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Belfast Airport Taxis

Belfast International Airport, not to be confused with the smaller George Best International, is located near the village of Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, eighteen miles from the bright lights of the Irish capital.

The local transfer companies are well established, charging tourists £15 - £17 for a trip to the city centre. Journeys are usually billed per person, per mile but it is important to contact your chosen firm for exact figures.

Minibuses are charged at £38 (a meagre £4.75 per person) and can seat between six and eight people, ideal for group tours. Executive cars, likely an Audi A6 or Mercedes E-Class, are billed at a similar rate, equating to £1.75 per mile.

The Mercedes S-Class, a super-elite car, is always available, but expect to pay up to £50 for the privilege.

Be aware that many executive firms will charge a minimum fare – a one-mile journey is exactly the same price as a ten-mile journey; short trips can prove costly.

Whilst minicab firms and black cabs do offer the staple saloon journey, these firms can prove unreliable at peak times, especially on a Friday and Saturday night.

Value for Money

If you take the time to look around, you can hire almost any type of vehicle from transfer firms in the Belfast airport area - streetcars, water taxis and seaplanes, limousines and stretch limousines, complete with uniformed chauffeur, and everybody’s favourite, a helicopter.

Of course, the executive companies charge more than Bill and Ben’s Taxi Firm, but the added luxury is sure to take the edge off that seven-hour flight. Extra perks, such as bottled water and the newspaper of your choice, also come bundled with your booking.

Drivers will monitor your flight time, but any undue waiting can cost your dearly – up to £22 an hour.

Nervous travellers need not worry about getting lost, as a meet and greet service is provided by most of the taxi firms in Belfast, executive or otherwise.

Online booking and company account options take the headache out of taxi hire, and allow you to customise your journey down to the last detail. Credit and debit cards are also accepted online.

Parking charges may be added onto your total fare by the driver. Belfast International does not operate a free pick-up and drop-off zone, and all short-stay spaces are charged at £1 for thirty minutes, and £3.20 for the full hour. Cars cannot wait in the short stay areas for longer than two hours.

All of the taxi ranks in the Aldergrove area operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Troubles

Modern Belfast hatched from a very bloody egg – over thirty-five years of violence and warfare is etched onto every quarter of the city.

Giant murals are painted on buildings across Belfast, immortalising humanity in bright colour: lost battalions and soldiers, their faces sheathed behind black balaclavas, images of local industry, factories and great boats, and tributes to the late footballer, George Best.

Freedom and nationality are of course, the most prominent icons of 21st century Belfast.

There are hundreds of different murals in Belfast, and it would be impossible to list them all, but a handful of taxi companies do provide mural tours, helping tourists get to grips with the Troubles, now just a footnote in Ireland’s long and prosperous history. Guided tours cost around £10 for a ninety-minute trip.

A mural dedicated to Bobby Sands, an Irish Member of Parliament who died following a 66-day hunger strike, is located on Falls Road, 1.5 miles from the city centre, and just over £5 in a taxi.

Conflict aside, Belfast is also the home of the ill-fated RMS Titanic, and there are lots of relevant tours spread out across urban Belfast.

Sightseeing

St. George’s Market is arguably the most popular shopping arcade in Belfast, open on a Friday and Saturday morning. The market has sold some of the best local and continental food for over a century, and will host the next Christmas fair, come Tuesday 17th of November.

The market is located within Belfast city centre, around £15 in a taxi from the airport.

Ulster Museum is a paradise of antiquities, providing a home for Takabuti, an ancient Egyptian mummy, and a wealth of Iron Age and Neolithic artefacts.

The museum is within walking distance of the city centre (and the St. George’s Market), and costs nothing to visit. A £17m project to regenerate the museum has recently been completed.

Belfast Castle, an unusual red paint and sandstone building, is a wonderful old structure, seated atop Cave Hill. The castle is a popular location for weddings, and has verdant grounds.

A unique visitor’s centre, highlighting the history of the castle, is free to enter and explore. Belfast Castle is just four miles from the city centre.

The renovated City Hall is also worth a visit, and comes complete with a café and remembrance garden, as well as a cenotaph dedicated to the people who died during the Second World War.

Like the Museum and St. George's Market, the City Hall is located within Belfast city centre.