One day in Belfast: your itinerary of top things to do

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Northern Ireland’s capital city, Belfast, is a fascinating place to visit and a perfect place for a short break. When you arrive, you’ll discover it’s a compact city, with many of the top attractions within easy reach of each other. So even if you only have one day in Belfast, it’s possible to see the main sights and get a flavour of the city.

I recently visited Belfast and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. If you are planning a day trip, perhaps as part of a wider tour around Northern Ireland, then below you’ll find a one day in Belfast itinerary based on my own experience.

My Belfast itinerary covers the top things to do in Belfast: learning about the city’s shipbuilding past and the famous RMS Titanic ship that was built there, finding out more about its political history, seeing the main city centre buildings and landmarks, and experiencing some of the city’s hospitality in old historic pubs.

At the end of my post, I have included some information about other things to consider doing and seeing if you have more than one day in Belfast.

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One day in Belfast

How to get around Belfast

Before deciding what to do on your one day in Belfast, it’s worth considering the different ways you can get around the city.

Belfast is a relatively small city, so I found it was easy to walk between the main sights. In many cases, the attractions are within walking distance of each other. However, with just one day in Belfast – when you’ll want to maximise your time – it might be best to use some form of transport at some point in your day.

There are several options to choose from.

The hop-on hop-off bus

Belfast’s hop-on hop-off bus is ideal if you want an easy, value-for-money, option for getting between the sights. You can buy a one-day pass for the route, which covers 19 stops. It goes through the city centre, out to the Titanic Quarter, past Queen’s University, St. George’s Market, and near to stops for the Grand Opera House, the Ulster Museum, and the Botanic Gardens.

The bus is also a good option if you want to visit Crumlin Road Gaol. This is a little further out from the centre and was the one tourist attraction that I found was not as easy to get to when time was tight.

The local bus

An alternative is to walk between the main sights in the centre and then catch a bus to those slightly further away (e.g. those in the Titanic Quarter).

If you want to catch a bus there, the G2 bus from Wellington Place (near the Hotel Chocolat shop and café) will take you there. The journey is about 10 minutes. This is probably the best option if you’re looking to save money, as the buses are relatively cheap to travel on.

To check out other buses in Belfast, click here.

A Black Taxi tour

You can also book a ‘Black Taxi’ tour to take you around some of the city. This option is focused on the sights in the city that are associated with ‘The Troubles’ and seeing the political murals in the city (read on for more information). They tend to last for 60 to 90 minutes.

This is a great way to get around if you fancy riding in a traditional black cab and being driven between sights.

An itinerary for one day in Belfast

Below is a suggested itinerary for one day in Belfast covering the best things to do in the city.

See Belfast City Hall

Start your day at the City Hall in Donegall Square in Belfast city centre. This is an early 20^th-century building, made from Portland stone. It is gorgeous. It sits behind wrought iron railings and small, neat lawns with a statue of Queen Victoria in front.

To the side, there is the Titanic Memorial Garden that commemorates those lost when the ship sank in 1912, and the Cenotaph that honours those who lost their lives in World War I.  

This is a good place to start your sightseeing, and for a city centre attraction, it’s a peaceful place to wander around.

If you have time, there is a fascinating local history exhibition inside the City Hall (open every day until 5pm – last admission at 4 pm). I visited and it was worth the small entrance fee (£4 in September 2025).

Visit the Titanic Museum

After seeing the City Hall, head out to the Titanic Quarter on the other side of the River Lagan. You can catch the G2 bus from a bus stop on the street opposite the City Hall. Alternatively, catch the hop-on hop-off bus from the side of the hall.

A visit to The Titanic museum is a must on one day in Belfast. It’s probably the most popular tourist attraction in the city and has won several awards; when you visit, you’ll realise why. Housed in a unique building, it’s crammed full of fascinating information, including photographs, artefacts, and interactive exhibits.

You could easily spend half a day here. As time will be tight on your day out, I’d recommend setting aside a couple of hours for your visit.

You can book tickets here.

Opening hours vary by season. So check the website before you go if you plan to visit in the late afternoon and want to be sure it’s open.

Inside the Titanic Museum

If you’re anything like me, you’ll assume the museum covers the sinking of the Titanic ship, which famously hit an iceberg in 1912 and sank to the seabed, taking over 1500 lives with it.

You do learn lots about this tragic event when you visit. But there’s also a lot more that it covers.

Belfast’s shipbuilding

The early part of the museum outlines the history of manufacturing and engineering in the city, as well as the development of the Belfast docks to import and export goods from elsewhere. There’s a wealth of information, such as old photos, on the city’s shipbuilding past. This includes information on the Harland and Wolff dockyard, which went on to produce the Titanic as part of the White Star Line fleet of ships.

