Anyone from Belfast? I've never been there - just seen movies - is Belfast a safe city to visit these days?

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Lady Charlemont

It's a small city, as far as cities go, but the people are lovely, the pubs are great craic (try the Errigal on the Ormeau Road....no matter what age you are!) and the shops are the same as in any other city in the UK.
The real beauty about Northern Ireland (and Belfast) is its size; no-matter where you live in it, you can visit the coast, go into the mountains, hop on a train to Dublin, etc, all within a very short space of time.
I don't know where you're from yourself, but if you're aiming to fly home regularly, or take a European city break etc, there are lots of cheap flights available to Great Britain and beyond.

Come and see for yourself - I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Good luck!
(one negative - house prices have rocketed here recently; it's really hard now to get on the property ladder, but there's lots to rent).

choccy_002

I had a holiday based in Belfast last summer. It seemed perfectly safe to me and is definitely a city with a real buzz and a feel of regeneration about it.

stewie

i worked there for 8 months a few years ago and loved it. - i go back at least twice a year.

Crazy-lady

belfast is a lovely city..
i dont understand how people think northern ireland is so unsafe.
its a fantastic part of the world..
belfast is as safe as every other big city in the world!!!

enjoy it.. its a fab city!!

gazhumphrey

Yes Belfast is a safe place to visit with lots to see.The locals are very friendly and the nightlife is great.Do somehome work on places to live when you before you move up but in general South Belfast is good spot lots of bars and amenities.there are some dodgy areas but every city ive been to has these.try virtual tourist.com for info of feel free to email me for more info.good luck

dcparis2004

I travel there quite frequently for work. It's a lovely place. As long as you take the same precautions of visiting any other city you should be safe.

There are of course ultimate no nos. Don;t get involved with politics or prattle on about what you think of the Troubles and do not flaut your Britishness as this can be seen as offence.

As with all cities there are always bars and streets you should avoid at certain times and it would be sensible to listen to advice of local taxi drivers and use their knowledge.

I love Belfast and have been there several times and not had anything other than a great time.

I go over there for university research. It is a lot safer than it used to be. Most people in Northern Ireland are very freindly, welcoming and not prejudiced in any way. It is the minorites in both communities, in my opinion, which make life difficult.

The old sectarian crap is still under the surface - working class communities still have flags flying showing their allegience to UK or the RofI. But bombs are a very rare occurencce nowadays (although there is still some paramilitary activity from both sides- usually to do with drug crime).

Are you planning to rent a car? I had to fly to Dublin, rent a car there and drive up to the north with a republic numberplate on the car - I was assured by my pal it was OK (who is from the south). Nobody really batted an eyelid, there were others around.

But we did get lost and ended up unintenetionally stupidly parking outside an orange lodge in East Belfast with an R of I car! I was scared - I guy walked past - checked the number plates then moved on - he smiled - he obviously realised that we were a bunch of numpties that had got lost and we not from the area. I did get an evil stare from a girl when parked in an 'Protestant' shopping centre in Belfast - but nothing happened.

All I will say is

1. Avoid going to Belfast in May or thereabouts its the marching season and you will see the area at its worst.

2. Careful what you say and who you say it to esp. politics and religion.

3. Have a map and make sure you don't get lost so you end up is some dodgy part of town

As I say most of the people in Northern Ireland are great...its just the minority that spoil it. But it is a lot better than it used to be. There is a lot of great things to see and do all over Ulster. Its a great place. Enjoy yourself! You will notice the 'sectarian' aspect; but just put it aside, forget about if you can - it is part of the culture, and it is educational, (we do get sheltered from all the problems there) but it is only a small part of a great place.

emmaisalways

Come on ahead!! The craic's mighty!! I've lived here for 25 years. It's very very safe in fact it took me to go to uni in England before i ever had any trouble!!

If you do move check out the nitelife - fantastic!!! Let me know if you want places to go!!

Lyndsey b2b 150510

i have lived in belfast all of my life and love it, it is as safe as any other city in the world so there are no problems there.

it is beautfil and many places are picturesque.

and there are plenty of new developments for you to live in so there is no problem with housing either or jobs.

you should love it

slipstreamer

Never lived there, but it is very nice, safe and quite a lot going on. I plan on going back.

edybear

Belfast is now relatively safe, contrary to popular beleif! much like any other big city there are areas you dont go after dark and depending where you live the car crime rate might be high and so insurance might be expensive. There are still some visible divides religiously but the city centre is good. appartments there cost anything from 200 a month to 1000 a month depending what you want and how close to centre you want to be, just dont stay near the bar the limelight...thats where the hookers are every night! The night life is great due to many students being around and police patrol regularly nowadays to cut down on late night drunken violence...i lived in belfast for 4 years (only just left) and never encountered one problem! i would say go, broaden your horizons! just be aware the accent is hard to understand to start of with and your might be too..but they have great sense of humour!

arfurchance

Hi
Belfast is a lovely place, the people are fantastic and it's a lot cheeper than it used to be, it used to cost a bomb.

Air Travel XPERT!

I go to Belfast all the time. @ the moment, it may not be a good place to go b'cause some very strong protestants don't want the political party SINN FEIN to be sharing power. I would leave it until this has all calmed down next year.
But of course if you would work and live on the edge of the city, that would be safe now.

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