To discover the most historic parts of Belfast, you might try Old Town: 1660-1685 (tel. 028/9024-6609), which traces the old city walls and explores the oldest part of the city at 2pm Saturdays (£5/$9.50). From May to September, the Historical Pub Tours of Belfast (tel. 028/9268-3665) departs twice a week from the Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street and then travels on to six of the city's pubs. Tours are Thursday at 7pm and Saturday at 4pm, take 2 hours, and cost £6 ($11), not including drinks.
Tour the Troubles -- For many years, Belfast was best known for its most conflicted neighborhoods, where in the 1970s protests occurred daily, and in the 1980s violence was the norm. Now that peace has grudgingly descended upon the Catholic Falls Road and its nearby parallel, the Protestant Shankill Road, there's a growing industry around exploring the city's most infamous sectarian neighborhoods. The best tours are given by the various "Black Cabs," which take groups of one to five people in London-style cabs through the neighborhoods, past the barbed wire, towering fences, and partisan murals, as guides explain their significance. There are a number of these tour groups, and quality varies considerably, but the 2-hour Black Taxi Tour (tel. 0800/052-3914; www.belfasttours.com) is highly recommended. Its drivers are relaxed, patient, and amazingly unbiased (my driver let me guess at the end of the tour whether he was Catholic or Protestant . . . I guessed wrong). The fare is £25 ($48) for the first two passengers, or £8 ($15) per person for three or more passengers.