The ‘Shipyard Ride’

Moving on in the museum, there’s an extensive section covering the building of the Titanic and the workers employed to do this. You go up in a lift and out onto a walkway with metal beams above that are clearly meant to represent the building process.

You can then hop on the ‘Shipyard Ride’. Billed as the chance to “see shipbuilding the way the workers who built the Titanic saw it”, this is an experience where you sit in a small fairground-type car that takes you up, down, and around various parts of the ship.

Unless there’s a really long queue for this, I’d recommend you go on this ride. It’s fascinating to see the different recreations of the building of the vessel and hear the noises associated with it. Apart from anything, you’re only in there for a few minutes, and it’s a lot of fun!

The inside of the Titanic, its launch, and its sinking

In other sections, you are taken on a visual journey of the different sections of the boat, seeing the way it was furnished for the various classes of passengers. There are also exhibits of actual furniture on display.

And then of course you learn about the launch of the ship in May 1911, its maiden voyage in April 1912, and the events that led to its sinking just a few days later. A screen lists all the names of those who lost their lives.

There’s also information on the rescue of passengers, the potential causes that led to her sinking, and the mission to locate the ship at the bottom of the ocean decades later.

Towards the end of the tour, there is a very moving light show set to classical music, depicting the various stages of the Titanic’s life. This lasts for five or six minutes and is worth the time to watch and reflect.

Step onto the SS Nomadic

Before you end your Titanic experience, wander over to the SS Nomadic and explore the inside. This is the boat that sits in dry dock just a short walk from the museum building. Entry is covered as part of your ticket for the Titanic Museum.

The SS Nomadic was also built by Harland and Wolff and is the last remaining White Star Line ship in the world. It served as a tender boat for the Titanic, a smaller boat that transfers people to and from larger ships.

In the case of the Titanic, the Nomadic was apparently needed because the port of Cherbourg that it sailed to in April 1912 was too shallow for a ship the size of the Titanic. The information inside the boat tells you more about this and how the ship was also used in both World Wars.

Inside the SS Nomadic

When you go inside, have a quick look around: there are reconstructions of sections of the vessel that catered for the different classes of passengers. You don’t need to spend much time here, so try to see it quickly before you leave the area if you can.

Learn about the city’s more recent history

After your trip to the Titanic Quarter, you can learn about the city’s more recent history, the so-called ‘Troubles’ that took place between the late 1960s and late 1990s. This refers to the (often violent) conflict over whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom or become part of the Republic of Ireland.

Although some people might find some of this disturbing or upsetting and it is obviously a sensitive issue, the Troubles do provide a significant backdrop to Belfast and have shaped the way the city has evolved. Therefore, I think it is important to learn a little bit about what happened if you choose to visit Belfast, and I’m glad I did.  

You can do this in several ways, all of which will take you to the key sites that were central to the events that took place during this period.

The hop-on hop-off bus

If you’ve booked a hop-on hop-off tour, the route will take you to some of the main sites of interest. This includes stops at the Falls Road, the International Wall Murals, the Belfast Peace Wall, and the Shankill Memorial Garden.

The bus also goes to the Crumlin Road Gaol. Although the gaol has a long history – dating back to the mid-1800s – it is also well-known for housing political prisoners during ‘the Troubles’.

A Black Taxi tour

Booking a ‘Black Cab’ tour is also a popular way to visit the sites. You get to be driven around the main ones, with knowledgeable local guides who can fill you in on the background to events and landmarks. Many of the tours last for an hour or an hour and a half, so they are perfect if you want to squeeze this in on your one day in Belfast.

If you have time, you can also combine a Black taxi tour with a visit to Crumlin Road Gaol.

A walking tour

You can also book a walking tour.

This is the option I chose. The walking tour took us on a three-hour walk around the city centre and into the Falls Road and Shanklin Road areas.

En route, various sites of significance were pointed out, and we also walked to the peace walls.

We were given a potted history of the conflict (also covering the historical background to tensions in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland stretching back centuries), were told personal stories about life in the city during this period, and had the opportunity to ask lots of questions of our local guide.

You can check out other similar walking tours – as well as walking tours of the city more generally – here.

Explore Crumlin Road gaol

You may not have time on one day in Belfast to go inside Crumlin Road Gaol, but if you do, you get to explore a Victorian-era prison. It’s open from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm Monday to Friday and from 10.00 am to 4 pm on a Saturday and Sunday.

The visit starts with a short film about the gaol. You then follow a designated route. At the start, you go down into the tunnel that used to connect the gaol with the courthouse across the road.

You’ll see the courthouse when you approach the gaol building from the street: it was obviously once a grand building, but has unfortunately been damaged by several fires over the years.

Inside the gaol

The main part of the tour then starts inside the wings of the prison. When you first walk in, there’s an avatar of a jail official who tells you about the people who were housed in the different ones. You can then wander around this area and look up to see the upper wings with their balconies.  

