Category: belfastcabs.com

Until "troubles" returned at the end of the 1960s, it was not uncommon in Belfast for the Ulster Unionist Party to have its council and parliamentary candidates returned unopposed. Protestant workers organised and dominated the apprenticed trades and gave a new lease of life to the once largely rural Orange Order. Industry drew in a new Catholic population settling largely in the west of the town—refugees from a rural poverty intensified by Belfast’s mechanisation of spinning and weaving and, in the 1840s, by famine. After a cotton boom and bust, the town emerged as the global leader in the production of linen goods (mill, and finishing, work largely employing women and children), winning the moniker "Linenopolis".

• They were built as temporary structures, meant to last only six months.
• On the east side, a branch of the Ulster Bank is built behind the classical portico of a former Methodist church dating from 1846.
• If you are short of time, you should start at the top with the major attractions, namely Titanic Belfast museum, a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and perhaps a small-group tour to learn more about the city’s history.
• They have a large fleet, and if you’re coming into BFS late or leaving early, they’re a top choice.
• Buildings and walls throughout the city are adorned with murals that reflect the city’s social, cultural, and political traditions and history.

Belfast taxi tips

Guests can explore famous murals, peace walls, historic neighbourhoods, and key landmarks while gaining a deeper understanding of the city’s past and present. The full route can be done in a day but is best explored over a couple, taking time to enjoy a stay along the route. Buildings and walls throughout the city are adorned with murals that reflect the city’s social, cultural, and political traditions and history. Small, idiosyncratic Belfast has long punched above its diminutive weight in terms of cultural impact – the hometown of George Best and Van Morrison, the RMS Titanic and Harland & Wolff shipyard, and deeply politicized murals enlivening brick gable walls. Discover iconic landmarks like Belfast Castle, explore wildlife at Belfast Zoo, or delve into the past at Crumlin Road Gaol and Clifton House. Other attractions in the park include the recently restored Tropical Ravine, a humid jungle glen built in 1889, rose gardens and public events ranging from live opera broadcasts to pop concerts.

These driving excursions take you across the city to the murals and peace wall to uncover the city’s turbulent history. It’s home to a tropical ravine where you can explore incredible plants and wildlife from above the canopy. The following map gives you an idea of the route a Belfast taxi could take you between the airport, located 20 miles away, and Belfast City Centre. If something arises that prevents you from taking our tour, all we ask is that you let us know as soon as you do, especially if it’s on very short notice just call directly. The murals have a general theme of ‘highlighting oppression’ – from the race riots in America in 1969 to current events in Palestine. The next stop on the tour will be Sinn Fein press office, which is the site of one of the most iconic Falls Road murals of the Bobby Sands mural.

Bike Sharing in Belfast

a Antrim Rd, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, BT36 7QZ 3.58 mi Buses are really best used if you plan to head out to the suburbs and neighborhoods outside of the downtown area, or when you plan to take the bus from Belfast to another part of Northern Ireland. The much smaller George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD) is located just over a mile from the city center. The airport is located about 20 miles outside of the city but is well connected by the Airport Express 300 bus. You can use the trip planner on the Translink website to map your route and check the timetables for expected arrivals and departures. The buses follow 12 different routes, and the Translink website has a modern journey planner to help you find the best travel options.

North Belfast and Shankill

Your guide, Hugh Jordan, is a proud Belfast native with decades of experience sharing the city’s history. 📸 Photo stops and storytellingAmple time to take photos, ask questions, and hear authentic stories from someone who lived through the city’s transformation. Shankill Road muralsExplore the Loyalist murals that tell a contrasting story of identity and heritage from the unionist perspective.

With over 1200 cars on the road, fonaCAB is almost part of the furniture throughout the towns and cities of Northern Ireland. Make your next journey in Belfast enjoyable taxi belfast and efficient by choosing our dependable taxi service. Our services include a complimentary meet & greet at the airport, where your driver will wait inside the terminal. Why go through the hassle of finding a taxi on the spot when you can book a taxi with us and enjoy fixed prices that suit your budget?

