| 6 mins read
Jo Rushton
Belfast is an excellent city for a weekend trip – compact enough to be able to walk around, and packed with sights, adventures, and history. The countryside around the capital of Northern Ireland is idyllic, so you can get a great dose of nature too. Here is a handy guide to everything you must see and do in the city.
Home of Titanic
One of the city’s most significant boasts is that it’s the home of the ill-fated ship, Titanic. Book a Titanic Quarter tour guide to help you make sense of the dock area and understand how the area would have looked back in 1912.
The Titanic Quarter is a short bus ride from the city centre or a thirty-minute walk. There are pedestrianised routes that will take you around the edge of the waterfront where you can see the modern-day docks at work. Get a feel for the other side of seafaring with the brilliantly preserved HMS Caroline, the last surviving ship from the World War One Battle of Jutland.
The star of the show is undoubtedly the Titanic Belfast museum. You can see full-scale mock-ups of what rooms would have been like, learn about the process of discovery and exploration of the wreck, and understand the process of building what was then the largest ship in the world. Docked just outside the museum is the SS Nomadic. The ship is the last survivor of the White Star Line fleet and has been refitted to her former glory. She once used to take first-class passengers from Cherbourg on to the Titanic and has many more stories for you to explore with your Belfast tour guide offering you their personal insight.
Blockbuster TV
As unassuming as the empty plots of land are around the Titanic Quarter, they have been home to some of the most epic battles, romances, and intrigues of the modern era. Titanic Studios and the land across from it were the primary locations for filming all eight seasons of Game of Thrones. Until the start of September 2019, there was a massive exhibition of props, costumes, and scripts here. You can even get the chance to sit on the Iron Throne! If you’re not there in time for the exhibition, fear not. There are some wonderful stained-glass artworks around the Titanic quarter which make for some great selfies, especially if you’re lucky enough to be in the city on a sunny day.
Victorian Splendour
As a shipbuilding city, Belfast was immensely important in the British Empire and was a wealthy city. Check out some of the iconic buildings near the docks, such as the Prince Albert Memorial Tower, which competes with the Leaning Tower of Pisa for wonkiness. Customs House also offers a great backdrop to your Insta shots, and the sea breeze coming in gives you the windswept look! Whilst in the area, make a stop at McHugh’s pub. It claims to be the oldest pub in the city and has a great atmosphere. Sit down to a hearty lunch and have your Belfast tour guide regale you with stories of the shipyards.
St George’s Market
Regarded as one of the best indoor markets across the whole of the UK and Ireland, St George’s Market isn’t one to be missed if your trip spans a weekend. The market is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and has a different feel each day.
Fridays are for the Variety Market. Anything and everything goes here, from antiques to vegetables, booksellers to 23 different fish stalls, the Friday market has it all. The market runs from 6 am – 3 pm so make sure your Belfast tour guide gets you there early so you can bag the best bargains.
Saturdays host the City Food and Craft Market. You can sample speciality food from around the world, including some of the best produce that comes straight out of Northern Ireland. Look for Cookstown pork and Armagh beef dishes to get a taste for the country’s cuisine. 9 am – 3 pm are the opening hours for Saturday, so you don’t need to be awake quite so early.
Sundays have a mix of the previous two days, with local and imported handicrafts, cooked and fresh foods, with opening hours suitable for a lazy Sunday: 10 am – 4 pm. Things are a bit more relaxed on Sundays, but you can still bag yourself a bargain.
The market has regular local musicians playing, as well as cafés and places to sit and watch the world go by. It’s definitely an unmissable experience when you visit Belfast.
Get out of the city
Take a trip into the countryside to discover a natural wonder. Book a Giant’s Causeway tour guide, they will help you get up the North Antrim coast. The journey itself is pretty breathtaking if you take the bus from Coleraine to Giant’s Causeway get a seat on the left-hand side of the bus. This is where you will get the best views of the village of Bushmills and Dunluce Castle.
The massive, volcanic rock formations jut out to the Atlantic Ocean. There are beautiful coastal walks, one which will take you to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Test your nerve and try and walk over, the views and photos you get from the middle are amazing and well worth it.
If you have plenty of time in your journey, stay the night in the village of Bushmills. It’s wonderfully quaint and a great example of a typical Northern Irish village, with squat churches and an old tower at the centre of town.
The standout tourist attraction is undoubtedly the Bushmills Distillery – home of one of the most famous Irish whiskeys. You can take a tour to understand how the famous whiskey is made, including two free taster shots. With scotch being as iconic to the island of Ireland as Guinness is, this is definitely an experience not to be missed.
"Jo has been through many incarnations since first arriving in Asia ten years ago. From backpacker to English teacher, then tour guide and travel writer, she loves the adventure and diversity of Asia."
Image details and licenses: HMS Caroline: https://flic.kr/p/TeZ48G (William Murphy, CC BY-SA 2.0), Titanic Belfast museum: https://flic.kr/p/d34Ufj (Titanic Belfast, CC BY 2.0), Balintoy Harbour: https://flic.kr/p/cBFesC (horslips5, CC BY 2.0), The Titanic Quarter: https://flic.kr/p/beyc2M (Alan in Belfast, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0), Prince Albert Memorial Tower: https://flic.kr/p/bWAPGH (William Murphy, CC BY-SA 2.0), St. George's Market: https://flic.kr/p/dJfNVf (Paul Wilkinson, CC BY 2.0)