Sightseeing in Belfast
A Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus Tour of Northern Ireland’s Capital City
Visit the birth place of the Titanic, the playfields of CS Lewis and Samuel Beckett, the Parliament Buildings at Stormont and the murals of East and West Belfast.
Belfast has more to offer than red-bricked housing and political murals; discover something new about the buzzing capital city on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour.
Docklands and the Titanic Quarter
The bus tour starts in the centre of Belfast’s shopping district on Royal Avenue and heads out towards the city’s gigantic cranes at Harland and Wolff shipyard, which at one time held the ill-fated Titanic. Once the workplace of 45,000 men during its hey-day, there are now only 200 people employed across the grounds; it’s a sad reminder of a once hugely successful industry.
This lonely site is not going to stay empty for long though, as with so many areas in Belfast, there are big plans afoot. Over the next 10 years it is being developed into the Titanic Quarter and will see new water-side apartments, bars and restaurants breathing life back into the land.
Famous Authors of Belfast
On route to Stormont the bus passes Campbell College, a highly regarded boys’ grammar school where playwright and poet Samuel Beckett and author CS Lewis were taught. The gas lamppost on the school drive is thought to have been the inspiration for children’s classic, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
The tree lined boulevards in this part of East Belfast are a far cry from the regularly televised mural-saturated red-bricked terraces so popular with the media. It’s refreshing to see another side of the city.
Stormont, the Parliament Buildings
Next stop on the trip is Stormont, the province’s governmental seat. It is a magnificent building that’s been witness to many temperamental political discussions. If only walls could speak.
Back to the centre of town, passing the Waterfront, a congress and arts centre which has been recognised as the best conference centre in Europe, it’s evident that Belfast is changing and moving again. The law courts, once encased in high security fences, boast new glass-fronted buildings, an impossibility during the long-standing troubles of the province which saw frequent bombings. And at City Hall there is Belfast’s answer to the London Eye, a sure sign that tourism is booming.
Shankill and Falls
Following the side roads from town, the bus takes tourists up through the areas that have long been the heartland of the troubles. The Shankill and the Falls districts; two areas sitting side-by-side, still struggling to come to terms with years of fighting, injustice and sadness.
They both look very similar. Here are the red-brick terraced houses. The walls covered in murals telling stories that depict a past too twisted and ingrained to understand. Two different worlds separated by towering fences and a peace wall – which in reality is a single metal gate, as neglected as the areas it protects.
It’s difficult to know whether endless busses of tourists are welcome but hope, as there always is in this part of town, that by them being there it means people are trying to get back some form of semblance to a once volatile society.
Queen’s University and Surrounds
The journey leaves the Falls Road and crosses to Queen’s University, one of the UK's top universities, especially in medicine and engineering. The main building, designed by Belfast architect Sir Charles Lanyon in 1849, is a wonderful example of Gothic revival architecture and a great photo opportunity.
The Crown Liquor Saloon
No trip to Belfast is complete without the obligatory visit to The Crown Bar, a lovingly restored 180 year old Victorian gin palace, and what a way to finish a tour of Northern Ireland's capital city. To drink in its trademark cubicles is to become part of Belfast 's long, vibrant and ever-changing history.
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