Note: all my recent vacation in Ireland Yelp reviews will have the same 1st paragraph preamble, for just the review itself skip to the 2nd paragraph.
On a whirlwind 2 week vacation to Ireland, the girlfriend & I tried to see & experience absolutely as much of this incredible land as we could. We did not accomplish every last activity we wished we could have on our rather ambitious itinerary. Nonetheless, we did discover a land of numerous stunning & magical wonders. We did see a land of unending natural beauty. We did learn of a land with a monumentally long history of trials, tragedies & triumphs. We did get to meet many kind, humorous, warm & generous people. Our vacation to Ireland was just 2 weeks, but that was time enough to know this is a land easy to love & a land to be sorely missed.
The girlfriend & I had gone on a city bus tour of Dublin & thoroughly enjoyed it. Because of this, we decided to do the same in Belfast. Just like the bus tour in Dublin, Belfast Sight Seeing operates brightly colored, open-top double decker buses.
For a fast & efficient way to see a very large portion & many different areas of Belfast, this is an outstanding option. Unlike the bus tour in Dublin where the driver of the bus was also the guide, the Belfast Sight Seeing bus tour divided the labor. Our bus had both a dedicated driver & a narrative guide who walked around & visited with us in between describing the sights. Our guide was knowledgeable & full of amusing anecdotes.
One drawback of this tour compared to the one we went on in Dublin is the lack of structured stops along the tour route. This tour is billed as "hop on, hop off" but getting off the bus at any particular place has to be arranged. The bus tour in Dublin was much more flexible. In Dublin, we could get off at every stop & another bus would be along to pick us up 15 minutes later. Most of the time, I wouldn't necessarily want to get off the bus, but stopping near certain sights would have been nice just to have an extra moment to look around.
Nevertheless, the Belfast Sight Seeing bus tour took us to many, many beautiful, interesting & historic sights in Belfast. In just the short time of this tour, we got to take a look at & get a feel for the city of Belfast & its character. Belfast is a lovely city with many warm & friendly people. I truly hope there can be balanced & lasting peace & happiness for everyone there. read more