Belfast City Centre Walking Tour: A Detailed Journey into The Troubles
5.0
2,003 Ratings
Belfast
Embark on a 2.5-hour walking tour of Belfast City Centre to delve into the history of 'the Troubles'. Explore significant locations, hear personal stories, and gain a unique understanding of the recent past.
Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • City Hall - In the grounds of Belfast City Hall your guide will introduce you to the tour and also give an introduction to the history of the Troubles. The introduction sets the scene for the rest of the tour, explaining the centuries old relationships between the British and the Irish and how and why the Troubles started in the late 1960s.
What's Included
  • Local guide
  • Headsets to hear the guide clearly
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

In a 150-minute tour, our expert local tour guides take you on a time-travel expedition to the heart of Belfast. They will narrate the inception of ‘the Troubles’, take you to the sites where pivotal moments transpired, and provide an overview of the journey towards peace and potential future hurdles. The insight into the realities of experiencing the conflict and its ubiquitous presence will deepen your understanding. The narration is grounded in facts and historical accuracy to maintain impartiality. The guides, also being conflict historians, add their personal narratives to their guided tours offering you a living history experience, enabling you to visualise the 1970s Belfast and gain a special comprehension of the not-so-distant past. The tour commences every day at 10:30 AM.

  • A moderate amount of walking is involved (1.5 miles)
  • Minimum age is 12 years
  • The tour will take place regardless of the weather. Please check the forecast and dress accordingly
  • A waterproof jacket is recommended just in case of showers, as is warm clothing during the winter months
  • Belfast City Center is completely flat, so no hills or steps are involved. However, comfortable footwear is advised
Location
Donegall Square North
We meet at the front gates of Belfast City Hall in Donegall Square North. The tour starts every day at 10.30am. Your guide will be wearing a black jacket or t-shirt with the DC Tours logo on the left breast.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(2003 Ratings)
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Tom_w
Mar 28, 2024
Best tour guide Jim - Jim’s knowledge of where the bombings were and his knowledge of the different factions involved in the fighting. I can’t imagine there is a better tour guide. He kept us interested the whole time the rain didn’t dampen the experience, thx Jim!
Review provided by Viator
_amonm150
Mar 23, 2024
Informative and entertaining - Just perfect! The guide we had is deeply knowledgeable and a great communicator. Even the poor weather didn’t dampen the spirit of the group.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Patrick
Mar 10, 2024
D C tour in Belfast - Excellent tour with very knowledgeable and friendly guide. Certainly gave a great explanation of the history of Belfast, some of the causes for “the troubles”, a detailed report of some of the worst atrocities and the agreements that have led to the peace and development of this modern, thriving and exciting city. The tour progressed at a gentle pace but you do need to dress appropriately. My advice, wrap up warmly and wear appropriate, comfortable footwear
Review provided by Tripadvisor
164angelikik
Feb 29, 2024
A tour you shouldn't miss! - We did today the tour called "A History of Terror - Belfast City Centre Walking Tour"- it was a fantastic experience, highly recommended and gave us a great insight into the past of the city of Belfast but also of the current state of affairs. Our guide, James, was an amazing guide. He had to unpack a lot of traumatic historical events but managed to do it with a very neutral, informative and entertaining way. It gave us a lot of food for thought and made us even more interested about the modern history of Ireland. Highly recommended to anyone visiting Belfast (you haven't really visited the city without this background knowledge). Thank you James for the wonderful day and thank you DC tours for the organisation!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aidanhuxford
Jan 13, 2024
A difficult topic sensitively handled - The Terror tour is a must-do activity: hardly a cheerful experience - though there are heartening stories built into it - but wonderfully informative, unbiased which gives both a sound overview and detailed examination of individual incidents. The guide was very friendly and easy to listen to, while showing all the signs of being a real scholar.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dream115748
Dec 30, 2023
Excellent - Excellent, Informative and Interesting tor of Belfast’s history delivered in a small and personal group. A must do for everyone.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Desmondk169
Nov 13, 2023
Excellent tour which should not be missed if you want to understand Belfast. - This was an excellent tour. It was a short walk around the city centre, starting with an TED Talk level overview of the history of Ireland, then a tour around some very nondescript locations in Belfast City Centre where incidents happened, with our guide painting a detailed and fascinating picture of each event, including names and timelines and interesting details, photographic material and a seemingly infinite patience for questions. Most of the stories were brutal and shocking, but if you're signing up for a "terror tour" you're already expecting that. What really made it stand out was our guide, Paul Donnelly, who has a wonderful way of breaking your natural sense of horror at the stories with a perfectly-timed joke or distraction. Paul really made the tour for us, and if you're lucky enough to get him as a guide you'll see why. His life history and community/civil involvement make him really the perfect person to give you this tour. If you're looking to understand the history of this town, I could not recommend it more.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Louise_h
Oct 6, 2023
Outstanding - I did not expect such a well respected historian of the time to lead our tour. James was outstanding!
Review provided by Viator
Robertwc8854jl
Sep 23, 2023
Educational and a little depressing - Finn was our guide, very knowledgeable. I'd sort of known this but the Troubles aren't just history here. One can only hope for the best and as Finn says, laugh if you can.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lee
Sep 18, 2023
Very informative - Excellent walking tour. Mark provided a very in-depth and fact-based history of the troubles and the events leading up to them. Also pointed out a bunch of great spots/points of general interest in the city as we went.
Review provided by Viator
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