These include Cupar Way where tourists are informed that, at 45 feet, the barrier is "three times higher than the Berlin Wall and has been in place for twice as long". To the north, it stretched out along roads which drew into the town migrants from Scots-settled hinterland of County Antrim. With dredging and reclamation, the lough was made to accommodate a deep sea port, and extensive shipyards. Beginning in 1970 with the Falls curfew, and followed in 1971 by internment, this included counterinsurgency measures directed chiefly at the Provisional Irish Republican Army. At the same time, a British-funded welfare state "revolutionised access" to education and health care.

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Belfast Metropolitan College ("Belfast Met") is a further education college with three main campuses around the city, including several smaller buildings. But the presence of 18 selective grammar schools in Belfast is a further feature of post-primary education in Belfast that distinguishes it from that of comparable cities in Great Britain where academic selection was abandoned in the 1960s and 70s. Primary and secondary education is divided between (Catholic) Maintained Schools and (non-Catholic/ "Protestant") Controlled Schools. Significant projects included Victoria Square, the Cathedral Quarter, Laganside with the Odyssey complex and the landmark Waterfront Hall, the new Titanic Quarter with its Titanic Belfast visitor attraction, and the development of the original Short’s harbour airfield as Belfast City Airport. Northern Ireland’s peace dividend since the 1990s, which includes a marked increase in inward investment, has contributed to a large-scale redevelopment of the city centre.

Belfast has become a food mecca and it’s impossible to walk the city without being lured in by world-class food. It’s home to the city’s Botanic Gardens and also No Alibis, Northern Ireland’s only independent crime fiction bookshop. Spend a lively time in the heart of the city’s vibrant clubbing hotspot and LGBTQIA+ hub. Join in the festive cheer in Belfast – explore the magic of Christmas with twinkling market stalls and sparkling illuminations. Located a short drive outside of Belfast, immerse yourself in the iconic sets and artistry. This magnificent green space features orienteering trails, nature routes, playgrounds and themed gardens.

In the greatest loss of life in any air raid outside of London, more than a thousand people were killed. In addition to the shipyards and the Short & Harland aircraft factory, the Belfast Blitz severely damaged or destroyed more than half the city’s housing stock, and devastated the old town centre around High Street. Until "troubles" returned at the end of the 1960s, it was not uncommon in Belfast for the Ulster Unionist Party to have its council and parliamentary candidates returned unopposed. Industry drew in a new Catholic population settling largely in the west of the town—refugees from a rural poverty intensified by Belfast’s mechanisation of spinning and weaving and, in the 1840s, by famine. While other Irish towns experienced a loss of manufacturing, from the 1820s Belfast underwent rapid industrial expansion.

Learn more with a museum visit

As with many cities, Belfast’s inner city is currently characterised by the elderly, students and single young people, while families tend to live on the periphery. What is sometimes referred to as the Catholic equivalent of the Orangemen, the much smaller Ancient Order of Hibernians, confines its parades to nationalist areas in west and north Belfast, as do republicans commemorating the Easter Rising. While some local feeder and return marches have a history of sectarian disturbance, in recent years, events have generally passed off without serious incident. It has grown from its original August Féile on the Falls Road, to a year-round programme with a broad range of arts events, talks and discussions. The city has a number of community arts, and arts education, centres, among them the Crescent Arts Centre in south Belfast, the Irish-language Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich in west Belfast, The Duncairn in north Belfast and, in the east of the city, EastSide Arts.

For tips from those in the know head to Visit Belfast and discover a wealth of things to do in Northern Ireland’s capital city. It’s home to the city’s Botanic Gardens and also No Alibis, Northern Ireland’s only independent crime fiction bookshop. Away from the centre, discover Belfast’s quieter, budget-friendly options close to Queen’s University. Join in the festive cheer in Belfast – explore the magic of Christmas with twinkling market stalls and sparkling illuminations. Get a flavour for Belfast with tours to its top food and drink spots, from cosy dining and gin jaunts to off-the-beaten-track surprises. From bobbing along in an inflatable water zorb to paddling on a two-person kayak – take to Belfast’s River Lagan for an adventurous and adrenaline-filled time.

