We spent 3 days in Belfast in November 2014. Here’s an account of our trip:
The Journey
We flew from East Midlands to Belfast City Airport with Flybe. The flight was on time both ways and only lasted 50 minutes. The plane itself was quite small and had propellers, which made it rather noisy, but it had only 2 seats on each side of the aisle so the journey was quite comfortable. Once we had collected our case, we only had a short time to wait for the number 600 bus, which cost £2.40 each and dropped us very near our hotel. The buses are a lot less frequent on Sundays so we got a taxi back the airport, which only cost £7.
The Hotel (http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/BELFAS/belfast-city-centre-alfred-street)
We were looking for a reasonably priced central hotel and saw that the Premier Inns in Alfred Street and the Cathedral Quarter both had good reviews. We settled on Alfred Street in the end as it looked to be in a quieter area, which was more important to us as we prefer sleep over nightlife proximity these days! It turned out that the location was excellent, right by the City Hall and a short walk from the Cathedral quarter. We arrived at 2pm on a Friday (an hour before check in) and asked for a quiet room on a high floor and were very pleased to be given one on the 8th floor (810) with great views over the city and to be allowed to check in straight away. The room was bright and clean and we heard hardly any noise from other guests. The staff were always very friendly and helpful and it was good that we were able to leave our luggage there after we had checked out. We didn’t eat at the hotel as we found it rather expensive, but it was useful to have the option on site. All in all, we had a great stay there and are very likely to stay there again if we ever go back to Belfast.
Things to do
Botanic Gardens – The weather was kind to us when we arrived so we walked to the Botanic Gardens along the Lagan river path. The Gardens aren’t big, but they are nice to walk around and we particularly enjoyed looking round the Palm House and the Tropical Ravine. Definitely worth visiting if you are in the area (it’s right behind the Ulster Museum and near Queen’s).
Titanic Experience – I had read lots of conflicting reviews on this before we went – some suggesting that there wasn’t much to see and others suggesting the complete opposite. We usually enjoy museums/exhibitions and spend quite a lot of time in them so decided to go for the 10:20am tour to give ourselves plenty of time to look round. We booked our tickets online, including audio guides and admission to the Dock and Pumphouse. We arrived just after 10, which gave us plenty of time to stash our bags in the lockers and collect our tickets and audio guides. It was fairly busy in the Galleries, but only really got crowded at a couple of places. The information was presented in lots of different ways and we felt that the audio guides complemented the written information quite well. I was a bit disappointed by the ride to be honest though, it felt a bit gimmicky and pointless, but at least we didn’t have to queue for it for too long. I had read that the recommended visit time is 2hrs – well that definitely wasn’t long enough for us – we were there for 4hrs in the end and enjoyed every minute of it. Definitely worth visiting if you are interested in Titanic History. A taxi from/to the City Centre only costs £5, or there is also a bus that runs in the middle of the day.
Titanic’s Dock and Pumphouse – We saved money on this by buying a joint ticket with the Titanic Experience. It can be quite hard to visualise the sheer scale of the Titanic, so visiting the Dock can help put this into more concrete terms. Definitely worth visiting if you have time.
Political Mural Tour (INVALID URL – We chose this company as they had consistently good reviews on Trip Advisor and responded quickly to enquiries. We did a 2hr tour of the Political Murals with Conor and had a fantastic time. He was so full of information and anecdotes and we came away knowing a lot more about the past and current issues in Northern Ireland. Pretty much the highlight of our Belfast trip!
Botanic Gardens – The weather was kind to us when we arrived so we walked to the Botanic Gardens along the Lagan river path. The Gardens aren’t big, but they are nice to walk around and we particularly enjoyed looking round the Palm House and the Tropical Ravine. Definitely worth visiting if you are in the area (it’s right behind the Ulster Museum and near Queen’s).
Titanic Experience – I had read lots of conflicting reviews on this before we went – some suggesting that there wasn’t much to see and others suggesting the complete opposite. We usually enjoy museums/exhibitions and spend quite a lot of time in them so decided to go for the 10:20am tour to give ourselves plenty of time to look round. We booked our tickets online, including audio guides and admission to the Dock and Pumphouse. We arrived just after 10, which gave us plenty of time to stash our bags in the lockers and collect our tickets and audio guides. It was fairly busy in the Galleries, but only really got crowded at a couple of places. The information was presented in lots of different ways and we felt that the audio guides complemented the written information quite well. I was a bit disappointed by the ride to be honest though, it felt a bit gimmicky and pointless, but at least we didn’t have to queue for it for too long. I had read that the recommended visit time is 2hrs – well that definitely wasn’t long enough for us – we were there for 4hrs in the end and enjoyed every minute of it. Definitely worth visiting if you are interested in Titanic History. A taxi from/to the City Centre only costs £5, or there is also a bus that runs in the middle of the day.
Titanic’s Dock and Pumphouse – We saved money on this by buying a joint ticket with the Titanic Experience. It can be quite hard to visualise the sheer scale of the Titanic, so visiting the Dock can help put this into more concrete terms. Definitely worth visiting if you have time.
