster]

I was thinking of doing a city break towards the end of August somewhere, and Belfast is looking high on the list for reasonable Ryanair flights (well, if I can get enough if an underseat bag?!) . It will just be me alone - I wish I had people to travel with, but I just don't, so I am trying to get more used to travelling alone and doing interesting things anyway! If not August, then potentially October is another option to go.

Would three nights be reasonable? I could get there very early on the first day and leave fairly late on the second, as long as I can get a train back home that late on this end. It looks like the Airport Express bus is the best way to the centre?

There are at least 3 Premier inns that come up on my search, a city centre one, a cathedral quarter one, and a Titanic quarter one. Are they are decent locations, and equally nice, or are the newer ones better? (titanic looks newest?).

As I'm alone, I need safe walking to places. And OK places to eat alone without it being too embarrassing, if anyone has any ideas. I'm interested in the Titanic stuff, maybe the jail tour, maybe a black cab tour about the Troubles (that might be too pricey alone - are there equivalents with group tours?), museums, history, theatre, classical music, landscapes - I'd quite like a day trip to the Giant's Causeway, but not sure there's enough time. On the other hand, it's just me going, and I know that when you are sightseeing alone, you end up seeing things a lot more quickly than with a family but also can end up a bit overwhelmed by trying to fill the time.

Any suggestions for good plans to fill three to four days would be appreciated. Which of the tourist things have you enjoyed most? Which things have you combined well in a morning/afternoon?

well, if I can get enough if an underseat bag?

We've just got back from a long weekend in Belfast with only the free cabin bag (Aer Lingus) and was plenty of room in the luggage.
We've also done city breaks to other places with cabin bag only (inc just the tiny RyanAir bag) and it's fine. Just pack lightly and buy any extra toiletries, if not inc in hotel, when there. And utilise a coat pocket or two if need be,

Visit my old house, primary school and streets around there. Then the Titanic museum and spend the rest of the time on the beach - St Helen's Bay.

We were there for 2 nights - 3 full days,

We went to the Titanic Museum - it's worth booking tickets the day (or few days) before as it's it's wet it books up quickly. Though we did get same day tickets. You can easily while away a good 2-3 hours or so in there, if not longer. We passed the PI hotel there and it looked like a nice, fairly newly renovated area

There is a hop on/hop off bus with narration which might be a cheaper alternative to the cab tours.

We also walked around the Queens quarter. The botanic gardens were a nice, calm wander and the tropical and palm houses nice to look round, we also spent time at the Ulster Museum.

On our final day we hired a car - was about £40 and drove round the north coast areas, around the Causeway Coastal route, which was lovely - if you wanted to venture further afield.

We didn't actually do much at night after dinner as I've been quite ill so had early nights. So not sure in that side of things. We were up fairly early (due to early nights) so got to explore a fair bit.

Belfast is a lovely and friendly city, you'll have a great time. I'd stay in the city centre or cathedral quarter for easy access to nice restaurants and pubs for the evening.
As long as you stay on the main streets you'll be fine walking around. It's a very friendly place and there are plenty of tourists (lots of game of thrones ones now), though of course there are areas to avoid (like any city). You'd have no reason to wander into those, though, I imagine!

Prices may have gone up since my last trip there but the restaurants are good value in comparison to london- there are a few "Deans" restaurants that are lovely and James St South is special.

A troubles tour is interesting and worth doing. I also recommend the Botanic Gardens and Ulster Museum. I'm not sure if I'd do giants causeway on a 3 night trip, it would take a whole day up probably? Maybe save it for when you've fallen in love with NI and go back for another trip!

I'm not sure if I'd do giants causeway on a 3 night trip, it would take a whole day up probably?

We did it for the full day - well, as part of a coastal driving day visiting Bushmills, and various locations on that coast.

We picked a car up from the city airport at 9am (taxi from hotel at 8:30am after a quick breakfast) and dropped the car back off at the airport at 5pm for a 6pm flight home.

Was well worth it though, and tbh the hire charge was really quite cheap.

We did 2 full days in Belfast and 1 day on the coast.

Belfast is great for a short break as it is quite a small city. Titanic Belfast is good but book ahead. The Ulster Museum is worth a visit and is set in the Botanic Gardens/ University area with lots of cafes. The Grand Opera House, Waterfront Hall & Ulster Hall and Lyric Theatre are the main evening venues for theatre & classical music. The Giant's Causeway is "Worth seeing but not worth going to see" to quote Samuel Johnson, to appreciate it properly takes a full day to be honest. If you decide to travel outside Belfast a Translink iLink card allows unlimited train & bus travel. (Train to Coleraine & hourly Causeway bus from there) You would never guess in my youth I worked as a tour guide!
Other things in & around Belfast are the Victoria Centre for shopping & skyline views of the city. The Merchant Hotel for a coffee or the Grand Central Hotel (top floor for cocktails or coffee. Other hidden gems are the Central Library (aka Police HQ in Line of Duty), St. Annes Cathedral & Saint Patricks church for John Lavery painting "The lady of the Lakes".
I seldom eat out but no one bats an eye if you eat alone.
Have a great trip

when I went there was bus tours around the city and it goes through the residential parts talking about the troubles and murals which is very interesting so if they still do that I’d recommend it.

