Belfast has undergone some transformations in the past few years and is now a thriving cosmopolitan city. Its Victorian city centre is full of life and packed with new shopping outlets, fashionable restaurants and lots of friendly bars. Whether you’re a shopper, reveller or sight-seer - Belfast will not disappoint! Check out what options are available for getting to Belfast….
Fly to Belfast
Belfast city has two airports. The largest airport is Belfast International Airport (also known as Aldergrove), which lies 21km northwest of Belfast city centre. This is the second busiest airport on the island of Ireland after Dublin Airport. The airport serves up to 48 destinations, which include domestic flights, European flights and transatlantic flights to and from America and Canada. Some flights operators that fly into Belfast include Continental, EasyJet, Jet2, Manx2, Wizz Air, Zoom, bmi baby and Aer Lingus.
To get to the city centre from here just hop on the 300 Airport Bus which leaves the airport about every half an hour. The journey to the city centre (via the M2) should take about 45 minutes depending on traffic.
The other airport is called the George Best Belfast City Airport. This airport is just about 3 km from the city centre and is served by Aer Arann, bmi, Euromanx, Flybe and Ryanair.
The city centre is easily accessible from the airport with the 600 Airport Bus, which operates regularly and should take about 10-15 minutes depending on traffic. It’s about a 10 minute drive to the city centre via the A2
Sail to Belfast
Belfast is also easily reached by ferry. It has frequent sailings from Great Britain with Stena Line offering up to six sailings daily between Belfast and Stranraer in Scotland. You could also get a boat from Fleetwood in the UK to Larne, which is about 34 km from Belfast or a Norfolkline ferry, which operates between Liverpool and Belfast.
Drive to Belfast
The three main motorways in Northern Ireland, (M2, M22 and M2) all lead to Belfast city.
If you’re driving from Dublin city to Belfast, it should take just over 2 hours, depending on traffic. Take the M1 north to Newry and then take the A1 to Belfast.
Get a bus to Belfast
You can get a bus from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Belfast via the ferry from Stranraer with Eurolines or you can get also get a bus from London via Manchester and Birmingham.
Towns and cities in Northern Ireland are connected by Ulsterbus - which is the main public transport operator in the Northern Ireland.
Regular buses daily such as Bus Eireann and the Aircoach operate between Dublin city/airport and Belfast city.
Get a train to Belfast
Daily trains arrive in Belfast from other major towns in Northern Ireland like Derry, Bangor, Portrush and Portadown.
The Enterprise train service has 8 trips between Belfast and Dublin between Monday and Saturday and 5 on a Sunday.
The main station in Belfast city is called Central Station and it’s located about a 10 minute walk from the city centre.
Getting to Belfast is straightforward and easy especially with the onset of low-fare airlines flying into the city. Of course, if you’re not one for flying, there’s plenty other options as pointed out above.
Book a Belfast hotel now for your stay!
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