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Shopping

Collinsfella

Just wondering if anyone has been in Belfast lately heading up for some shopping (general Sh*te you buy around Christmas time) should i stop off in newry on the way or just keep going ? also any other good places to shop other then Victoria square ?

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robo

I was up there 2 weeks ago (week before the Christmas market opened) and it was busy. Its very crowded at the weekend so if you can go on a week day, I would advise that.

Also, if driving parking in the Victoria Centre is I think the most expensive in the city (great location), I think that Castlecourt is cheaper (£1.70 per hour).
Also, there are loads of shops in CastleCourt as well as out on the streets between both shopping centres.

Also, from Newry there is the Outlet shopping area which also has a big Tesco.

And then about 30 minutes up the road there is Sprucefield which has a big Sainsburys, Toys R Us etc

Plenty of shopping options on the way up - just depends on what you are looking for.

Enjoy

Mollyb60

Just want to echo what Robo said ^^^^. All very good advice.

Just so you know now, the market opened last Saturday so this is the proper start of the Christmas madness. Belfast City Centre WILL become intolerable to most for the next few weekends. So like robo said, if you can at all visit on a weekday, that's your best bet. If you can't, it's probably best to get up here pretty early. I've seen queues of cars at Castlecourt car park on a Sunday morning during the run up to Christmas. Also bear in mind shops don't open up here till 1pm on Sundays.

Parking in the multi-stories is your easiest option. There is cheaper but for the love of god avoid the street level "car parks". Especially the one on Chichester Street. You're bang in the middle of the town but they will take the skin off your back in parking fees. Castlecourt shopping centre is just off the motorway so is very accessible. There's another multi storey on Montgomery street which is just across from Victoria Square and reasonable enough.

BeardySi

The wife made the mistake of parking in Chichester St. one day, cost her £20+!!

If city centre carparks are mad, there's a huge carpark at the Oddyssey over the river and it's ony a short walk back into town over the new footbridge. (5-10mins)

The Markets carpark is often a good bet (and free on Sundays) though get there early on a Sat or Sun as the traffic for George's Market tends to fill it up quick enough.

Also, most onstreeet parking is free on Sundays but you'd need to be early!

Collinsfella

robo wrote: »

I was up there 2 weeks ago (week before the Christmas market opened) and it was busy. Its very crowded at the weekend so if you can go on a week day, I would advise that.

Also, if driving parking in the Victoria Centre is I think the most expensive in the city (great location), I think that Castlecourt is cheaper (£1.70 per hour).
Also, there are loads of shops in CastleCourt as well as out on the streets between both shopping centres.

Also, from Newry there is the Outlet shopping area which also has a big Tesco.

And then about 30 minutes up the road there is Sprucefield which has a big Sainsburys, Toys R Us etc

Plenty of shopping options on the way up - just depends on what you are looking for.

Enjoy

Ill be driving up early monday morning hopefully wont be to busy , Thanks for the info i think ill pop up to sprucefield

Collinsfella

Mollyb60 wrote: »

Just want to echo what Robo said ^^^^. All very good advice.

Just so you know now, the market opened last Saturday so this is the proper start of the Christmas madness. Belfast City Centre WILL become intolerable to most for the next few weekends. So like robo said, if you can at all visit on a weekday, that's your best bet. If you can't, it's probably best to get up here pretty early. I've seen queues of cars at Castlecourt car park on a Sunday morning during the run up to Christmas. Also bear in mind shops don't open up here till 1pm on Sundays.

Parking in the multi-stories is your easiest option. There is cheaper but for the love of god avoid the street level "car parks". Especially the one on Chichester Street. You're bang in the middle of the town but they will take the skin off your back in parking fees. Castlecourt shopping centre is just off the motorway so is very accessible. There's another multi storey on Montgomery street which is just across from Victoria Square and reasonable enough.

Have you been in the market yourself if so is it worth a visit ? Ill be sure to check the car park prices since ill be there for a couple of hours dont want to end up paying a fortune , Thanks for the advice

robo

You are welcome Collinsfella - good call on going on a Monday.
Check the times of the shops in Sprucefield, as they may open later than the shops in Belfast so go straight to Belfast and then stop off in sprucefield.

The market is full of lovely smells and tastes...defo go visit. As Mollyb60 said - the weekends are intolerable, I used to (when I had more annual leave allowance) go up on a Sunday and stay over night on a Sunday & Monday night - could get around the shops and market easily. Last year went on a Saturday and the queues to get into the market on a saturday evening were bad enough but then trying to get around it.

