As part of a 17 night itinerary for first Ireland trip, my wife and I plan four nights in or near Belfast, with plans to spend two days on Belfast sights, one on Antrim coast, and one on County Down sights. We have a rental car. I need advice on a good base location for this, particularly with regard for minimizing parking costs and driving in Belfast center.
Posted by
Colorado Springs
2829 posts
There's a Premier Inn in the Titanic Quarter that looks quite nice. It's a 5 minute walk to the terrific Titanic Belfast Museum - one of the better attractions of its type that we've ever seen. We stayed nearby in a self catering apartment a few years ago and peeked in as we walked by. There's a charge for parking, but it's secure and you can park the vehicle and be done with it until it's time to leave the city.
As Paul says, driving in central Belfast is murder - avoid it if you can. The Titanic Quarter is a short walk via a pedestrian friendly walkway and foot bridge into the center, which is compact and also relatively pedestrian friendly. For excursions further afield use public transport or book a tour. We thought the hop on, hop off bus was a good investment to help us get our bearings the first day. The Black Cab tours are highly rated and worth the cost.
Regarding the Titanic Museum - suggest getting there early (when they open) or later in the afternoon to avoid the midday crush of tour buses that descend upon the place starting around 10 AM.