Visit Belfast and Dublin

Earlier this week we talked about visiting London and Edinburgh. How to unite those two cities and what to visit in each one. The idea is to take a tour of the main cities of the United Kingdom.

Today it's the turn to Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland, but since we are already in the Emerald Isle, it is really convenient to continue, leave the UK and visit Dublin as both Irish cities are very close and give us a broader panorama of the reality of the island. How do we get from Edinburgh to Belfast, what do we see there and how do we continue our journey to Dublin? 

Belfast

Is the capital of Northern Ireland and it has a history linked to shipyards, here the Titanic was built, the manufacture of ropes and the processing of tobacco. A city that actively participated in the Industrial Revolution and that had a really bad time during the conflict with the IRA and the Irish independentists.

For some time now things are calmer and the city has gone through a kind of facelift aesthetic that has made it a more touristic and beautiful destination. How do you get to Belfast from Edinburgh? The first thing you should know is that there is a sea in between, so whatever it is, you have to cross it. A) Yes, the fastest way is by planeThere are low-cost flights that take about an hour or less. Easyjet, for example.

The conventional or best-known route has always been via the Scottish port of Stranraer but a few years ago the company that offered the combined ticket (bus + ferry), Stena Lines, moved from this well-located port and where you arrived by train, to the port of Cairnryan. Thus, there is no other than take the train in Edinburgh to Ayr, with a connection in Glasgow, and from there catch a bus to the port of Cairnryan. The ferry should take about two hours.

Stena Lines offers two ships, the Stena Superfast VII and the Stena Superfast VIII. They cross the Irish Sea for two hours and fifteen minutes and there are six services a day. There is WiFi on board and a restaurant. From 4 am you can travel but try to arrive up to an hour earlier because some tourists have seen their ferry leave much earlier than the stipulated time.

In Belfast he drops you off at his own ferry terminal and you have the Translink network at hand, integrating bus, train and metro, to travel to the center of Belfast. If you want to take a taxi, calculate the trip from 9 pounds. Other companies are P&O Irish Sea and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

Now, What tourist attractions does Belfast offer us? Consider the Titanic, Game of Thrones, a former prison, churches, castles, gardens, and museums. As we said at the beginning in the shipyards of Belfast the Titanic was built so it is a must see. The attraction is called Titanic Belfast and it is steps from the city center: it is a six-story building with nine interactive galleries that explore with images, sounds, aromas and stories everything related to the famous ship.

Finishing up you can visit a ship from the same period, the SS Nomadic. Not counting this visit the ticket costs £ 17 per adult And if you buy the 25 pound pass you have: the Titanic, the SS Noamdic, the Discovery Tour and the souvenir photo. More? You can have tea on Sunday in the luxury of the Titanic, ladder and all! For £ 24 more.

On many locations in Northern Ireland, part of Game of Thrones and also at the Belfast Studios. Everything is more or less close but you must sign up for tours to know them because the agencies are in some way associated with HBO. But you can visit the Castle Ward which in the series is Winterfell, the beautiful King's road and many more natural settings.

La Crumlin Road Prison It was one of the most important prisons of the 150th century. It offers guided tours, events and concerts. It was open for 70 years and many of the Irish revolutionaries suffered their penalties here. The tour lasts 26 minutes and the site is open every day of the week all year round except Christmas, December 9 and New Years. It costs XNUMX pounds per adult.

You can also visit the Belfast Cathedral, the Church of Santa Ana, Anglican and Irish, a Romanesque style temple with arches and pillars, tall windows and beautiful mosaics. The visit costs 5 pounds and 6 if you rent the audio guide. The Belfast castle It is more of a mansion than a medieval castle and the good thing is that it is close to Cave Hill so the views of the city and the lake are great and highly recommended.

Cave hill It is so called because it has five caves on the cliffs and through them a good part of the history of the city has passed. There is a park with archaeological sites, trails, gardens, forests and a restaurant. Another iconic building in the city is the Belfast City Hall, old, located in Donegall Square. Your tour is free from Monday to Sunday at 11 am, 12 and 3 pm and on weekends at noon and at 2 and 3 pm.

With a couple of days in Belfast it is enough. Maybe if you sign up for tours around it they should be three days or more (if you visit Kilkenny, Newgrange, Trim, Wicklow, Howth), but then it will be time to head towards Dublin.

Dublin

The trip from Belfast to Dublin takes around two hours and can be done by bus or train. The train has a more scenic route and you have services from six in the morning. The prices are between 20 and 24 euros, more or less. They drop you off at Dublin Connolly Station, centrally located, and depart from Belfast Central. Calculate a frequency of one train every two hours and if you already have the trip planned, it is advisable to buy them online before because they are cheaper than buying them the same day.

You can also take the bus, the services are frequent and it is cheaper. Belfast bus station is well located, in the center, and the scenery is beautiful too. The truth is that Dublin is a more beautiful and colorful city than Belfast and you are going to love it right away.

I leave you here some of Dublin's tourist attractions:

  • Guinness Storehouse: the tour of the brewery is a classic that always ends in a bar, the Gravity, from where you have a superb view of the city.
  • Book of Kells: This book was written around 800 AD and is a beautiful 680 page illuminated manuscript with biblical texts, It is at Trinity College.
  • National Gallery of Ireland. It is a beautiful site with more than 2500 paintings and watercolors, drawings, prints and sculptures. There are renowned artists such as Monet, Van Gogh or Picasso.
  • Saint Patrick's Cathedral: It was built in the 700th century and is one of the few medieval buildings in the city. There are about XNUMX tombs inside, including that of the writer of Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift.
  • National museum of Ireland. It is an archeology museum that allows you to learn about the history of the island from prehistoric times, through the Viking raids to the present day.
  • Kilmainham Prison: It is the old prison of the city and contains dramatic and dark stories. It is worth doing the guided tour.
  • Old Jameson Distillery. Do you like whiskey? This is the best tour of all then.
  • Dublin's castle
  • Chester Beatty Bookstore.

To these destinations add the hop on hop off bus tour, which can be combined with a great amphibious vehicle, and an alcoholic visit to Temple Bar, the zone of irish pub most agitated in Europe. Three days in Dublin are fine but as long as you can stay longer in each destination, much better. You will be able to make more excursions around or encourage yourself to organize a longer trip.

Any destination on the Emerald Isle, north or south, will offer you wonderful landscapes, history and culture that are hard to forget.


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