City Transport and Tours
Although you can easily walk around the city centre, distances to some of the outlying attractions are considerable, and a number of places to stay are also a little way out. The excellent Citybus company provides frequent buses to almost every conceivable Belfast destination, while the blue and white long-distance services of Ulsterbus - which principally covers Northern Ireland outside Belfast - connect to some of the sights on the city's fringes. Almost all local buses set off from or pass through Donegall Square or the streets immediately around it, right at the city centre. You can pick up a network map from the tourist office or the Citybus kiosk in Donegall Square West (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat 8.30am-5.30pm; bus information on tel 028/9024 6485). Note that routes are combined on Sundays and, consequently, have different numbers. Citybus fares are determined by a zonal system. The city centre is covered by the Inner Zone and fares for journeys within it cost 50p; most other journeys cost 90p, though all Sunday fares are a flat-rate 60p. You can pay on board - make sure you have enough small change - but if you're intending to visit any of the suburban attractions, you'll save time and a little money if you buy a multi-journey ticket in advance (GBP3.20 for four journeys, from newsagents and other shops citywide). You push the ticket into a machine (or get the driver to do it) to cancel one journey each time you travel - two people can use the same ticket as long as it is cancelled twice. Ulsterbus serves the routes from the city centre to the outer suburbs; fares are on a sliding scale depending on how far you go. Citystopper buses provide an additional service on the Falls Road in West Belfast and the Lisburn Road in South Belfast (#523-538). Weekend late-night Citybus services run from Donegall Square West along nine routes (Fri & Sat nights at 1am & 2.30am; GBP3 single journey, GBP10 multi-journey ticket covering four trips). If you're planning a lot of bus travel, it may be worth plumping for one of the Citybus travel cards . A day ticket costs GBP3.30 (if you use it Mon-Fri before 9.30am) or GBP2.60 (if you use it Mon-Fri after 9.30am or any time at weekends). Other options are a silver card (GBP7.50 for seven days' unlimited travel in one of three city sectors: North Belfast, West and South Belfast, or East Belfast) or a gold card (GBP11.50 for seven days' unlimited travel throughout the entire City zone). A recent innovation to aid the footsore is Citybus's City Hopper service, which departs hourly from Castle Place (end May to early Sept Tues-Sat 10am-4pm; tel 028/9045 8484; GBP5). This takes a circular tour of the city and allows passengers to hop on or off at nine stops en route (such as the harbour, Waterfront Hall, university and Grand Opera House). Citybus also runs a couple of guided tours by bus of Belfast which can save time and shoe leather. Both leave from Castle Place and cost GBP8.50 (call 028/9045 8484 for details). The City Tour (Wed & Sat 1pm) lasts three and a half hours and includes the architectural highlights. More recent history is covered by the two-and-a-half-hour Living History Tour which includes visits to both West and East Belfast (Thurs & Sun 1pm). West Belfast is one of the features of Black Taxi Tours (tel 0800/052 3914 or tel 028/9064 2264; www.belfasttours.com ) which runs a 90-minute tour of the Falls and Shankill roads (including murals and the Peace Line), plus Milltown Cemetery, the docks and the university. Tours, which must be pre-booked, leave daily at 10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm (with an additional 8pm tour during the summer), and cost from GBP7.50 per person.
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