Situated at the mouth of the River Lagan at the Belfast Lough, Belfast is surrounded by low-lying hills, making flying into Belfast the easiest way to get there.
There are two airports in Belfast: George Best Belfast City Airport, which is just two miles from Belfast city center (airport code BHD), and Belfast International Airport, which is further from Belfast than the City Airport but has many more international destinations (airport code BFS).
Belfast George Best City Airport offers arriving and departing passengers a spectacular view of the Belfast City or Belfast Lough. It mainly serves UK and Irish domestic flights, as well as BMI and BA Connect through the extensive global connections of its long-haul networks and alliances.
Airlines using Belfast George Best City Airport include Arann (to Cork); Euromanx (to the Isle of Man); Manx 2 (to Blackpool and the Isle of Man); BMI (to London Heathrow, with connections to the international network of BMI and Star Alliance); and BA Connect (to Manchester, with connections to the international network of BA and One World Alliance). Other airlines include Aer Air Berlin (to London Stansted, with connections to Dusseldorf, Hanover, Leipzig, Münster/Osnabruck, Nuremberg, Paderborn and Vienna); and flybe (to Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield, Edinburgh, Exeter, Galway, Glasgow, Guernsey, Inverness, Jersey, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool John Lennon, London Gatwick, Newcastle, Southampton and Manchester).
Belfast International Airport has a significantly higher number of international destinations than George Best Belfast City Airport.
Airlines using Belfast International Airport include Manx2 (to the Isle of Man); Globespan (to Orlando Sanford); Zoom (to Toronto and Vancouver); Wizz Air (to Warsaw and Katowice); BMIbaby (to Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Nottingham East Midlands); and Jet2 (to Alicante, Barcelona, Blackpool, Leeds Bradford, Prague, Malaga, Murcia, Milan, Palma, Pisa and Tenerife South). Other airlines include Continental Airlines (to New York and Newark, with connections to the international network of Continental and Skyteam Alliance); and Easyjet (to Alicante, Amsterdam, Berlin Schoenefeld, Bristol, Edinburgh, Faro, Geneva, Glasgow, Krakow, Liverpool John Lennon, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted, Malaga, Newcastle, Nice, Palma, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Rome ciampino).
Overseas travelers can also enter Belfast from Dublin Airport, which is about 100 miles south of the city. Ryanair, Aer Arann and the national carrier Aer Lingus provide services to many European and North American destinations, including New York, Los Angeles and Boston.
Northern Ireland Railways also maintains a reliable passenger rail network for travelers who want to visit Belfast by train. Northern Ireland Railways, a division of Northern Ireland public transport operator Translink, has four train lines running from Belfast: Belfast – Bangor; Belfast Portadown; Belfast-Larne; and Belfast – Coleraine – Londonderry/Derry or Portrush.
The Portadown – Belfast – Bangor corridor is considered the most reliable route, especially as it is doubled by new trains offering frequent and fast suburban service. The line to Londonderry/Derry is considered the most beautiful, especially the section along the north coast after Coleraine. However, this line is about half an hour slower than the Ulsterbus Goldline express coach that runs the same route.
It is also possible to travel to Belfast by bus, particularly via Ulsterbus, the division of Translink that operates the intercity bus network. Ulsterbus has two services to Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as two services to London via Manchester and Birmingham every day. Travelers can also book day trips from Dublin to Belfast on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Like Ulsterbus, Bus Éireann also operates cross-border services covering almost all intercity routes in the Republic of Ireland. In addition, the independent bus operator Aircoach provides a regular service along the route from Belfast to Dublin Airport and Dublin.
Several shipping lines ply the Irish Sea, connecting Belfast with mainland Britain. These operators run numerous special promotions throughout the year and also sell tickets through links with train and bus services.
Stena Line is a leading shipping line that travels to and from Belfast. It offers two types of service from the port of Belfast to Stranraer in Scotland, with up to six departures per day. This includes the HSS Stena Voyages, a high-speed catamaran considered to be the fastest ferry to mainland Britain from Northern Ireland, and the Stena Caledonia, which is the slower, more traditional ferry. There are also three daily departures from Larne to Fleetwood, near Liverpool.
In addition, the Norfolk Line has crossings to Birkenhead near Liverpool by day and by night, with cabins and meals available. For more information on how to get to Belfast by boat, visit Seat61.com for timetables and special promotions, as well as helpful advice on, for example, how to book a combined train and ferry ticket from any train station in Great Britain. Britain to Northern Ireland.