Black Taxi Tour: Belfast
If you visit Northern Ireland and ask for any advice on what you should do, most people will say to take a Black Cab tour. And I did not fully understand why until we listened to this advice and took a tour one summer day.
These political tours take you through the murals of Belfast and help make the Troubles more real. If you visit Belfast on your own, you might find yourself down by the Titanic museum or the W5 museum with children, or wandering around the grounds of Queen’s University, but you will likely not find yourself on the Falls road or Shankhill road.
Anyone who has a small interest in history should book Belfast Belfast Political & Mural Tour.
Our 5-year-old stands by the wall in Belfast.
Can you bring a child on a Black Taxi Tour?
The answer is yes and no.
We emailed our guide at Belfast Tours ahead of time to make sure she could attend.
Our guide, William, was great about making sure that he did not use any strong language during the tour, and we brought headphones for our daughter so she would be able to listen to a show or music while we learned about the history. She was able to hop in and out with us at the stops.
Shankhill Road mural
What to expect on a Black Taxi Tour
We booked a private tour which was £105 ($140) pounds for the three of us (2 adults and 1 child). Don’t forget to save some cash for tip.
Pick-up:
If you are staying in the city, you can request your tour guide to pick you up from the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Belfast City Center, so we were within the pick-up zone.
Timing:
Our tour was just shy of 90 minutes, which was perfect for our family. Our planned time was 1 hour, so just schedule a little extra space.
Your Guide:
Your guide will take slowly drive you through the city, telling you stories. With Belfast Tours, all of the guides are Belfast natives who lived through the Troubles in the 90s.
Our guide did not tell us what his background was, and aimed to present an impartial overview.
What you will see:
Mural, murals, murals: The murals tell the story of the city. Some have been here a long time, some are new. The community is actively using the walls of apartment complexes to also help shift the narrative in the city, so some have been painted over.
Memorials: In addition to the murals, you will find memorials to the people whose lives were lost.
The Wall: You’ve likely heard of the Berlin Wall, but the Belfast Wall is even taller. Again, you would likely not see this unless you are with a guide, as it’s not in downtown Belfast or in the tourist areas. On Google maps the wall is called “the Peace wall,” but as our guide said, walls generally are not used for peace, they are used to separate people.
Bobby Sands Memorial/ Mural
Memorial to 1969 attacks
Memorial to William Buckey McCullough
The wall- full of graffiti, posters, art work, and signatures of tourists
What to read or watch before visiting Belfast and Northern Ireland?
I am an English teacher and a history nerd, so I dug into some pop culture and nonfiction before visiting Belfast.
I watched:
Derry Girls, created by Lisa McGee, a Derry native (set in Derry during the 1990s)
Belfast, directed by Kenneth Branagh, a Belfast native (who moved during the Troubles)
I read:
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (*affiliate)
Our guide recommended:
The Troubles by Tim Pat Coogan (*affiliate)
Read more about our summer travels in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