I spent a couple of extra days alone in Belfast after a work event. Its lovely and everyone I met was really friendly. Take cabs and you get a narrated tour! Ghe cab drivers were the highlight of my trip. I did the Ulster museum, Titanic museum and the Crumlin gaol. I ate out alone once and enjoyed a dominoes delivered to my room. I stayed at the Holiday Inn and everything was fairly walkable.

I'd go for the Cathedral Quarter Premier Inn, just because that will give you loads of options for dinner within a short walk.

Thank you for the ideas so far.

I hadn't even considered hiring a car, actually! I can drive, though not all that confident, so would be a bit unsure about a big city - and coastal roads I'd probably quite like to look at scenery as I'm going rather than concentrating so hard on stressful driving, so I had been thinking of a bus tour or something if there are any good ones. There are hundreds advertised. I guess maybe that doesn't have to be booked until I'm there and can see what the weather is like, as there are likely options still available.

oh, just reloaded and saw the recent messages - a train plus a public bus could be a good option, though I guess some of the bus tours stop other places (worth it? and worth the scenery along the way over the train? Or just a lot of money for a bit of driver commentary?!)

I wouldn't mind a day doing that if I can see most of the other main sights in the remaining days, but I guess a bus tour would have to be one of the middle two days realistically. No reason is has to be 3 nights though other than cost of the hotel and eating etc.

So far I'm thinking either Cathedral quarter or Titanic quarter Premier Inn are maybe quieter/more modern, from a couple of reviews a read, but maybe not so close for walking as the city centre one. But I'm not sure I'd be coming back oftne in the day anyway, except maybe for a rest or if I got some kind of concert/theatre/show ticket - I haven't looked for those yet, so thanks for the names of good places to check

So Titanic museum (would book ahead, though might wait til quite close to see what weather is doing re possible day out of the city?), hop-on-off bus for Troubles tour and/or black cab, Ulster museum, St Annes cathedral and St Patricks church, wander in university quarter/botanic gardens, Crumlin road gaol tour(?). And some general wandering/cafes/maybe even a cocktail alone and lunch/dinners.

Would you start with the bus tour and/or black cab tours to get an overall view, and then maybe do a museum in the afternoon; then a day with Titanic museum in the morning and wandering/cathedrals/gardens afterwards; then another day perhaps gaol tour and/or black cab tour if that's different from bus tour. And then a day in the middle for possible trip out of the city?

I think an underseat bag will be fine, and easier if I'm taking airport bus and so on anyway.

If your house and primary school are particularly exciting, @Tomrrowandtomorrowandtommorrow , I'll make a special diversion :) Otherwise, beach also sounds worth a wander if it's nearby. I haven't quite worked out the geography yet as I'm only starting to look into this and deciding on how many days I can maybe afford.

Belfast is great for a city break.
I would look to book the Cathedral Quarter Premier Inn rather than Titanic Quarter for somewhere to stay. As a previous poster mentioned there are more places to eat/drink around there. The hop on hop off tour is good, the guides are normally quite funny.
You could do the loop to get your bearings.
Titanic museum was better than I thought it would be. Is as much about the industrial history of Belfast as the ship itself.
Crumlin Road Goal also worth a visit.

I used to live across from the city centre PI (Alfred St I assume?), I'd go for that over the Titanic Quarter as the TQ is quite removed from the city centre. But like I say, I'd go Cathedral Quarter (Waring St?) if you're on your own.

@BrunchMonster you'll need to get the train from Belfast to get to Helen's Bay or hire a car. It's about 20 mins away by car.

For Titanic Belfast, it's more like a visitor experience which is what it's actually called. But if you go soon you'll be able to view some artefacts from those who perished with Titanic. Hartley's violin and letters are amongst them. One of the female survivor's outcoat is another. These are at the end of the whole thing.

If you do hire a car, you can visit the Giant's Ring near Lisburn and some ancient Ulster sites. Navan Fort is in south Armagh. Mid Ulster has some ancient sites of interest.

Our history is more than the Troubles and so I never recommend anything to do with it.

I did pretty much @LetMeGoogleThat 's itinery via the hop-on-hop-off bus tour. The tour narration is good, albeit dependant on who you get as a guide (guy on the way out as far as Crumlin Jail was excellent, guy on the way back was informative but very, very monotonous ).

Thanks, cathedral quarter PI sounds like the best one then. (Yes the city centre one was Alfred St, so that is another option but I read it was less nice?)

Is the castle worth visiting?

I see that the Ulster museum is in the botanic gardens area, so that sounds better to combine in an afternoon.

I'd like to hire a car and travel a bit but I think realistically that will have to wait for another time, as I'm not a confident driver really and on my own it's hard to drive and navigate and worry about parking and so on. But public transport is OK if I know how to get tickets, where to get off etc.