Afterwards, you get to wander through one of the ground floor wings and peek into the different cells, some of which contain reconstructions of the old cells. For those you can physically enter, you can read the information boards or watch video footage.

There is information available about the cells in 1846 when the gaol opened, as well as their design later in the 20^th century. You can also find out more about the period of internment without trial during ‘The Troubles’ when there was an increase in the prison population, as well as what security was like in the prison, and executions that took place when there was a death penalty.

The end of the tour takes you out into the exercise yard where there is a Wessex helicopter on display.

Visit one of the city’s local Irish pubs and bars

After your day of sightseeing, you can take the weight off your feet and grab a drink in an historic pub. Belfast has no shortage of places, especially if you want to visit somewhere with a bit of history.

The Crown Bar

One of the most famous venues in the city centre is the Crown Bar (or Crown Liquor Saloon) on Great Victoria Street. This is a National Trust site that dates back to the early 1800s.

When you go inside, you feel like you’re stepping back in time. There are stained-glass windows, dark wooden ceilings, an old ornate bar, and small booths where you can huddle over a pint of the famous Guinness. Judging by how busy it was when I went, it’s a popular spot.

I didn’t eat here, but was told by a local that the food is very good.

Kelly’s Cellars

Not far from the City Hall, there is also Kelly’s Cellars on Bank Street. This is the oldest pub in the city, having been built in 1720.

It’s another great place to drop into. There is outdoor seating for fine days, and it often has live music.

The Cathedral Quarter

For other pubs, bars and restaurants, head to the Cathedral Quarter, just a short walk north of the City Hall area. This contains a small collection of old cobblestone streets that have been regenerated. Commercial Court is particularly eye-catching with its colourful umbrellas strung across the street.

The MAC (Metropolitan Arts Centre) and St. Anne’s Cathedral are also in this area of the city.

Other things to do in Belfast

If you happen to have more than one day in Belfast, below are some other things you might want to see and do.

Visit the Giant’s Causeway

If you have time to leave the city on your trip, top of the list is a visit to the Giant’s Causeway. This UNESCO World Heritage site is a geological structure on the north coast of Northern Ireland, around an hour and a quarter’s drive from the city.

It’s a really unique attraction: a section of shoreline that juts out into the sea and comprises eye-catching hexagonal basalt columns backed by steep cliffs. It was formed around 60 million years ago as a result of volcanic eruptions. However, local legend has it that the causeway was created so that an Irish giant could fight a Scottish giant, hence its name.

You can walk down to the Giant’s Causeway along the side of the coast, or alternatively walk up over the cliffs. The latter gives you a fantastic view down onto it. However, if you prefer, you can catch a bus that will take you down.

Once there, you can step onto the causeway and clamber over the rocks. The whole area is beautiful, and its worth spending some time taking in your surroundings.

Trips to the Giant’s Causeway

If you fancy visiting the Giant’s Causeway, you can book day trips that will take you there.

I booked this coach trip, which was a great way to see a few of the nearby sights as well. It’s also a good one if you’re a Game of Thrones fan.

As well as seeing the Giant’s Causeway, we drove along parts of the Antrim coastline, stopped at the 12^th-century Carrickfergus Castle, and then drove inland past several sights that were filming locations for Game of Thrones.

We also got to walk through part of the ‘Dark Hedges’ (another Game of Thrones’ location), see Dunluce Castle, and pop into the Bushmills Whiskey distillery.

Shop in St George’s Market

If you’re in Belfast on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, St. George’s Market is worth visiting. Housed in a late 19^th-century building, the market sells fresh produce, as well as crafts and products such as hand-painted pictures, jewellery, vinyl, clothing, and more. There are also some food stalls and coffee shops at the far end to grab a bite to eat and drink.

The market is open from 8am until 2pm on a Friday, 9am to 3pm on a Saturday, and 10 am to 3 pm on a Sunday.

Visit the Ulster Museum and wander around the Belfast Botanic Gardens

The Ulster Museum is a top museum in the city, and what’s more, it’s free to go in. It covers a wide range of exhibitions that cover art, history, and the natural sciences. It’s also another place where you can learn about ‘The Troubles’.

The museum is located within Belfast’s Botanic Gardens in the south of the city. So, if you visit when the weather is good, go for a wander after visiting the museum.

Look over the city from Victoria Square shopping centre

For a free and easy way of seeing some of the city from up high, head to the Victoria Square shopping centre and take the lift up to the viewing gallery. From here, you can see landmarks dotted across the city. There are information boards that tell you what these are.

Note that because the shopping centre is in the city centre, the view out across the area is not unobstructed.

One day in Belfast

I hope you enjoy your time in the city of Belfast. If you’re interested in other short breaks in the United Kingdom or in Europe, I have many other posts on my website that you may be interested in.

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