Having arrived at Belfast International Airport on an easyJet flight from Luton (read about that here), it was time to head into Belfast itself to do some exploring. Two express bus routes, the 300 and 300a, provide an every-15 minutes connection to the city, with the journey to Grand Central bus station scheduled to take around an hour. In reality, our rather packed journey into the city took around 45 minutes, although I’d recommend waiting for the second bus at the airport, as the one that arrived at Grand Central shortly after us was pretty much empty.
After arriving into Grand Central, we made out way into the very centre of the city and to Castle Street and Maggie May’s café for a 2nd breakfast. Just a couple of minutes’ walk from City Hall, Maggie May’s is supposedly a Belfast institution and somewhere I found recommended both online and in the Lonely Planet guide. I of course opted for the Full Irish breakfast, which was absolutely delicious and had the bonus of including both black and white pudding! The general vibe at Maggie May’s was also pleasant, laid back and generally a nice place to sit whilst we came up with a plan of action. I can certainly see why students like visiting the other branch out by the university.
Having filled up on breakfast, it was time to start exploring the city and so we headed back toward City Hall to catch a bus tour to see the sights. We bought our tickets for the bus from City Sightseeing, the usual operator we go with when travelling, however in Belfast they seem to have an agreement with CityTours Belfast in allowing you to board either company’s buses with a City Sightseeing ticket. The bus we ended up on had a live guide providing commentary which was both a good and bad thing as it added some ‘life’ to the commentary but also meant it was a bit harder to hear than a pre-recorded commentary via headphones.
Winding our way out of the city centre, the bus headed out passed the SSE Arena, home to the Belfast Giants ice hockey team, and towards the iconic gantry cranes, ‘David’ and ‘Goliath’, at the famous Harland & Wolff Shipyard. It was at this shipyard that RMS Titanic was built and as the extent of the shipyard has declined, parts have been given over for redevelopment and now the Titanic Quarter. As well as being home to the Titanic Experience, the Titanic Quarter is also home to the Titanic Studios which filmed the hit TV show Game of Thrones, and the WW1 Royal Navy cruiser, HMS Carolin
Heading back towards the city centre, the bus took us past the Waterfront Hall and to St. George’s Market, the latter unfortunately only being open on Fridays and Weekends. As we passed back by City Hall, we also passed Danske Bank, formerly Northern Bank, the site of one of the largest bank robberies in British history. In 2004, the robbers took the families of two bank staff hostage, forcing them to assist with the robbery and ultimately stole £26.5 million in bank notes. The stolen money was never recovered, and no-one was ever held directly responsible for the robbery.
The bus tour then began to take us back out of the city centre, along Great Victoria Street and University Road towards the university. On the way we passed the Europa Hotel, which unfortunately has the moniker “the most bombed hotel in the world” as during The Troubles it was where the majority of journalists covering The Troubles stayed, resulting in it being bombed 36 times. As we reached the bottom of University Road we passed the entrance to Belfast’s Botanic Gardens and the Ulster Museum, both of which are free to enter, although the latter is closed on Monday’s. Whilst I’m sure the Botanic Gardens would be a great place to explore, the changeable weather meant we decided to stay on the bus to finish the tour rather than ‘do something’ that was outside.
Taking a right, we cut down a residential street to reach the next sight on the tour, Windsor Park, home to Linfield FC and also the national stadium for Northern Ireland. With a capacity of only 18,500, Windsor Park was omitted from the joint bid for Northern Ireland to host the Euro 2028 tournament alongside England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, with a re-built Casement Park initially being proposed. Unfortunately the plans to redevelop Casement Park were delayed and budgets skyrocketed, leading to it being dropped as a venue and resulting in Northern Ireland being the only nation of the British Isles not hosting any games.
As we left Windsor Park and headed towards the Falls Road, we passed the Rise Sculpture, affectionately named by locals as “the Balls of the Falls” and continued until we reached Belfast’s infamous Peace Wall. During The Troubles, these walls separated Protestant and Catholic communities with the intention of keeping the peace, and following the Good Friday agreement, the decision was made to keep the walls as a reminder of what they stood for. The bus tour stops adjacent to one of the sections of the wall covered in people’s names to allow you to write yours alongside if you wish to, however we just took a moment to reflect.
The route back towards the city centre took us through the Shankill Road area, before heading to Crumlin Road and passed the infamous Crumlin Road Gaol. Known as Europe’s Alcatraz, the gaol housed various infamous prisoners during its years of operation, and in 1991 the loyalist wing of the prison was bombed by the Provisional IRA. After closing in 1996 and sitting derelict for many years, the gaol was refurbished and reopened in 2012 as tourist attraction, concert venue and conference centre, with McConnell’s Distillery and Visitor Experience also opening in a wing in 2024.
Arriving back into the city centre, we passed Belfast Cathedral, home of Ireland’s tallest Celtic cross, and eventually wound our way back round to City Hall and the end of the tour. Our first stop after getting off the bus was to The Linen Hall library, which supposedly had a bit of a museum/exhibition, however we unfortunately couldn’t find it. Nonetheless, it was interesting to visit the oldest library in Belfast and there was a collection of various interesting political posters on display in the stairwell. Our next stop was also a bit of a fail, as we intended to head to Sawers, another Belfast institution, for lunch, however they only had outside seating and we weren’t that brave in December!
We were successful in getting a table at Henry’s, a pub with a great atmosphere, for lunch though and thoroughly enjoyed our Beef Ragu (Beth) and Roast Turkey & Ham (Me), along with a pint of Guiness. Having filled up and warmed up over lunch, it was time to head back outside and to the main reason for our visit to Belfast, the Christmas market. I can’t remember which website or blog I’d found the list on, but Belfast had featured in a ‘top 10 UK Christmas markets’ list, and so we’d picked it given it was somewhere we hadn’t previously visited. Contained within the grounds of the City Hall, the market isn’t huge and the offerings were pretty standard with a mix of decorations, gifts and food, with us of course picking up some fudge to take home. Overall I thought it was a pretty good Christmas market and we did tick off a few remaining Christmas presents for our family, so a successful trip!
With the Christmas market ticked off, we had a bit of time before we needed to head back to the airport and so we decided to join a guided tour of the City Hall. These tours cost just £6 per person and last around 45 minutes, with tickets able to be purchased right up until the tour’s departure from the main reception desk. With the City Hall still being a functioning building, there are areas that can’t be visited and our tour had to work around a wedding that was taking place, however we did get taken around some interesting 1st floor rooms including the Council Chamber and Banqueting Hall. The roof of the latter was destroyed during the Belfast Blitz in May 1941, however has been impressively restored to how it was before and is absolutely stunning.
The tour also included the grand staircase and the chandelier that hangs from the building’s rotunda. This chandelier is made of one and a half tonnes of steel and is also a replica, with the original having been melted down during WW2 for munitions. You can see this amazing chandelier from the ground floor without going on a tour, although it was certainly more impressive when seen up close from the 1st floor. If you don’t fancy joining a tour, then you can still visit the City Hall and see some of the ground floor rooms as part of a permanent exhibition that opened in 2017 which is free to enter.
With our time in Belfast coming to an end, we made our way back to Grand Central to catch the bus back to the airport. Even on a grey and dreary day in December, Belfast was a great city to explore and infact the weather meant both of us kept singing the line from the Ryan McMullan song “it always rains but its always pretty” as it did seem to stand true for our visit. I’d certainly recommend heading to the Northern Irish capital, for a day if that’s all you have, but for a weekend or longer if you have the time. We’re certainly looking at when we have a free weekend in the summer months to try and head back, as there’s plenty we didn’t get to see during our brief visit.
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