Belfast, May 2018

My visit to Belfast was inspired by Game of Thrones and the Giants Causeway, both pretty good reasons to go somewhere in my mind! I think most people think of Dublin for a quick weekend away in Ireland, but I can't recommend Belfast enough. The coast of Northern Ireland is absolutely stunning, and there is so much to see and do in the city center too. The flight from Leeds Bradford (and all over England) is just as short as the one to Dublin, meaning you can maximize your time you have on holiday to enjoy yourself which is always a plus. The pub and live music scene is just as big in Belfast as it is in Dublin, especially around the Cathedral Quarter, which is great to see and definitely one of the main reasons I love Ireland.  








The Game of Thrones tour I booked toured the Iron Islands, along with stop-offs at the Giants Causeway and the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. The tour was really interesting and the guide was actually an extra from the TV series which was pretty amazing, so he had loads of cool facts to tell us. Click here to view the tour company with more details. The iconic Dark Hedges is a pretty impressive sight to see in person. The Giants Causeway was pretty spectacular, and it really is incredible to think how it was naturally formed like this. As expected it's pretty hard to get a picture without someone else in the background which does detract slightly from the setting, but still well worth a visit. I definitely could have spent more time there as our stop off was only short during the tour, so if you want to spend a day there I would suggest organising the day trip separately yourself. 

The weather was so warm and sunny whilst we were there that we actually ended up spending most of our time in Belfast city drinking in amazing beer gardens, and wandering around admiring the amazing street art, instead of visiting attractions. We did visit the Botanic gardens however which were beautiful and well worth a visit if you're lucky enough to get weather as dry as we had. We didn't have time to fit in a walk up to the Castle but I've added that to my list of things to visit next time... If you need suggestions to keep you out of the rain, then the Titanic Museum would be a great shout and you can also do guided tours around the Town Hall which I'm sure would be interesting.