Bike Tours

Irish Cycle Tours organizes four- and eight-day tours of the Mournes, Glens of Antrim, and Causeway Coast, and the Sperrin Mountains and Donegal. The company closed its Belfast office in 2004 and is now based in County Kerry in the republic, hence the southern Irish phone number. Mourne Cycle Tours runs bike tours complete with hotel accommodations (bikes are delivered to the hotel), with rates for a two-night booking costing between £90 and £110.

Bike Touring

Irish Cycle Tours (066/712-8733 in republic. www.irishcycletours.com). Mourne Cycle Tours (028/4372-4348. www.mournecycletours.com).

Boat Tours

On Lower Lough Erne, Erne Tours operates an approximately 90-minute trip (£9) aboard the Kestrel, a 63-seat water bus, which leaves Round O Pier at Enniskillen Sun., Tues., and Sat. during May at 2:15 and 4:15, during June daily at 2:15 and 4:15, and daily July and August at 10:30, 12:15, 2:15, and 4:15. Weekdays the boat stops for a half hour at Devenish Island. In September, tours leave Tues., Sat., and Sun. at 2:30. From early May to end of Sept. the company also has a Sat. evening dinner cruise departing at 6:15.

Contacts

Erne Tours (Round O Pier, Enniskillen. 028/6632-2882; 028/6632-4822 dinner cruise. www.ernetoursltd.com).

Bus Tours

Belfast City Sightseeing runs an open-top bus tour (with shelter in case it rains) through Belfast. The Belfast City Tour (£12) covers the City Hall, Albert Clock, Shipyard, Titanic Quarter, Shankill Road, peace line, and Falls Road, and goes past the Grand Opera House on Great Victoria Street. Tours leave Castle Place (opposite McDonald's) daily on the hour 10- 4 October-February, and every 30 minutes March-September, and tickets are valid all day on a hop-on, hop-off basis. The entire route, without stops, takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Ulsterbus operates half-day or full-day trips June through September from Belfast to the Glens of Antrim, the Giant's Causeway, the Fermanagh lakes, Lough Neagh, the Mountains of Mourne, and the Ards Peninsula. Ulsterbus has also teamed up with the Old Bushmills Distillery to run the Bushmills Bus: an open-top tour bus running from Coleraine (via Bushmills to observe whiskey making) to the Giant's Causeway and the coastal resorts. Contact Ulsterbus through Translink.

Allens Tours (from £15) and MiniCoach Tours operate day tours of Belfast (£8-£16), and to the Giant's Causeway, Bushmills Distillery, and Carrickfergus (£18.50).

Contacts

Belfast City Sightseeing (028/9045-9035. www.belfastcitysightseeing.com). Allens Tours (028/9091-5613. wwwallenstours.co.uk)). MiniCoach (22 Donegall Rd., Central District, Belfast. 028/9031-5333. www.minicoachni.co.uk). Translink (028/9066-6630. www.translink.co.uk).

Taxi Tours

More than 10 companies operate taxi tours of Belfast. Belfast City Black Taxi Tours do 75-minute tours in a London-style black taxi of either Loyalist or Nationalist sights. The cost is £25 for up to two people, £30 for three people, and £33 for four people. Black Taxi Tours provide a similar itinerary at £25 per taxi for one or two people and £8 per person after that. The Loyalist tours leave from North Street or Bridge Street and prices can vary depending on pick-up point; the Nationalist Tours pick you up at your hotel.

Contacts

Belfast City Black Taxi Tours (028/9030-1832. www.allirelandtours.com). Black Taxi Tours (028/9064-2264. www.belfasttours.com). Nationalist Tours (028/9031-5777. www.taxitrax.com).

Walking Tours

The Historic Belfast tour provides the chance to explore Belfast on foot. En route you will find out about the city's origins and its Victorian architecture. The tour lasts 90 minutes and the cost is £6. It departs from Belfast Welcome Centre, 49 Donegall Place, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM. The Centre also offers a variety of brochures and digital tours about exploring the city's Titanic past.

On the Blackstaff Way tour you will find out how Belfast developed between three rivers: the Blackstaff, the Farset, and the Lagan; you will see the Boyne Bridge, the oldest bridge in Belfast, and discover the significance of the "Black Man" and the Mystery Stone from Belfast Castle. The tour lasts 90 minutes and costs £6. It departs from Belfast Welcome Centre, 49 Donegall Place, Saturday at 11 am.

Belfast Safaris offers tailor-made walking tours of Belfast city with a twist. All of the guides are local and passionate about their neighborhoods. Tours are organized according to each group's specific interests, and can include politics, art, or even soccer. Want to learn Irish or play the tin whistle? It can all be arranged. Their George Best Tour (028/9031-0610) is in honor of one of the world's greatest footballers and Belfast's most famous son, who died in London in 2005. Once described as the "fifth Beatle," he spent most of his playing career with Manchester United but was a true son of Belfast; the tour ranges from his school to Roselawn cemetery, his final resting place. Tours last two hours and the cost is £8.

Historical Pub Tours of Belfast walking tours of the city's pubs leave on Thursday at 7 PM and Saturday at 4 pm (May-October). The cost is £6. In Derry, walking tours (£4) are organized through the city's Tourist Centre.

Contacts

Belfast Welcome Centre (47 Donegall Place., Central District, Belfast. 028/9024-6609. www.gotobelfast.com).

Belfast Safaris (028/9022-2925. www.belfastsafaris.com). Derry Tourist Information Centre (44 Foyle St., West Bank, Derry. 028/7126-7284 or 028/7137-7577. www.derryvisitor.com). Historical Pub Tours of Belfast (Depart from Crown Liquor Saloon, 46 Great Victoria St., Golden Mile, Belfast. 028/9268-3665. www.belfastpubtours.com).