Flights from London Gatwick to Belfast

Up and coming Belfast

Belfast's reputation as a great travel destination has grown in the last few years and there is certainly lots to explore.

Best of Belfast

There is no ultimately best time to be in Belfast – the weather can change at short notice and is reputedly wet and mild throughout the year. Best chances of ok weather can be had between April and September, however. There are many festivals throughout the year. The Féile an Earraigh is a spring festival with traditional Irish and Celtic music. April sees the Belfast Film Festival. The Féile an Phobail takes place in August with traditional, world and indie music. The Asian Festival. Belfast Mela is also in August. Autumn sees the Belfast Festival which takes place in October and hosts a mixture of world music, dance, jazz, comedy exhibitions and more.

Local Belfast knowledge

Belfast is very safe. If in doubt ask at your hostel or hotel whether there are any particular areas which are best avoided at night (the interface areas are often cited as such). For orientation and for some tips on what to see head to one of the two tourist information bureaus in either Donegall Square or in West Belfast at 216 Falls Rd. Belfast is cheap compared to most other UK cities as far as most things are concerned. A cheap meal will cost from around £4.50 and the average price of a local beer is approx. £3.00 a pint.

Getting there and around

The distance from Belfast International airport into the city centre is about 15 miles and apart from hiring a car, passengers can use a number of transport options to get there. The airport Express bus will take a total of about half an hour to get to central Belfast and costs around £7.50 for a single ticket. A return is valid for a month and will cost about £10.50. The alternative is to catch a taxi, costing about 30 pounds for the journey.

Once visitors have arrived in Belfast city centre, most journeys can probably be made by foot. However there is a good bus network for which a number of different tickets are available: singles costing around £1.50, a day ticket £4 or so. A Smartlink Travel Card costs £1.50 plus £10.50 for 10 journeys and can then be topped up. A week travel card for the bus services amounts to around £16. Those wishing to do some sightseeing may be interested in the Belfast visitor pass, which is valid for either one, two or three days on trains and buses, as well giving discounts to some attractions. There are shared taxis in north and west Belfast costing around £1 – these only travel on set routes. The bike share in Belfast is relatively new and a three day membership fee is approx. £5, then it is free to use the bike for the first 30 minutes, the first hour after that costing about 50 pence. After that expect to pay £1 per hour.

Accommodation in northern Ireland’s capital city is also relatively cheap: a bed in a basic hostel can cost as little as approx. £10, a more luxurious double hotel room will set you back approx £60 at least.