Belfast or Galway?
Jul 3rd, 2011, 04:07 PM
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Belfast or Galway?
I am travelling by myself to Ireland in August and after 3 days in Dublin I thought about spending one day in Belfast or Galway. Any suggestion? Is it safe to be in Belfast by myself?
Jul 4th, 2011, 06:47 AM
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I suppose your choice should depend on your interests, but the trip to Galway will take more time than the trip to Belfast.
I have only driven through Galway, but spent a day touring Belfast a couple years ago. I found it to be just about the right size for a good day trip. I would recommend the City Sightseeing Open Top Bus hop on/hop off tour. You get to see a lot of the city and there are a couple places you can get off if you wish to explore more. You might like to pop into the Crown Bar to see the Victorian design. (We had a nice lunch there.) Also worth a visit is the Botanical Gardens.
My daughter spent a semester of study abroad in Belfast and she felt perfectly safe in the city. I'm sure you will too.
Finally, if you would prefer to see some of the beautiful scenery of Northern Ireland, you might like to arrange for a day trip to the Giant's Causeway and the Antrim Coast instead of a day trip to Belfast. I know that there are tours from Dublin, but they do make for a long day. We very much enjoyed our day in this part of Northern Ireland.
I have only driven through Galway, but spent a day touring Belfast a couple years ago. I found it to be just about the right size for a good day trip. I would recommend the City Sightseeing Open Top Bus hop on/hop off tour. You get to see a lot of the city and there are a couple places you can get off if you wish to explore more. You might like to pop into the Crown Bar to see the Victorian design. (We had a nice lunch there.) Also worth a visit is the Botanical Gardens.
My daughter spent a semester of study abroad in Belfast and she felt perfectly safe in the city. I'm sure you will too.
Finally, if you would prefer to see some of the beautiful scenery of Northern Ireland, you might like to arrange for a day trip to the Giant's Causeway and the Antrim Coast instead of a day trip to Belfast. I know that there are tours from Dublin, but they do make for a long day. We very much enjoyed our day in this part of Northern Ireland.
Jul 5th, 2011, 02:51 PM
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Belfast and Galway are entirely different experiences. Belfast is a good size city and Galway is MUCH smaller. I thought Belfast was interesting, the Crown Pub certainly worth a stop but I'm not sure I would make multiple visits there. I did a black cab tour which is worth doing and managed a couple of good pints.
Galway is admittedly, more designed for tourism and thus attracts more tourism. There are city link buses to Galway that are pretty quick now that the Motorways are in so I wouldn't worry too much about travel time unless this is not an overnight trip. Galway is a college town and has a pretty young feel to it.
As far as scenery in the area, neither is hurting for beautiful sites within an hour of the city center. Galway may have things a bit closer. If time permits, you can always catch a boat (or plane) out to the Aran Islands for a day from Galway.
Galway is admittedly, more designed for tourism and thus attracts more tourism. There are city link buses to Galway that are pretty quick now that the Motorways are in so I wouldn't worry too much about travel time unless this is not an overnight trip. Galway is a college town and has a pretty young feel to it.
As far as scenery in the area, neither is hurting for beautiful sites within an hour of the city center. Galway may have things a bit closer. If time permits, you can always catch a boat (or plane) out to the Aran Islands for a day from Galway.
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