Political Mural Tour (INVALID URL – We chose this company as they had consistently good reviews on Trip Advisor and responded quickly to enquiries. We did a 2hr tour of the Political Murals with Conor and had a fantastic time. He was so full of information and anecdotes and we came away knowing a lot more about the past and current issues in Northern Ireland. Pretty much the highlight of our Belfast trip!
Restaurants & Bars
Rhubarb (INVALID URL – We chose this restaurant on the basis of recommendations on the Trip Advisor forums. The food prices looked to be a bit higher than we would normally pay, but this was offset by the fact we were able to take our own wine (£2.50 corkage charge per bottle – there is a Tesco nearby). We booked for a Friday night and were seated very quickly by the friendly staff. We shared a starter of Goats Cheese salad and then I had Beef for the main and my husband had the Pork Belly. All this was lovely, but the highlight for me was the Sticky Toffee Pudding dessert – very yummy. The service was great throughout the night and the bill came to a reasonable £50. The only issue we had, as mentioned by other reviewers, was that our clothes ended up smelling rather strongly of fat, which is a bit of an issue when you’re on a weekend break with a limited wardrobe. Not sure what they could do to fix this though, and it certainly wouldn’t stop us going back again in future.
Safa (http://www.safabelfast.com/) - We chose this restaurant on the basis of recommendations on the Trip Advisor forums and were pleased that the staff in our hotel also thought it was a good choice as well. The poppadoms and chutneys were excellent and our lamb and potato skins starter was very tasty, but a little on the small side for the price. My husband really enjoyed his Lamb Jalfrezi – my Lamb Korma was nice but a little bland and could have done with more meat and less sauce. The Pilau Rice was nice but the Garlic Naan was way more garlicky than we are used to - maybe that’s just a regional thing. The service was excellent though and the bill was very reasonable so all in all a good experience, I’d just try a different curry and naan next time.
The Crown Liquor Saloon (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/crown-bar/) – A Belfast institution that has been lovingly preserved by the National Trust. Try and get one of the booths if you can!
Voodoo (http://www.voodoobelfast.com/index.php) – Nice little rock bar not far from City Hall.
Aether and Echo Imbibing Emporium (http://aetherandecho.com/) – Another interesting old style pub – the little booth by the door is particularly lovely!
The Bridge House (http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-bridge-house) – This was only a few minutes’ walk from our hotel (Premier Inn on Alfred Street) and much cheaper than the hotel restaurant, so we ended up having breakfast here twice, plus lunch on our last day. The service was quick, the prices were very good and the food was fine. We would definitely go there again if we stay at the same hotel.
Co-couture (http://www.cocouture.co.uk/) – Tiny chocolate shop close to the City Hall that also serves amazing hot chocolate. Well worth a visit if you are passing.
Rhubarb (INVALID URL – We chose this restaurant on the basis of recommendations on the Trip Advisor forums. The food prices looked to be a bit higher than we would normally pay, but this was offset by the fact we were able to take our own wine (£2.50 corkage charge per bottle – there is a Tesco nearby). We booked for a Friday night and were seated very quickly by the friendly staff. We shared a starter of Goats Cheese salad and then I had Beef for the main and my husband had the Pork Belly. All this was lovely, but the highlight for me was the Sticky Toffee Pudding dessert – very yummy. The service was great throughout the night and the bill came to a reasonable £50. The only issue we had, as mentioned by other reviewers, was that our clothes ended up smelling rather strongly of fat, which is a bit of an issue when you’re on a weekend break with a limited wardrobe. Not sure what they could do to fix this though, and it certainly wouldn’t stop us going back again in future.
Safa (http://www.safabelfast.com/) - We chose this restaurant on the basis of recommendations on the Trip Advisor forums and were pleased that the staff in our hotel also thought it was a good choice as well. The poppadoms and chutneys were excellent and our lamb and potato skins starter was very tasty, but a little on the small side for the price. My husband really enjoyed his Lamb Jalfrezi – my Lamb Korma was nice but a little bland and could have done with more meat and less sauce. The Pilau Rice was nice but the Garlic Naan was way more garlicky than we are used to - maybe that’s just a regional thing. The service was excellent though and the bill was very reasonable so all in all a good experience, I’d just try a different curry and naan next time.
The Crown Liquor Saloon (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/crown-bar/) – A Belfast institution that has been lovingly preserved by the National Trust. Try and get one of the booths if you can!
Voodoo (http://www.voodoobelfast.com/index.php) – Nice little rock bar not far from City Hall.
Aether and Echo Imbibing Emporium (http://aetherandecho.com/) – Another interesting old style pub – the little booth by the door is particularly lovely!
The Bridge House (http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-bridge-house) – This was only a few minutes’ walk from our hotel (Premier Inn on Alfred Street) and much cheaper than the hotel restaurant, so we ended up having breakfast here twice, plus lunch on our last day. The service was quick, the prices were very good and the food was fine. We would definitely go there again if we stay at the same hotel.
Co-couture (http://www.cocouture.co.uk/) – Tiny chocolate shop close to the City Hall that also serves amazing hot chocolate. Well worth a visit if you are passing.
-
Edited by
Corinne76
2014-11-27 09:14:19
Thanks Corinne for another, great trip report. Glad you enjoyed your break 
Yet another brilliant report Corinne, thank you
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