Belfast

This noble city is named for a mud bank and is built upon sludge. The lower River Lagan is tidal and receives a dozen small tributaries (nowadays culverted) which drop their silt, forming banks of sand and mud. The lowest point at which you could ford the river at low tide is where the Lagan road bridge now crosses, and in Irish this is Béal Feirste, "river-mouth of the sand-bank ford". The tributary joining at that point, the Farset, is likewise named for the mud bank, not vice versa. And besides the man-made channels and culverts, a great volume of water seeps through the alluvial silt on both sides of the Lagan. It's a slimy, thixotropic impediment to building — clay dug out of a trench quickly feels homesick and slides back in — and a deterrent to high-rise; but Paris grew up on similar foundations.

Pre-industrial Belfast was a small provincial place. It grew rapidly in the 18th century with the linen trade, and in the 19th with smokestack industry, especially ship-building along the estuary. It sucked in labour, including Catholics moving off the land. In 1921 Ireland was divided: Dublin and the Republic fell behind economically, while Belfast found itself the capital city of Northern Ireland and, after the Depression, busily tooling up to fight the Second World War.

By plane:

George Best Belfast City:

1 George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD IATA), Sydenham BT3 9JH (2 miles east of city centre), ☏ +44 28 9093 9093. This airport is close to the city centre. Most flights come from the rest of the UK, mainly by Aer Lingus which has a base here. Other destinations include London Heathrow (British Airways), Amsterdam (KLM), and Frankfurt (Lufthansa) all with global connections. Loganair fly from Aberdeen and Inverness. (updated Jan 2026)

Ground transport:

Bus 600 runs every 30 min from the airport to Queens Square, Victoria Square, Wellington Place and Grand Central Station. It runs 6AM-10PM daily, taking less than 15 min, adult single fare is £2.30 in 2026.

Taxis might cost £15 to most parts of the city, but check at the outset whether the fare you're quoted includes the £2.50 airport supplement, or the taxi driver may try to add it on when you arrive.

Train: Sydenham railway station is just southwest of the terminal and there's a free shuttle bus. Walk to the 600 bus stop and press the buzzer to call the shuttle. There's a footbridge over the busy dual carriageway to the railway halt, not ideal if you have lots of luggage. Sydenham is on the railway from Belfast via Holywood to Bangor on the coast, with trains 6AM - midnight every 20 min (hourly on Sundays). The adult fare in 2026 is £2.20 to the city and £5.70 to Bangor. So you can ride it to city centre for a trivial saving over the bus, but the main advantage is to reach southside locations (such as Botanic, for Queens University) for a single flat fare.

Belfast International Airport: