Belfast Forum: Belfast early April/Easter

When does all that celebration start? I have our hotel just trying to figure flights from the USA. What is closed on Easter?

Celebration may not be an appropriate choice of word, but the sinking of the Titanic was on 15 April 1911. 15 April 2011 is Easter Sunday. If you can get accommodation locally it would be good to be around.

Some info here:

discovernorthernireland.com/Titanic-Belfast-…

It should be a great time to visit with all the Titanic commemorations going on. I think maybe commemoration is a better word than celebration!

No information available yet(it's all Christmas info at the moment) but the Belfast City Council website is good for information re shopping hours, closing of some attractions e.g. city hall tours.

belfastcity.gov.uk/holidayarrangements/cityh…

The Victoria Centre is a good shopping centre in the city centre but not too far from the Titanic Quarter.

I am certain tours to the Causeway will still be on - I was there on Easter Saturday this year at 6pm and it was busy (it was a beautiful day though which helped). You could contact some of the bus tour providers to check:

allensbelfastbustours.com/giantscausewayirel…

www.ulsterbustours.com/TourDescription.aspx…

http://www.minicoachni.co.uk/

www.paddywagontours.com/tourView.php?id=153

Agree with the others regarding the Titanic anniversary (except that it was in 1912, not 1911 - 100 years exactly, which is why it's supposed to be quite a big deal). If it stays on schedule, the new Titanic Belfast visitor experience should be newly opened during your stay, so that could be worth a visit:

http://www.titanicbelfast.com/

For anything else happening in the city, check out the Belfast City Council's Events page. There's not much on there now for your dates but more will be added closer to the time:

www.belfastcity.gov.uk/events/index.asp

As for things being opened or closed, it's kind of hard to tell right now. Belfast has restricted trading hours on Sundays anyway (1pm-6pm only) so apart from some cafés or restaurants, and places like museums, not a lot is open on Sunday mornings. Add in a public holiday like Easter and it can go one of two ways: either more places close to allow their staff time off, or more places open to take advantage of an influx of visitors. I would hope that with the Titanic anniversary going on at the same time, it would more likely be the latter, but we probably won't know for sure until a few weeks before I'm afraid.

Personally I think that the tour to the Causeway is a great idea for a Sunday - just make sure they're definitely running them that day. I did it myself recently with some family who visited (you can see my trip report at the link below) and it was a great way to occupy ourselves whilst everything in the city was closed:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g186470-i491-k4985…

A couple of weeks after that, we had some more visitors come to stay in Belfast for a flying visit and we ended up visiting the Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens instead on the Sunday morning, since those were some of the only real options available to us without a car. My favourite of the two was definitely the Causeway bus tour.

As for places to eat, there is a good little list of places that are open on Sunday mornings on this pdf (see page 3):

gotobelfast.com/PDF/Summer_Sundays_2011.pdf

Once trading hours start at 1pm you should be able to find somewhere to eat no problem. Of course if you do go for the causeway tour, you'll really only need to worry about breakfast and dinner anyway, since you'll be able to get lunch on the tour.

If you'd like any suggestions for dinner, give us an area of the city, an idea of price and a type of cuisine and we'll happily chip in with some ideas for you.

thanks for all the advice. you are correct in commemoration is probably more appropriate! I have booked my air, hotel and tickets to the new exhibition and the Giants Causeway tour. We will do the black ab tour as well. My daughter is there for the Irish Dance World Championships so we have that to focus on as well! A couple more questions, what should we pack that time of the year(first week of April)? Also the Allen Tour/Giants Causeway how long does that last? I know it begins at 9:30. Thanks again!

Easter Sunday is 8 April not 15 April

Wow good luck to your daughter for the Irish Dance World Championships :-)

What to pack... for any time of the year in Belfast I would always suggest that the key word is "layers". It could be fairly warm (although "hot" isn't really likely for April) or it could be cold and rainy, so it's best to prepare for both. Also, check the weather forecasts before you travel on a site like the BBC, weather.com or wunderground.com Also bring some good, sturdy footwear for the Causeway - if you're climbing over slippery rocks you need something with good grip!

As for the tour, I got the impression from our driver that it kind of depends on when everyone needs to be back in the city centre. We were back shortly after 6pm but that was because lots of people on-board said they needed to be back to get flights or trains elsewhere. If no-one had been in any particular rush I think our last few stops might have been a little longer and we would have been back a little later. You can always mention it to the driver when you're getting on if you need to be back for any specific time so they can plan accordingly.

P.S. Good point from Scott6 but I think all of the advice given is still appropriate regardless :-)

Easter 2010 we had snow on the ground (it was around 3rd April), Easter 2011 was sunny and warm - t-shirt and jeans weather. So 2012 is anyone's guess.

I would have to agree - layers is the only way to go - and include a fleece and some sort of rain jacket. Umbrellas aren't great on the north coast as it gets quite windy!!

"Easter Sunday is 8 April not 15 April"

Good news since I will likely be away over Easter ;-)