Belfast (Day Trip)
BELFAST (02/07/2025)
Deciding what to wear is crucial for a trip to Belfast, and after this, I still didn't wear this outfit; it felt too warm and stuffy before I even left haha.
Neil is approaching me outside Bolton train station. He looks nervous, but that was all settled once I gave him his Dreggs (our nickname for Greggs) Omelette barm and a latte. He soon perked up, even though it was 6:01 am, and we were getting the 06:21 Northern train to Manchester Airport. We boarded a 6-carriage class 331 train, which was busier than I thought with usual commuters, and Neil was panicking as he wanted a table seat all to himself, but other people got there before him. As I always say, "You snooze, you lose," haha.
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Arriving at the airport just after 7:00 am, we went straight through security and departures, all of which were smooth and completed in under 5 minutes. It has been made easier with Manchester Airport now having upgraded their security equipment so that passengers don't have to mess around taking things out of their bags, etc. This has changed the queuing system and efficiency for the better, so I was impressed.
Flying with Aer Lingus on an ATR-76 type aircraft, or what most would call 'propeller planes,' which, due to their small size, don't look like they can withstand the skies, but I liked them—small little aircraft with a capacity of 72, so boarding and disembarking were fairly quick.
The ATR-76 type aircraft is formed of a 2-2 seater layout, so it is perfect for couples, as there is a high probability of sitting together when flying. We flew from Terminal 1 at Manchester and boarded from Gate 34B, which I think is used for small regional flights within the UK. The flight took off on time and landed at Belfast City Airport at 09:34 am, some 11 minutes ahead of time. Getting off the plane and out of the airport took a mere matter of minutes, due to it being the UK, with no border control or security checks, leaving straight out at arrivals.
Spotted some 'wind turbines' off the English coast between Wales and the Isle of Man; pretty cool to sea (get it?). haha
Once we arrived at Belfast, we jumped on the 600 bus to the centre, which was a blue electric vehicle. This service ran every 20 minutes and took around 15 minutes to get into the centre of Belfast from the airport. (600 bus below) The fare is £2.30, but there are other types of tickets, day tickets, weekly, etc., which you can purchase from the machine at the airport bus stop outside the airport terminal building. You can pay contactless on the bus, but strictly NO CASH! The bus can get busy, so I don't know why it is a single-decker instead of a double-decker bus like they use for Belfast International Airport. 
The 600 airport bus
Charlie Chaplin is at the side of the SS Nomadic boat at the marina in Belfast; the cutouts are metal, and I quite like them in all fairness. They stand nicely out in green spaces and look good.
These metal sculptures, which stand next to Charlie Chaplin, depict shipyard workers in Belfast, who presumably worked on the SS Nomad or the Titanic, perhaps.
I believe this is supposed to be 'Glass of Thrones,' although I am not quite sure if that is true, but I found it interesting to look at and nice to see in the city of Belfast.
Spotted this on the side building next to the Titanic Museum in Belfast. I believe it's the Docker's Mural and depicts the lives and reflections of those who worked on or with the Titanic. Once you are inside the museum, you understand the harsh reality of what these men had to endure to work on building the ship that is so infamous. Beautiful piece of artwork. More info here
This is the building of the Titanic Belfast Museum. I believe tickets cost £25 per person, with concessions available, but you can spend a good 1 1/2 to 2 hours or more here with your ticket, which also entitles you to go onboard the SS Nomad situated across the road from here on the marina. https://www.titanicbelfast.com/visitor-information/prices/
Donegall Square in Belfast, right on the corner, is where Neil and I sat eating our brunch from Tesco Express. I recall some chav-looking man walking past with his mate, and he had the sexiest pair of purple Nike TN's on, something that is coming back in fashion, I see.
England is Ireland's ENEMY! Are they correct?....
