Belfast & Northern Ireland
Belfast anchors a trip built around the Titanic Belfast museum (£25–£28/$32–36, or £19.95/$25 as an early riser) and the dramatic hexagonal basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway (£15/$19 adult, about 1h15m up the Causeway Coastal Road). It's part of the UK, so the same ETA/visa rules apply as the rest of Britain — but it also shares an open, checkpoint-free border with the Republic of Ireland, which surprises a lot of first-time visitors. About 1h22m by direct flight from London, from roughly £18–35 ($23–45) one-way.
Belfast doesn't show up on nearly as many first-time UK itineraries as it should — it's the birthplace of the actual Titanic, has a genuinely striking natural landmark an hour up the coast, and sits in the odd, interesting position of being part of the UK while sharing an open border with an entirely different country. Here's the honest rundown.
How many days in Belfast & Northern Ireland?
Two days covers Belfast itself — Titanic Belfast, a political history/peace-wall tour, and the city center. A third day (or a full-day tour) lets you add the Giant's Causeway and the Causeway Coastal Route, one of the best coastal drives in the UK.
What's actually worth seeing
- Titanic Belfast — a striking museum on the exact site where the Titanic was built, tracing the ship's construction and sinking; standard admission includes access to the SS Nomadic, the last surviving White Star Line vessel.
- The Giant's Causeway — around 40,000 interlocking hexagonal basalt columns formed by ancient volcanic activity, genuinely unlike anywhere else in the UK; a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- A political/peace-wall black taxi tour — a guided drive through Belfast's murals and peace walls with a local driver, giving honest, first-hand context on the Troubles and the ongoing peace process — widely considered one of the most worthwhile guided tours in the UK.
- St George's Market — a historic Victorian market hall, running Friday to Sunday, with food stalls and live music.
The open border with the Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, so the same UK ETA and entry rules apply here as in London or Edinburgh. But the land border with the Republic of Ireland (an entirely separate country, in the EU) has no passport checks or border posts at all, under the long-standing Common Travel Area agreement between the UK and Ireland — you can drive from Belfast to Dublin (about 1h45m) without showing a passport. It's a genuinely unusual setup worth understanding before you plan a combined Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland trip.
What it costs
| Item | Approx. cost |
|---|---|
| Titanic Belfast (standard) | $32–36 (£25–28) |
| Titanic Belfast, Early Riser (before 9:50am) | $25 (£19.95) |
| Giant's Causeway Visitor Experience | $19 adult / $10 child (£15 / £7.50) |
| Black taxi political/peace-wall tour | $45–65 (£35–50) per person, typically 1.5–2 hours |
| Mid-range hotel, per night | $85–150 (£65–120) |
You can visit the Giant's Causeway itself for free, day or night, via a public right of way established by an 1897 Dublin High Court ruling — you just walk in from a different, less convenient car park rather than the visitor centre's own lot. The paid ticket mainly buys convenience (parking, the guided tour, the exhibition), not access to the stones themselves.
Getting there
Belfast has direct flights from London taking about 1h22m, with one-way fares from roughly £18–35 ($23–45) if booked a few weeks ahead — Ryanair and easyJet both fly the route. The Giant's Causeway is about 1h15m by car from Belfast up the Causeway Coastal Route, a genuinely scenic drive worth doing slowly rather than as a straight there-and-back.
Mistakes worth avoiding
- Assuming Northern Ireland needs a separate visa or entry process from the rest of the UK — it doesn't; the same ETA rules apply.
- Not realizing you can cross into the Republic of Ireland with no border check at all — pack your passport anyway for ID and flight purposes, but don't expect a border crossing experience.
- Skipping the black taxi tour in favor of only the 'highlight' sights — it's consistently rated as one of the most genuinely informative things to do in the city.
Stay in the Titanic Quarter or city centre
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