First Journey

But the presence of 18 selective grammar schools in Belfast is a further feature of post-primary education in Belfast that distinguishes it from that of comparable cities in Great Britain where academic selection was abandoned in the 1960s and 70s. Primary and secondary education is divided between (Catholic) Maintained Schools and (non-Catholic/ "Protestant") Controlled Schools. Despite the DUP’s derailment of devolved government in protest, local business leaders largely welcomed the new trade regime, hailing the promise of dual EU-GB access as a critical opportunity.

Food & Drink

The Greater Shankill area, including Crumlin and Woodvale, is over the line from the Belfast North parliamentary/assembly constituency, but is physically separated from the rest of Belfast West by an extensive series of separation barriers—peace walls—owned (together with five daytime gates into the Falls area) by the Department of Justice. Together with areas of more substantial housing in the Oldpark district, these are wedged between Protestant working-class housing stretching from Tiger’s Bay out the Shore Road on one side, and up the Shankill (the original Antrim Road) on the other. To the north, it stretched out along roads which drew into the town migrants from Scots-settled hinterland of County Antrim. In 1997, unionists lost overall control of Belfast City Council for the first time in its history. Beginning in 1970 with the Falls curfew, and followed in 1971 by internment, this included counterinsurgency measures directed chiefly at the Provisional Irish Republican Army. At the end of the Second World War, the Unionist government undertook programmes of "slum clearance" (the Blitz had exposed the "uninhabitable" condition of much of the city’s housing) which involved decanting populations out of mill and factory built red-brick terraces and into new peripheral housing estates.

Guinness is served on tap in the beer tents, while The Errigle Inn and The Pavillion (sometimes called the Big House) bars on nearby Ormeau Rd are popular haunts for prematch tipples and postmatch celebratory toasts. Northern Ireland has a rich sporting heritage, and watching one of the local professional teams in action is an exhilarating way to kick off a night on the town. At the same complex, Banana Block is an innovative commercial and community events space in a former linen mill.

Explore the Causeway Coastline

Sadly this local hero met an untimely death after being hit by a lorry but he is now immortalised in this lovely piece of street art. The Victorian market opens Friday to Sunday and is the place to go for fresh produce, ‘street-food’ dining, live music and of course shopping for gifts and gadgets. But we guess you didn’t come to Belfast for Vietnamese or Thai food?

• Cutting-edge food, traditional pubs and incredible Titanic history take Belfast to the next level.
• Experience an authentic black cab tour of Belfast and discover the murals and unique characters of both the nationalist and unionist communities.
• The nearby Muddlers Club has become something of a Belfast institution as famous for its theatrical open kitchen as its mouth-watering food.

In those days Belfast’s shipyards dominated global shipbuilding, and it is no surprise therefore that Titanic, ‘the biggest ship in the world’, was built here. You’ll find Belfast just over two hours north of Dublin travelling by car/train or bus – see the ‘Getting to Belfast’ info below — and an hour and a half from Giant’s Causeway on the North Coast. Belfast is the largest city in Northern Ireland and while it is famous for the Belfast taxi numbers belfast Titanic museum and ‘Troubles Tours’ around The Falls Road and Shankill areas, there is quite a bit more to enjoy about the city. We respect your time – no spam, just the good stuff. This one time seed warehouse is one of Belfast’s landmark buildings, just a short walk to Titanic Quarter, Cathedral Quarter, Victoria Square…

What are the major attractions in Belfast?

From arrests to ambushes, this walking tour reveals the locations where the hit TV series was filmed. Glide around Belfast on a Belfast city bike tour for an exciting and eco-friendly way to see the city’s sights – don’t forget to stop off for some ice-cream at the docks. Spot the Belfast street art that brings the city’s art scene to life, on a creative walk around the city.