Enjoy the shopping & yeh do your checks on car parks before heading up. As I said, i usually park in Castlecourt for ease of getting back on the motorway but also, I used to drop some bags back to the boot when they bags were too heavy (always parked beside the door)

Mollyb60

Collinsfella wrote: »

Have you been in the market yourself if so is it worth a visit ? Ill be sure to check the car park prices since ill be there for a couple of hours dont want to end up paying a fortune , Thanks for the advice

I assume you're already up here so this might be pointless but just in case:
Had a quick browse through the market on Friday night. It's the usual fare, hot dogs, trinkets, mulled wine and sweets. It's nice to have a walk through it though. And it should be quiet enough today if you pop in. It can get very packed at the weekends and it can be a struggle to get around it but I still think it's worth a visit. Will certainly put you into the Christmas mood anyway!

Exile on Grafton St.

I'm thinking of heading up with my wife and her cousin the weekend after next. If possible, I'll try and follow the advice on this thread and go on a Monday.

To be honest, I'm not arsed with the shopping (they are). Just haven't been in Belfast since 2010 (due to starting a family) and want to see how the place is looking. Might head over to see the Titanic Museum...

Anyways, that's a long way of getting to my questions.
Is the Titanic exhibit worth a look and is it fairly expensive?
Also, what places would you recommend for lunch for people on a very strict budget?

BeardySi

Titanic is well worth a look, probably won't need to book in advance on a Monday. Try and visit Nomadic at the same time - that's very good.

Mollyb60

Options for lunch are basically the same as any city. Fast food like McDonalds/KFC/Burger King. There's a Greggs beside City Hall. A noodle place on Royal Avenue (front of City Hall). You could go to Boojum on Chichester Street for a burrito (£5 last I checked) but be aware that there will be huge queues for it from midday onwards. Five guys have a place in Victoria Square. As do Wagamama and Pizza Hut so any of those should be reasonable enough for lunch.

I would recommend giving the Titanic museum a go. The building is gorgeous and really striking and the museum itself is really interesting. Not sure how great it is for kids, there's quite a bit of history about Belfast and the construction phase of the ship which might bore them a bit. It is a tad expensive (I think it was £15 entry fee when I was there) but I do think it's worth it. Considering you'd pay the same or more for the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

BeardySi

Mollyb60 wrote: »

Options for lunch are basically the same as any city. Fast food like McDonalds/KFC/Burger King. There's a Greggs beside City Hall. A noodle place on Royal Avenue (front of City Hall). You could go to Boojum on Chichester Street for a burrito (£5 last I checked) but be aware that there will be huge queues for it from midday onwards. Five guys have a place in Victoria Square. As do Wagamama and Pizza Hut so any of those should be reasonable enough for lunch.

They're a very long way from cheap. The last (and only!) time we went it was ~£27 for two greasy burgers with chips and beers. The Hawaiian place upstairs has much better burgers and is far better value.

The Bridge House (Wetherspoons) has very cheap food of average quality and cheap drink. There's also a Boojum on Gt.Victoria St now.

Chopstix noodle bars are at a couple of city centre locations and are very tasty and reasonably cheap.[/quote]

Collinsfella

Exile on Grafton St. wrote: »

I'm thinking of heading up with my wife and her cousin the weekend after next. If possible, I'll try and follow the advice on this thread and go on a Monday.

To be honest, I'm not arsed with the shopping (they are). Just haven't been in Belfast since 2010 (due to starting a family) and want to see how the place is looking. Might head over to see the Titanic Museum...

Anyways, that's a long way of getting to my questions.
Is the Titanic exhibit worth a look and is it fairly expensive?
Also, what places would you recommend for lunch for people on a very strict budget?

I went up have to say as far as shopping goes the family where quite impressed , i was not looking for anything in particular just went to browse around did end up going to asda got a whiskey for 25 pound 46 euro up here so i was happy enough but my god the shops where busy for a monday went the food court in castle court and could not get a seat went to some place outside on the street (cant remember the name) was 7 pound for a huge burger and chips though , plenty of food options around to suit all budgets

Collinsfella

Also Big thanks to everyone that gave me advice didnt manage to go the christmas market forgot all about it but parked in castlecourt dead handy and i think its the cheapest also