{"id":12921,"date":"2017-05-16T10:10:50","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T14:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/?p=12921"},"modified":"2017-05-22T07:52:20","modified_gmt":"2017-05-22T11:52:20","slug":"traveling-to-belfast-with-kids-family-travel-in-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/16\/traveling-to-belfast-with-kids-family-travel-in-northern-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling to Belfast with Kids: Family Travel in Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>This post is part of my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/oh-the-places-weve-been\/\">Traveling Tuesday Series<\/a>. Also see my\u00a0post on traveling to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/18\/dublin-ireland\/\">Dublin<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/04\/cork-galway-and-waterford-ireland\/\">Western Ireland<\/a>.<\/em><\/h5>\n<p>During our time in Dublin, we took the opportunity to travel to Northern Ireland and few times. Our first trip was a quick weekend mostly to get some needed baby items that were harder to find or much more expensive in the Republic. Our second trip was purely for sight-seeing a few months before we moved back to Florida.<\/p>\n<h2>Here are the basics of traveling to Belfast\u00a0with kids:<\/h2>\n<h3>Getting Around<\/h3>\n<p>We always rented a car in Dublin to drive up to Belfast. While we did some walking around the downtown city centre area, pretty much everything we wanted to see and do was easiest to get to by car. Belfast is a unique city with a lot of history so we also enjoyed having the car and being able to drive through different areas and neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<h3>Kid Accessibility<\/h3>\n<p>The city centre of Belfast is easy enough to get around with kids in buggies\/strollers though we opted to carry or have the girls walk most places we visited and parking was always close enough to not need a buggy.<\/p>\n<h2>Preparing for a trip to Belfast with Kids:<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m big on planning our trips ahead of time because traveling with kids makes things just a little bit more complicated as they aren\u2019t always very patient when you don\u2019t have a plan so I always did a lot of research and planning before our trips. Check out my tips and advice for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/22\/hotel-hunting\/\">Finding the perfect hotel<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/06\/tips-for-travel-pre-planning\/\">Pre-Planning\u00a0as much as possible<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/28\/planning-sites-see\/\">finding the best Sights to See<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2015\/02\/25\/pack-ages-stages\/\">Packing for the kids<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What to see and do in Belfast\u00a0with Kids:<\/h2>\n<h3>We spent, in total, three days exploring Belfast with kids\u00a0and went to the following places:<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13030 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids.png\" alt=\"Traveling to Belfast, Northern Ireland with Kids: What to see and do in the Northern Ireland Capital of Belfast including Giant's Causeway, the Titanic experience, St. George's Market and Belfast Castle\" width=\"718\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids.png 718w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-300x193.png 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-600x385.png 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-390x250.png 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 718px) 100vw, 718px\" \/><\/h3>\n<h3>Belfast Castle<\/h3>\n<p>Belfast Castle is situated above the city in Cave Hill Park\u00a0which offers a grand playground, biking and hiking trails, and the famous rock, Napoleon&#8217;s Nose, which is said to have been the inspiration for <em>Gulliver&#8217;s Travels<\/em>. We spent\u00a0our visit exploring the castle grounds where there are cat statues, murals and topiaries throughout.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-13025\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-castle-1024x942.jpg\" alt=\"Traveling to Belfast with kids: Belfast Castle and Cave Hill Park\" width=\"806\" height=\"741\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-castle-1024x942.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-castle-300x276.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-castle-600x552.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-castle-272x250.jpg 272w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-castle-390x359.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-castle.jpg 1944w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 806px) 100vw, 806px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Giant&#8217;s Causeway<\/h3>\n<p>No visit to Northern Ireland would be complete without a drive out to Giant&#8217;s Causeway. The naturally occurring black basalt columns are fascinating and the view over the sea is breathtaking. There&#8217;s different walking paths to explore that take you to some of the natural stone structures like the Giant&#8217;s Boot and Wishing Chair but adventurous visitors can also climb on the columns or take a stroll over the\u00a0Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-13026\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/giants-causeway-northern-ireland-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"Traveling to Northern Ireland with Kids: Giant's Causeway\" width=\"806\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/giants-causeway-northern-ireland-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/giants-causeway-northern-ireland-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/giants-causeway-northern-ireland-600x399.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/giants-causeway-northern-ireland-376x250.jpg 376w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/giants-causeway-northern-ireland-390x260.jpg 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 806px) 100vw, 806px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Titanic\u00a0Belfast<\/h3>\n<p>The Titanic experience, which opened just prior to our visit in 2012, is one of my most favorite museums we did anywhere in Europe. The museum features historical information and artifacts as well as amazing interactive exhibits that we enjoyed as much as our girls who were young at the time (just shy of their 4th and 2nd birthdays). This is definitely on my &#8220;must see&#8221; list if we are able to visit Northern Ireland again in the future!<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-13027\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/titanic-belfast-museum-1024x689.jpg\" alt=\"Traveling to Belfast with Kids: Titanic Experience\" width=\"806\" height=\"542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/titanic-belfast-museum-1024x689.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/titanic-belfast-museum-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/titanic-belfast-museum-600x404.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/titanic-belfast-museum-371x250.jpg 371w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/titanic-belfast-museum-390x263.jpg 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 806px) 100vw, 806px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>St. George&#8217;s Market<\/h3>\n<p>St. George&#8217;s Market is a Victorian covered market in the city centre of Belfast, open Friday-Sunday.\u00a0It features different local vendors depending on the day from crafts, antiques, books and clothing to fresh foods and fish. The building is beautiful and we really enjoyed poking around the market during our visit to Belfast.<\/p>\n<h3>Other things to see and do in Belfast with kids:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Botanic Gardens<\/li>\n<li>Ulster Museum<\/li>\n<li>Belfast Zoo<\/li>\n<li>W5 Science Museum<\/li>\n<li>Carrickfergus Castle<\/li>\n<li>Ulster Folk and Transport Museum<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/532269249701108076\/\">Pin it!<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/532269249701108076\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-13029 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-pin.png\" alt=\"Traveling to Belfast, Northern Ireland with Kids: What to see and do in the Northern Ireland Capital of Belfast including Giant's Causeway, the Titanic experience, St. George's Market and Belfast Castle\" width=\"576\" height=\"816\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-pin.png 576w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-pin-300x425.png 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-pin-176x250.png 176w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-pin-212x300.png 212w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/belfast-with-kids-pin-390x553.png 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post is part of my Traveling Tuesday Series. Also see my\u00a0post on traveling to Dublin\u00a0and Western Ireland. During our time in Dublin, we took the opportunity to travel to Northern Ireland and few times. Our first trip was a quick weekend mostly to get some needed baby items that were harder to find or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[586],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oh-the-places-weve-been"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12921"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13032,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12921\/revisions\/13032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}