Neil and I are taking, or rather I am taking, a photo of us as silhouettes in the Titanic museum, and my hand looks rather weird; you can see Neil has his earphones in as per hahaha
Above are some of the photos taken inside the Titanic Museum in Belfast. We went into the lift to the 4th floor, which was inside an old mine-looking place. We got to go on a shipyard ride through the Arrol Gantry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9SZ1B--wSg, the structure used to build the Titanic. Neil was petrified and wouldn't look over the edge of the cart as it was held on at the top and moved freely, so he was a little scared, but he enjoyed it. It was nice to listen and learn about what the workers endured when building the Titanic.
I never snapped a picture, but there was a wall that showed the entire list of names of those who survived the Titanic crash, which was about 700 on board who survived; these were mostly first-class passengers with women and children first, as you might recall from history or film depictions. A lot of the crew perished, as did many third-class passengers, along with the captain of the vessel.
We had a late lunch while in Belfast, stopping at a little cafe called Blinkers https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186470-d1317222-Reviews-Blinkers-Belfast_Northern_Ireland.html. Neil had the veggie brekkie (above), while I went for the homemade lasagna with chips and salad (below). Side drinks of Coca-Cola for Neil and a large soda water & lime for me came to £24 altogether, which wasn't bad. The service was great, friendly staff with a food hygiene rating of 4, so it was nice, and the lasagna was very filling indeed.
Have you even been to a country if you don't take a photo in front of the country name while there haha?
When browsing the vintage clothes shops, I came across this lovely 'blue' dress for like £20 and I thought, 'Oh, it would most definitely suit me, most definitely. But me being me, I always love to laugh and joke and take the piss out of myself even when others are watching with weird looks on their faces haha
Back at George Best Airport (Belfast City Airport), ready for the return flight to Manchester. Lovely clean airport, and although not massive, as it mostly does domestic flights, it was clean and tidy and calm. It started to lash it down about 4 minutes after taking this picture, so we headed back in and decided to go through to departures.
About to taxi out of the airport, ahead of time, as the aeroplane only carries 72 passengers, so taking off was relatively quick. Sat in 8F on the way back, thrilled to be right next to the propeller; that was awesome, and as one friend quoted, "Final Destination vibes right there." We also had a female captain and first officer, which was unusual, and I think it was the first time I had ever had a female captain fly me before.
Just departed Belfast City Airport. The skies have cleared again after the quick burst of rain descended upon us. It looked so pretty from here. I managed to see quite a bit flying back, as there were clear skies and we were only flying at 14,000 ft, so it was nice to see some things below.
It's not often you get to take an aerial view of Manchester Airport, as we usually don't fly so low across, but on this occasion we did. As we were descending to the runway, we were almost ready to touch down and then ascended into the skies again. We thought it might have been some crosswinds, but the captain came on and said it was a 'missed approach' due to the aircraft in front having to deal with a bird strike, so we had to circle round again, but it wasn't an issue. I loved seeing Manchester from above and the planes. When we landed, we noticed on BBC News that there was some mention of a bird strike on a plane, but the article mentioned Liverpool Airport at 16:15, but we never left Belfast until 17:59 and didn't approach Manchester until 18:52, so I suspect it was just a simple case of missing the runway approach, but it's only a small ATR-76 aircraft, which can stop very quickly and doesn't need a huge amount of runway, but as I said, it was nice to see Manchester Airport close from above.
Overall, I enjoyed my day trip to Belfast. I must admit if it were down solely to me, I wouldn't have chosen Belfast, I think I would have much preferred to go to Dublin or another city in the Republic. For a day trip it was fine, it wasn't the cheapest flight, Aer Lingus cost us £100 each return which does not sound a lot, but compared to going with Ryanair or Easyjet and a return costing around 50% cheaper, it is worth thinking about paying less as its only a quick flight and what you save on the flight, you could spend on the city/country you visit.
Best Bit: Definitely the flight, loved it 10/10
Worst Bit: Would have to say the smell of the vintage shops haha
Overall rating for Belfast: 4/10
Would I go back: Yes, but not to Belfast, would try another city
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