Visiting Belfast – What To See

Thinking about visiting Belfast? Back in October 2020, between lockdowns we got a the chance to visit Ireland for a week, spending one day in Belfast. In this article I’ll mention the sights we decided to see. Your personal interests might mean that you would have a completely different Belfast itinerary.

Getting To Belfast

For most visitors to Belfast from mainland UK, the most likely mode of transport is either a ferry or a flight. Since we wanted to take our own vehicle the ferry was the obvious option. For motorhome and campervan owners reading this, the ferry option is the one that you are probably most interested in.

Depending on where you live in the UK, there are a number of different ferry routes. If you plan to visit the Republic of Ireland on your trip as we did you might consider the Holyhead to Dublin ferry. Another option is the Pembroke to Rosslare ferry. Since we wanted to start our trip in Northern Ireland we decided on the overnight Liverpool to Belfast ferry. One of the reasons for picking this route was the fear that Coronavirus rules might change during our trip. Any restrictions that the Irish government might impose of overseas travel would have no impact on travel between Northern Ireland and the UK. Another ferry option that those living in Scotland might consider is the Cairnryan to Belfast ferry.

We boarded the Liverpool to Belfast ferry in the evening. We paid extra for a cabin that could sleep up to 4 people and contained a small bathroom. We left our belongings in our cabin and headed to the restaurant for an evening meal. The ferry crossing takes about 8 hours. We had slept well and departed the ferry in Belfast at about 7am, feeling refreshed and ready to see the sights of Belfast.

Visiting Belfast – Sightseeing

After leaving the ferry we headed straight to the Titanic Quarter. Since this was during the pandemic we knew that many attractions and museums would be closed. However we still wanted to visit the interesting building that is Titanic Belfast in good early morning light. The resulting photograph is the one at the top of this article.

During our day in Belfast we also visited the following sights:

• Various street art scenes including pieces known as ‘The Son of Protogoras’, ‘Still Waters’, ‘The Duel of Belfast, Dance by Candlelight’, ‘The Chef’ and ‘Deep Love’.
• The political murals that Belfast is famous for, both in the Catholic and Protestant areas of the city.
• Belfast City Hall.
• The Cathedral Quarter

By the evening we wanted to reach Giant’s Causeway so we left Belfast, heading north.