We found Belfast disarming and charming, and I look forward to returning sometime. My experience has been that the media can give visitors a very distorted impression of any area that is only curable by an onsite visit so that we may form our own opinion. And our opinion of Belfast/Ireland is very, very favorable.
A good tip is to check out the triangle bounded by Newtownards, Bangor, and Belfast. While driving is somwhat perilous on the narrow roads, if you hire a car and take the A2/A20/A21 and the roads via Craigantlet you get two different experiences of Northern Ireland - the urban metropolis and the country lanes where the only living being you're sharing the view with is a cow or two. People are very friendly and 75% of the city (basically anything that isn't west!) is unaffected by the troubles.
What a beautiful town! Everyone I met was so friendly. My husband comes from Dungiven. We have been in the States for quite a while, but it was great to visit and meet all the family. I myself am from Glasgow, Scotland.
I'm English and my girlfriend lives in a Catholic area of North Belfast. I've never felt unsafe there once. It has its problems like any other city but as long as you're not brash and loud about religion and politics, it's fine. I like it that much, I'm moving there.
I spent nine woderful months in Cushendall and I have very good memories of a very quiet but pleasant time over there.
Newcastle is a great night out, shame it's so far away from everywhere!
It's rubbish to say that Belfast is unsafe for women - it is no more unsafe than the rest of the UK and as a student from Belfast living in London and Manchester I would say it is a lot safer. If you stick to the city centre, university area, Lisburn Road, and the Oddysey complex to go out in, it's fine. There are some great bars and clubs about and the people are friendly - it's not a huge city but you'll have a great time - especially if you travel out to the coast or into the country! As for the troubles, it is a small minority of people that have anything to do with the unrest and only certain areas of the city. Do not be put off by the emphasis and exaggerations of the media!
I grew up in Newcastle and it is far away from everything else. However, I had the most magnificent childhood in Newcastle, as there was always so much to explore. You could ride your horses and bikes just about anywhere -- I loved it.
Downhill is a tiny village 13km west of Coleraine with a great beach which is good for surfing if you can stand the water temperature (brrrr).
Belfast is a lovely place with lovely, friendly people and very helpful. They have a great sense of humor -- great craic.
Belfast is an amazing city. I found it quite safe (same rules apply here as they do anywhere else in the world: don't walk around at 3am by yourself, etc etc) and the people of Belfast are among the friendliest I've ever met.
Belfast is a really interesting place to visit. As a visitor from outside, I would say you are generally safe. For example everyone seems to feel the need to view the murals via a black cab tour, but walking around in the sectarian areas really isn't dangerous, as long as you have somewhat of a clue about what it's all about and don't put your foot in it (don't wear a Celtic top or a Union Jack)! The next generation seems to be making an effort to move on from the conflict, but a lot of the pubs we went into still seemed quite rough, macho, and a bit intimidating. There's probably somewhere in town with nice, funky bars that we just didn't find.
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