The history of the ship-building etc part of the titanic experience sounds good - i really enjoyed a visit to Liverpool not long ago where the city history was really interesting, what made it thrive, how that had changed over time etc - so I will also enjoy learning that side of Belfast. And yes, much more than just the Troubles, though I feel like I should know more than I do about that as well (I didn't grow up in the UK)

maybe I should use the hop-on hop-off bus as more than just a loop to get my bearings, but as actual transport between places

You could hop off the red tour bus, explore an area and then wait at the nearest red tour bus stop for the next one.

Shouldn't be a problem though you'll stand out walking along the Falls and Shankill roads!

Shouldn't be a problem though you'll stand out walking along the Falls and Shankill roads!

We walked round there last weekend and tbh there were loads of people walking about, some on official tours, some in cab tours and others doing their own walking tours with guide books.
We did it during the middle of the afternoon and there were so many people around.

it looks like the black cab tours/other taxi tours aren't really affordable for one person, and most have a minimum of 2 anyway. I wonder if any of them have a service where you can just sign up and go with a group of other random solo travellers. The tours do sound interesting - I'm not sure that the history would be covered in quite the same way on the hop-on-hop-off bus, although I guess I could get off and walk around a bit and do some reading, but I think a tour would be better.

Anyone know of any mini-bus or other group tours in those areas? Or walking tours?

I’d be on Songkick to check if there were any good gigs happening!

The cabs are expensive as is the Derry Girls tour around Belfast. The Troubles cabs - you'll have either a Republican or a Loyalist driver, these are often members of proscribed organisations. Anyway, they'll tell a narrative from the lens of their own perspective - doesn't always match the historical record.

I've done the red bus tour which does cover the Troubles era but these are more balanced in narrative of the era.

There ARE walking tours. Definitely a walking Titanic tour.

Here's a company: Belfast Free Walking Tour.

There's a handful, I think.

Several people have recommended that the Cathedral quarter Premier inn is better located for this sort of break than the Titanic quarter. But how does the Cathedral quarter one compare to the Alfred Street area? someone said closer to places to eat, etc. But the Cathedral quarter one currently is getting some quite bad reviews, and near construction, and some say v noisy rooms as near a lot of nightlife? Mostly that wouldn't bother me too much - I'd ask for a quiet room if possible, and I don't mind the views, but if it's generally noisy and run down, and the Alfred st one gets better reviews, then perhaps I should choose that? on the other hand, I'm more interested in walking distance to various attractions, and places to eat in the evening (i'm by myself, so don't want anything too deserted, either). Cathedral quarter one is cheapest, perhaps because of the issues, which does appeal. It does get some perfectly fine reviews too.

Look at the Hampton Hotel as well. It's a good location. Not sure how the price compares. Also Bullet hotel for one of their small rooms.

Here's a walking tour: www.getyourguide.com/belfast-l442/belfast-25-hour-a-history-of-terror-walking-tour-t101453/

Thanks, yes a walking tour is now on my list, maybe even for the day I arrive if I get there in time (airport bus sounds like it can take a while though, so might be the next day).

I was looking mainly at Premier Inn because of the price - so not expecting anything fancy, just comfortable and clean and preferably quiet, but mostly in safe good walking locations.

Another question too - I have seen day long trips to Giant's Causeway, which stop at other sights along the way, though mostly for photo-ops rather than time to actually go in anywhere.

I could instead get the train to Coleraine and a bus called the Causeway Rambler, which will go to Giant's Causeway, and also to places like Dunluce castle and Carrick-a-Rede bridge. There would be as much time as I wanted to actually look around those places, and I could (if brave enough) actually cross the rope bridge, which coach tours aren't allowed (they can go to the viewpoint). Also, I could get to Giant's Causeway much earlier in the morning I think, before the coach tours tend to arrive. And I wouldn't need to book the train in advance, so could decide based on weather. The disadvantage is that I wouldn't get the whole coast road drive and views, wouldn't stop at some of the other sites (Dark Hedges, Carrickfergus castle seem to be two of the main ones, but a few others as well), and no commentary. I'm not a Game of Thrones fan, so that connection doesn't specially interest me, though I do like interesting landscapes and taking photos.

Has anyone done the main sites by public transport (bus) - is it fairly reliable and close enough to the places to make it easy? Is the advantage of getting there earlier than most of the coaches worth the inconvenience of doing it myself? Is the drive itself full of amazing views? The timetable shows that the bus doesn't go all that often, which would mean having to plan quite carefully, especially if I wanted to Giant's Causeway first/early and then some of the others, might end up doubling back on myself, but I guess I'd have much of the day, so that's not necessarily a problem.

Of course if it keeps raining, it might not be worth it at all, or I might be quite glad of a booked coach tour that drops off and collects right near the entraces and doesn't involve waiting!

I used to live directly across the road from the Alfred St one OP, but it's been nearly ten years so I'm conscious my info might be out of date. I would have walked home from nights out, but I was often with DH so it wasn't such a big deal. I did it alone occasionally but my threshold is a bit higher than other women's in that sense I think.

Both are fine for walking to the Titanic centre etc during the day, we regularly did that stroll at the weekend, it's not far and quite nice along the river.

I guess it depends which is more important to you - a quiet room or a shorter walk home. Alfred St is apartment blocks and offices so it is quieter but that means fewer options in the evenings if you're not comfortable walking by yourself.