Day Trip to Belfast

Real time update- I am currently riding the X20 Bus Eireann line from Dublin to Galway.

My Saturday started early after a nice 9 hour sleep. I had to travel up town to Connolly Station to catch my 7:35 train to Belfast. I had already reserved and paid for my seats online so I had a seat waiting for me. The ride took a little over 2 hours but the scenery was pretty nice. I couldn’t get really good shots out the windows because they were too dirty. The train ride was really good. There was a food trolley and the seats were really comfortable.

Once I arrived in Belfast I headed in the direction of City Hall. I stopped by at St. George’s Market and had a quick look at what was for sale. I ended up not getting anything though.

I wound up at City Hall and there was a festival going on so I wandered through there and found the Titanic Memorial on one side of the building.

I wound my way through the streets of Belfast looking for the red city tour buses and lucked out and found one right before the first stop. I rode the bus around to the Titanic Quarter. I had a 12:00 walking tour that I was extremely excited about. This section of the day will have its own post once I get home and get the pictures compiled, but it was the highlight so far.

After the walking tour I visited the Pump House and then headed overs for the museum. I think the museum was alright. If it would have been the only thing I saw for the Titanic I would have been upset the tour was way better.

When I was done purchasing my souvenirs I headed out and wanted to get pictures of the Nomadic, which was the tender ship at the port of Cherbourg for the Titanic passengers. When I got there I was very surprised to find out that I had 5 minutes until the last tour of the day. Now when I was planning this trip I had considered this tour but for some reason I didn’t plan it (hint I find out later why I had done that).

After I was done there I headed back to where the bus last left me. At this point it was close to 5:30. I pulled out my map to make sure a bus was on its way only to find out it wasn’t coming. The last one was at 4:30! So this is the reason I did not plan on the Nomadic tour in the first place. The key to this was to not panic. I had quite a distance between myself and the train station so I started walking. Side note- my phone does not work right now so I can’t make calls and obviously I do not have a data plan and there aren’t any business nearby with wifi. I caved and took the first taxi I found. It cost me a couple pounds but it was definitely worth it because the area was about to get sketchy. I ate some food at the train station for dinner. The Taytos brand of potato chips are the best! I got back to Dublin around 10:30 and took a bus back to the hotel.

That’s all for now I may update a little later from my bed and breakfast once I get settled in.