Northern Ireland: From Troubles to Trails – Belfast

I could begin by saying that I had always wanted to visit Northern Ireland, but that would be a lie. I do not know many people who have travelled there on holiday, even though plenty of tourists do. For me, the idea started in a completely different way.

I have a book called Where to Go When, which has become one of my favourite sources of travel inspiration. I must confess that my travels tend to be rather random. One year I might be exploring a remote mountain range, the next wandering through a major city. Sea, mountains, history, architecture—it is all fair game.

I knew I would have roughly two weeks free in May, so I opened the book to see what it recommended for that time of year.

Northern Ireland appeared on the list.

More specifically, the Giant’s Causeway.

Ten minutes later, I was convinced.

A few weeks later, I found myself landing in Belfast.

At first, I considered walking all the way from Belfast along the coast to Derry~Londonderry. After studying the maps a little more carefully, however, I realised that some sections would be less interesting than others and that I also wanted time to explore Belfast and Derry themselves.

So Belfast became my starting point.

That was the obvious choice anyway, as the city has Northern Ireland’s largest international airport.

Although I lived through most of the period known as The Troubles, which lasted from the late 1960s until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, I realised that I actually knew surprisingly little about it. Politics has never been one of my great passions.

I do, however, have a tiny personal connection to the Nobel Peace Prize awarded jointly to John Hume and David Trimble in 1998.

At the time, I worked occasional shifts at the Grand Hotel in Oslo and happened to serve members of John Hume’s family during the banquet following the ceremony. I remember reading about the conflict back then, but much of it had faded from memory over the years, perhaps because Northern Ireland has been relatively peaceful ever since.

For that reason, I arrived in Belfast genuinely curious to learn more.

One of the first things I did was join a walking tour simply called The Troubles.

The topic was not exactly hidden.

And I learned a great deal.

Although Belfast is largely peaceful today, it quickly became clear that the divisions have not disappeared. It is far too simplistic to describe the situation as merely Catholics versus Protestants. The history and identities involved are considerably more complicated than that.

To be honest, I never understood enough to start writing political analysis on a travel blog, and that is not my intention here.

What I did learn was that many children still attend separate schools, often following different educational traditions and historical narratives. Only a relatively small number attend integrated schools.

As an outsider, it struck me as a system that still leaves plenty of room for a lingering sense of us and them.

At the same time, Belfast is much more than its troubled past.

The city centre is vibrant and modern, with impressive Victorian architecture, lively streets, and a growing cultural scene.

For a city on the edge of the United Kingdom, Belfast possesses some remarkably grand buildings. The Parliament Buildings at Stormont are impressive, and Queen’s University looks exactly like the sort of institution one imagines when thinking of the British university tradition.

At times, it is easy to forget that you are not actually in England.

What the walking tour also revealed was that the strongest reminders of the conflict are no longer found in the city centre.

To see them, you need to venture into the residential districts.

There, flags make loyalties clear. Murals tell competing versions of history. Memorial gardens honour the dead.

And the so-called peace walls are still very much present.

Some barriers still separate communities, and I was told that certain gates between neighbourhoods continue to close at night.

Whether one sees these walls as symbols of peace or symbols of division probably depends on who is looking at them.

Not everything in Belfast revolves around politics, however.

During my stay, I managed to visit a theatre and even attend a musical at the opera house.

Yet Belfast’s biggest attraction today is probably Titanic Belfast.

There is something slightly ironic about the fact that the world’s most famous maritime disaster has become one of the city’s greatest tourism successes. Then again, if a city is going to embrace its history, it might as well do it properly.

Still, it works.

Even though I visited outside the main tourist season, it was impossible simply to turn up and buy a ticket. Booking in advance is strongly recommended.

And despite being clearly designed to appeal to families and children, the museum is genuinely excellent.

You leave feeling that you have learned something.

And perhaps more importantly, that you have experienced something.