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Belfast . . . Long Weekend.



Cowfold Seagull

Fan of the 17 bus
Apr 22, 2009
21,578
Cowfold
Hi all.

I am taking my good woman on a little trippette to Belfast shortly, as a surprise birthday present. I know she is in to all things Titanic, (well l am anyway!), so there is the museum to visit. l also want to do a walking tour of the Shankhill and Falls Roads, a city bus tour, and to visit the Majestic Hotel, apparantly a great venue to listen to jazz in the evenings, drink Guinness, and eat copious amounts of champ.

A trip up to the Giants Causeway is also a must, and perhaps the opportunity to hack my way around a golf course would be pleasureable too. I can't be bothered to splash out and hire a car, so we will be reliant on public transport.

Two questions really, we will only have four nights, is all of the above possible in that time? or would we be better off just sticking to Belfast, and perhaps leaving the out of town bits to another visit? Secondly, does anyone have any recommendations of other attractions that we can visit?
 


Razzoo

Well-known member
Sep 11, 2011
5,291
N. Yorkshire
If you do get up to Giant's Causeway then a trip to Bushmills Distillery is near by and worth a look. Also the Carrick a Rede rope bridge is up there too. You probably should hire a car though. Enjoy yourself! I love N.I.
 


Sussex Nomad

Well-known member
Aug 26, 2010
18,185
EP
Newcastle, County Down gives you two options in a day, the Mourne Mountains and golf, oh and some fantastic country pubs. Alternatively golf wise go to Holywood, County Down, literally 10 mins out of East Belfast, it's where Rory McIlroy started. Could also try the Scrabo Tower in Newtonards.

Edit: All these places are relatively close to Belfast.
 


Cowfold Seagull

Fan of the 17 bus
Apr 22, 2009
21,578
Cowfold
Newcastle, County Down gives you two options in a day, the Mourne Mountains and golf, oh and some fantastic country pubs. Alternatively golf wise go to Holywood, County Down, literally 10 mins out of East Belfast, it's where Rory McIlroy started. Could also try the Scrabo Tower in Newtonards.

Edit: All these places are relatively close to Belfast.

Thanks for that, actually Holywood is a good shout. I've just been told that there is a restaurant there, where they serve the full menu that first class passengers ate the night the Titanic went down, all nine courses of it! Could l manage it? well l'm prepared to have a go!
 


ManOnTheRun

Active member
Jul 7, 2003
845
West Hove
Hi all.

I am taking my good woman on a little trippette to Belfast shortly, as a surprise birthday present. I know she is in to all things Titanic, (well l am anyway!), so there is the museum to visit. l also want to do a walking tour of the Shankhill and Falls Roads, a city bus tour, and to visit the Majestic Hotel, apparantly a great venue to listen to jazz in the evenings, drink Guinness, and eat copious amounts of champ.

A trip up to the Giants Causeway is also a must, and perhaps the opportunity to hack my way around a golf course would be pleasureable too. I can't be bothered to splash out and hire a car, so we will be reliant on public transport.

Two questions really, we will only have four nights, is all of the above possible in that time? or would we be better off just sticking to Belfast, and perhaps leaving the out of town bits to another visit? Secondly, does anyone have any recommendations of other attractions that we can visit?

Mrs OnTheRun and I were there at the start of May, from Fri - Sun. We 'hired' a black cab tour guide for a day and we managed to get to Giants Causeway, Carrick a Rede, Quick stop at Bushmills, Dark Hedges plus a full political tour of Shankhill/Falls Road. It cost a few quid but we got the added benefit of 'local' knowledge and our guide Stevie was brilliant, even let us drink pints in the back of his cab. He picked us up at 0900 and dropped us back at our hotel at 1830. Couldn't recommend it highly enough.

Had a top night out on the Saturday, locals very friendly and welcoming, spent much of the night in a place called Kelly's Cellars, lots of local musicians hanging out and playing celtic music. Didn't have enough time to sample the nightlife in the Cathedral quarter but walking around there on the Sunday it looked like there were loads of decent bars & restaurants.

We loved it ...
 




Sussex Nomad

Well-known member
Aug 26, 2010
18,185
EP
Thanks for that, actually Holywood is a good shout. I've just been told that there is a restaurant there, where they serve the full menu that first class passengers ate the night the Titanic went down, all nine courses of it! Could l manage it? well l'm prepared to have a go!

I lived in Holywood, never heard this story... wish I had!
 








Sussex Nomad

Well-known member
Aug 26, 2010
18,185
EP
You'd think a local would have told the story, it would have been a bit of a conversational icebreaker

They were to interested in getting pissed back in the late 80s! My wife to be can't have known either and she'd lived there 20 years!
 








Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
59,198
The Fatherland
There's some interesting caves up near Giants Causeway as well. Hopefully you can still visit them but they have upped the security surrounding them given their inhabitants are now part of the UK government though.
 




Peter Grummit

Well-known member
Oct 13, 2004
6,769
Lewes
Did this back in February. Had a fantastic time, couldn't recommend it enough. Titanic exhibition is incredibly good, was voted best tourist attraction IN THE WORLD.

You will either need a car or black cab for the Antrim coast (Giants Causeway etc.).

Also recommend the Crumlin Road Jail, tours by former guards which make your hair curl, including visit to the execution chamber with rope,trapdoor etc. remember capital punishment still on the statute there until 70's. Make sure you get a proper Ulster Fry!

Enjoy.

PG
 




Sussex Nomad

Well-known member
Aug 26, 2010
18,185
EP
Did this back in February. Had a fantastic time, couldn't recommend it enough. Titanic exhibition is incredibly good, was voted best tourist attraction IN THE WORLD.

You will either need a car or black cab for the Antrim coast (Giants Causeway etc.).

Also recommend the Crumlin Road Jail, tours by former guards which make your hair curl, including visit to the execution chamber with rope,trapdoor etc. remember capital punishment still on the statute there until 70's. Make sure you get a proper Ulster Fry!

Enjoy.

PG

Ah yes, Ulster fry with potato farls and soda bread... my arteries are hardening just thinking about it.
 




Jam The Man

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
8,110
South East North Lancing
Good thread. I'm doing much the same with Mrs JTM in November
 


Blackadder

Brighton Bhuna Boy
Jul 6, 2003
16,077
Haywards Heath
A few years back, we were in Dublin for a wedding. We had some time to kill, so I drove up with my wife, to Belfast

We only had a few hours so took the city tour. A bus trip with a guide on board telling us what we were looking at.

Fascinating trip. We toured the republican and loyalist areas that had been mentioned so many times on the news in recent decades. I never appreciated how small and close these areas are to each other. Well worth doing.

I probably wouldn't have made the trip in the 70s, especially as I had a hire car from the republic.
 




BiffyBoy

New member
Aug 20, 2012
77
Personally, I'd hire a car from the airport and drive up to the Giants Causeway, visit Bushmills, and then take the causeway coastal route (one of the best coastal routes to drive in the world) back down to Larne (don't stop there though) and back into Belfast for two nights. Stay the night in Portstewart, Ballycastle (great Irish music) or Cushendun / Cushandall.

In Belfast, do the a black cab tour around the murals, titantic etc, but you only need a day or two. Holywood will be tough without a car, but very close to city airport - go to the dirtyduck pub (Rory's old haunt) if you're there. - Best golf is up around the Giants Causeway.

Mourne Mountains, Enniskillen, Derry all good spots but not vs the above for 4 days. Definetely don't stay in Belfast that long, the north coast is too stunning not to see.
 





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