Belfast City and Beyond!

Cleopatra_Rebel

Hey all,
I'm planning to head up to Belfast City for 2/3 days this week and i'm basically just looking for suggestions/recommendations on what to see and do whilst there (i'd be into anything from Historic sites/museums/pubs/restaurants etc etc.). Also planning to see abit of Antrim and The Giants Causeway, does anyone know if there is a bus service from Belfast City to Ballycastle/anywhere near Giants Causeway?
Any replies would be much appreciated
p.s. just out of interest, does any place in Belfast except Euros?

owenc

There are no direct buses too the giants causeway from belfast but i think you can get a bus to either ballycastle or coleraine any of two and from here i think you get a bus to the causeway hotel and then you goto the giants causeway below that, you can check the service you want by going onto the translink website. http://www.translink.co.uk/jp/jpclient.exe and i don't think they will accept euros in belfast, they only do that in border places, though it does depend on where you go.. it dosen't matter anyway as the atm's convert the money.

southsiderosie

Cleopatra_Rebel wrote: »

Hey all,
I'm planning to head up to Belfast City for 2/3 days this week and i'm basically just looking for suggestions/recommendations on what to see and do whilst there (i'd be into anything from Historic sites/museums/pubs/restaurants etc etc.). Also planning to see abit of Antrim and The Giants Causeway, does anyone know if there is a bus service from Belfast City to Ballycastle/anywhere near Giants Causeway?
Any replies would be much appreciated
p.s. just out of interest, does any place in Belfast except Euros?

Belfast is pretty small and you can pretty much walk everywhere. There is a NI tourist office across the street from the City Hall, and they can give you maps, advice about day trips, tours, etc.

The City Hall itself is an interesting building, and you should definitely check the Belfast City Council website, because I think there are occasionally free historic tours not only of the building, but of the city itself. The Linen Hall Library is across the street, and they have a very interesting multilevel exhibit of old posters and propaganda from the Troubles (it's free). The surrounding area is a shopping district with the usual high street fare, but be sure to look up, as there are a lot of beautiful old buildings (which are unfortunately mixed in with some hideous ones). The Crown Bar is five minutes southwest of there, and the Cathedral Quarter is a 5 minute walk northeast (Merchant Hotel, The Spaniard, The Duke, John Hewitt Bar, some nightclubs, a few small galleries, and, of course, the Cathedral).

Queens University is a 10-15 walk south of the Crown Bar, and the Botanic Gardens are at the southern end of campus. The Lisburn/Malone Road area has lots of nice shops and restaurants. There are also a few good restaurants behind city hall, and a lot of the places around Botanic Road will have good deals on set dinner menus.

Vado

There's the Ulster Museum which as far as i'm aware is free entry near Botanic Gardens (which is near Queens University) - http://www.nmni.com/um

There's also the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra which you can get to by train which isn't too far away - http://www.nmni.com/uftm

deise go deo

You could have a look at An Culturlann if your into Gaeilge.
They have a cafe and a few other bits and pieces.

onlyrocknroll

Sorry too late for OP but might be of help to others

Just back from Belfast for a few days with my girlfriend. Honestly it was one of the nicest and friendliest cities I've been to (and I say that as a typically superior feeling Cork man). Absolutely everyone we got talking to, from strangers on trains to bar-staff practically fell over themselves to help us or give advice, lend us maps, tell us where to go, where not to go etc.

Firstly I'd say if you want to see the North Antrim coast, bring a car and stay overnight somewhere. There's a lot to see, the Giant's Causeway, the rope bridge, the distillery etc. We went on a bus tour, it was very beautiful and definitely worth seeing, but it took ten hours, we had to skip the tour of the Bushmills distillery because we were running short of time (due to straggelers being late on every stop), and it felt a little drawn out in some parts, rushed in others. Bring or rent a car and stay overnight, it is worth a day and a half.

Secondly definitely do the Black Taxi city tours. These are run by taxi drivers who worked in Belfast during the troubles, they drive you to see some of the nationalist/loyalist murals and other places of interest, and it's absolutely fascinating.

Restaurants and bars are very good and impressively cheap too.