Belfast - Belfasto

Belfast (angle Belfast / ˈBɛlfɑːst /, Ireland Béal Feirste / bʲeːlˠ ˈfʲɛɾˠ (ə) ʃtʲə /) is the capital of Northern Ireland en Great Britain.

Understand

The river Lagan ends its flow into the sea subjected to severe tides; the water level near the mouth changes a lot several times a day. That is the reason for important benches of sand and mud. The place nearest the sea where it was possible to cross the river without a boat (and without a bridge) is the place where the town of was born Béal Feirste, "a sandy ford at the mouth of the river".

Belfast is the closest Irish city to the United Kingdom. Its particular condition, when the whole of Ireland was ruled by London and aircraft did not yet exist, continues to this day, though in a different form, as Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, unlike the Ireland, containing the rest of the island.

History

Béal Feirste throughout the Middle Ages it remained a small village, even when a nobleman built a castle there. Only in 1613 was it officially recognized as a town (borough), under the name of Belfast, after the new baron, Arthur Chichester, built a second, larger castle.

In the following centuries Belfast grew due to the arrival of many pillars from England and Scotland, and prospered due to the many industries. In 1888 Queen Victoria gave it the official name of "city" (city).

For several decades in the last century Belfast has been plagued by disputes between two parties, one Catholic and in favor of union with Ireland, the other Protestant and in favor of coexistence with Britain; quarrels repeatedly became offensive. The major disputes ended thanks to the Good Friday Agreement (Good Friday Agreement, 1998), but even today in Belfast Catholics and Protestants live mostly in different neighborhoods.

Climate

The climate of Belfast is quite mild due to the influence of the Atlantic; rains are common in all months, though usually light.

Month	Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	Maj	Jun	Jul	Aug.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Year
Avg high temperature	6 ° C	7 ° C	9 ° C	12 ° C	15 ° C	18 ° C	18 ° C	18 ° C	16 ° C	13 ° C	9 ° C	7 ° C	13 ° C
Avg low temperature	2 ° C	2 ° C	3 ° C	4 ° C	6 ° C	9 ° C	11 ° C	11 ° C	9 ° C	7 ° C	4 ° C	3 ° C	6 ° C
Precipitation mm	80	52	50	48	52	68	94	77	80	83	72	90	846 mm

Access

Aliri avie

There are two airports in Belfast:

• the Airport the International (BFS code), approx. 30km west;
• the George Best Airport (code BHD), c. 3km east of the city center.

It is also possible to use the Dublin airport and from there travel by train, car or bus (160km).

Access by train

It is possible to reach Belfast by train from other places in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.

There are several railway stations. The main one is Great Victoria Street, but also Lanyon Place (closer to the center) is very important.

Access bus

The main intercity bus station is next to the railway station Great Victoria Street.

Access by ship

There are ferries and fast ships from Belfast to Scotland or England.

The shortest journey is between Belfast and Cairnryan apud Stranraer in Scotland. The journey takes 2h15 (Stena Line, fast ferries) - however it is necessary to reach the ship at least 1h before departure.

Even shorter is the journey of Larne (north of Belfast) to Cairnryan, which lasts 2h; however, it is necessary to reach Larne (about 40 km north of Belfast).

The ferries of are also widely used Liverpool to Belfast. The journey takes approx. 8am (day or night trip).

There are also ferries from Fishguard (Wales) to Rosslare (southern Ireland, about 330km to Belfast) or from Holyhead (Wales) to Dublin.

Finally, there are direct ferries from France to Ireland (Roscoff to Cork, Cherbourg to Rosslare).

Information for example at Stena Line and P&O Ferries.

Access by car

Two motorways reach Belfast, M1 and M2, but they are wide and fast only for a few tens of km.

From Dublin to Belfast it is approx. 170km. It is possible to use the Irish motorway M1 (just over 50km) and approx. 15km from Belfast is the M2 Northern Ireland motorway, so about 40% of the journey is on motorways.

From England or Scotland it is possible to reach Liverpool or Cairnryan and take the car by ferry. Travelers coming from France or other European countries can reach a suitable port in the UK, but they can also use a direct ferry from France to southern Ireland (see above).

To move

Public transport

Translink (website in English) operates public transport in Belfast and offers buses and local trains (there is no real metro in Belfast). Buses run within the city or between the city and the neighboring towns; trains only run between the city and the neighboring towns, but some can also be used between different neighborhoods.

Taxis

There are three types of taxis in Belfast:

• the black taxis (black taxis), less expensive, traveling on fixed routes and accepting unrelated passengers;
• the ordinary taxis, orderable for example at Fonacab ( 44 28 9033 3333), Value Cabs (44 28 9080 9080) and Castle Cabs (44 28 9024 1111);
• Ubertaxis, orderable at Uber.

Walk

Bicycles

In Belfast there is a public system for renting bicycles, Belfast Bikes (English), with 40 places. If you join with a small fee (£ 6 for 3 days, £ 25 for the whole year), renting up to 30min is free.

Drive a car

See

10 - Footbridge on the riverbaro Lagan Weir.

11 - The Big Fish (The Big Fish).

12 - Obel Tower (Obel Tower).

13 - Clock Tower of Alberta (Albert Memorial Clock).

14 - City Hall (City Hall).

15 - Bazaar of San Jorge (St George's Market).

20 - Cathedral Santa Ana (St Anne's Cathedral, Anglican).

21 - Church of San Jorge (St George's Church, Anglican).

22 - Church Santa Maria (St Mary's Church, Ireland Naoimh Eaglais Mhuire, Catholic).

23 - St. Peter's Cathedral (St Peter's Cathedral, Ireland Ard Eaglais Naomh Peadar, Catholic).

30 - Museum and shipyard of Titanic (Titanic Belfast).

Fari

• Boat excursions. Highly recommended is the boat trip from the final barrier on the river (Logan Weir) along the harbor buildings (including the location of the ship Titanic was built) to the mouth in the sea, with opportunities to see seals.
• Belfast Film Festival (Belfast Film Festival, belfastfilmfestival.org), usually in March or April (in 2020 it occurred in November due to coronavirus).
• Belfast Marathon (Belfast Marathon, www.belfastcitymarathon.com). During 2021 two events are planned, on May 2 and September 19.
• Art festivals: Féile an Phobail (Irish words, festival.feilebelfast.com) and Belfast International Arts Festival (Belfast International Art Festival, belfastinternationalartsfestival.com), scheduled for 2021 in October.
• St. Patrick's Day (Saint Patrick's Day, Lá Fhéile Pádraig), on 17 March, is celebrated every year (except 2020 due to coronavirus) with a large parade almost as large as in Dublin.

Buy

Stores

Eat

Drink

To live

Campsites

Hostels

Hotels

Security

Esperanto

The 106th will take place in Belfast Universal Congress of Esperanto in July 2021 (July 17-24).

Local Esperantists

2 hosts of Passport Service^(2021/2) (including neighboring towns up to 20km).

Consulates

Visit further

• Armagh
• Strangford Rodo (Strangford Lough, Loch Cuan)
• Dublin

Remarks

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