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Welcome to our BELFAST 1 DAY TOUR from Dublin City.

PRICE: 45 EURO PER PERSON

PRICE: STUDENT SPECIAL 40 EURO PER PERSON

THIS PRICE INCLUDES A GUIDED TOUR OF BELFAST, AND A VISIT TO THE REPUBLICAN MUSEUM THE ONLY COMPANY IN IRELAND TO OFFER THIS!

Jump aboard our coach for and meet other travelers for a day out and about!

YOUR ONE DAY BELFAST TOUR DEPARTS FROM THE SUFFOLK STREET TOURIST OFFICE (THE OLD STONE CHURCH) AT 8 AM

Dublin has a lot to offer, but if you feel you have been there, done that, why not hop aboard and take a trip to historical Belfast, just 2 hours up the road? In addition you will see our lovely countryside, and we will be stopping at various spots of historic significance on the way.

Our guides are keen to make your day interesting and informative, each adding their own humour to the mix ( you're on holiday as well, after all). We will tell you all about the Irish countryside, history and folklore, while you can just sit back and enjoy the view. No guidebooks needed on this trip!

On the way, we visit St. Peter's Church in Drogheda, famous for the embalmed head of St. Oliver Plunkett , Monasterboice - an early Christian site with some of the country's best high crosses, as well as the Proleek Dolmen- a megalithic portal tomb, before we even get to Belfast.

In Belfast City, there are a myriad of things to do. You first will have time to do your own thing, ( see our "The Tour" section for some ideas) and maybe change some money to Pound Stirling, as you are in the United Kingdom now. Then we do a political/ historical guided tour of the city, which includes the Falls and Shankill roads which are traditionally the political hotspots, pay a visit to the moorings dock and site where the Titanic was built, and then finally visit the Republican Museum, before we head back to Dublin.

Your tour thus includes the pre-history, Middle Age, and contemporary history periods-Phew!

The Tour:

8 am

Your one day tour of Belfast departs from the Suffolk street tourist office (the old stone church) Your guide will do a quick introduction of the tour and will make sure that everybody is happy and ready to go. We will be driving through the northern suburbs of town, passing some interesting sites on the way, which our friendly guide will tell you more of, for instance Croke Park- Home of Gaelic Games, Dublin Airport's new 2nd terminal and the controversy surrounding it, and the Dublin Port tunnel that was built too small for the larger trucks to use! You will also get a quick overview on the politics of the North, but more so when in Belfast. If the so called "troubles" era in Northern Ireland is of interest to you, have a look at our "Politics" section where we explain more about the origins of this conflict.

9 am

We arrive in Drogheda, home of Saint Oliver Plunkett, erstwhile Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland. We visit Saint Peters Roman Catholic church, where Plunkett's embalmed head remains as a grim reminder of the futility of politics . Read the story behind the story in our "History" section).

9:45

We arrive in Monasterboice, which is a medieval monastic site and cemetery. Here we have a chance to view one of Irelands best preserved high crosses, called Muirdach's cross. High crosses are similar to church murals and sculptures, giving us a unique insight into this Celtic art that brought biblical scenes to life for the ordinary folk. In addition, the site comprises 2 more high crosses, a high tower, cathedral and a cemetery to explore.

10:45 am

Our next stop is at the Proleek Dolmen, a megalithic portal tomb. This burial chamber dates back to the Neolithic age, some 3000 years ago and is basically a stone structure, with a very large roof stone on top, which weighs 30 tons or more. This Dolmen, situated on the Cooley Peninsula (made legendary in the stories of Finn MacCool and Queen Maeve in stories such as "The Cattle raid of Cooley") today still reflects old Irish mythology and wonderment of how thay got did they got the capstone to the top of the structure? Archaeologists today still marvel at the engineering ability that already had to exist in Neolithic times for such dolmens to be constructed.

12.45 pm

Welcome to Belfast City! Here you have some time to grab something to eat, and look around on your own. Some suggestions maybe:

• Visit the Crown Liquor Saloon with its wooden partitions and ornate Victorian exterior, where you can show your political preference by walking either over the crown at the front entrance, or walk around it.
• Visit the Grand Opera House, or otherwise visit St. Anne's cathedral (also known as Belfast Cathedral) if culture is your thing, and find out more about its "Black Santa" or listen to its pipe organ play- the largest in Northern Ireland.
• Look out for the Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast's own leaning clock tower!
• If you are really a history fanatic, try the Linen Hall Library. It is the oldest library in Belfast, and renowned for its extensive Irish and Local Studies Collection, which ranges from Early Belfast and Ulster printed books and includes 250,000 items in the Northern Ireland Political Collection, which is the definitive archive of the recent troubles.
• City Hall on Donegal square is a landmark site. Its great dome will have you thinking of the white house. Incidentally this is also the site from which Bill Clinton addressed the people of Northern Ireland in 1995.

15.00 pm

We start our guided tour of the city, which includes a drive around the traditionally Catholic and Protestant sides of the dividing wall- a sort of peace line between the two parties. Here it will be explained why the troubles started and how relations are today. The wall murals tell their own story from both sides of the fence... (See our "politics" section for more details) We will also visit the Harland & Wolff dry docks, pump house and shipyard - birthplace of the Titanic, where locals will tell you, while shrugging their shoulders that "she was fine when she left here"

16:30

We visit the Republican Museum, with a large collection of artefacts and prison handicrafts, representing various phases of the struggle for Irish Freedom. It also has a library for research and audiovisual aids. We are the only tour from Dublin that has access to the facilities, making it a unique experience!

17:00 pm

We start the trip back to Dublin, probably with a lot to reflect upon, and hopefully with a better understanding of the complex history of Northern Ireland.

19:00

We should be arriving back in Dublin around this time and we have to say our goodbyes. Au Revoir!

Life is a journey - join us for the ride!