Free & Paid Parking in Belfast

Nicknamed the cultural ‘Athens’ of Ireland, Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the 12th largest city in the UK with a population of 345,000. It’s located on the east coast of Northern Ireland where the river Lagan meets the Irish sea. There are regular car ferries to and from Liverpool, and the world famous Titanic cruise ship was constructed in the Harland and Wolff shipbuilding yards before its fateful voyage to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

Belfast was founded in the 17th century, but there was also a settlement dating back to the bronze age. Interestingly there is a Neolithic henge called ‘Giant’s Ring’ dating back to roughly 2700 BC, which makes it even older than the pyramids. It’s located in Shaw’s Bridge, just to the south of the city and is definitely worth visiting. There’s a theory that it was used as a Neolithic religious site and burial ground.

Historically fascinating, Belfast played a huge part in the industrial revolution and the shipbuilding yards were a vital part of the British Empire’s industrial strength. Belfast was the world’s largest producer of linen at the beginning of the 19th century, with other big industries including rope production and tobacco processing. Belfast experienced massive unrest in the British led partition of Ireland in 1920 and the troubles in the 1990s, but these days everything has calmed down and no one should worry about visiting this wonderful city. Today you can visit The People’s Museum of the Troubles and the Peace in Belfast to understand the full picture.

Belfast has two major airports and 3 universities, with a huge diversity of cultures spread throughout the city. If you’re after a great night out you are guaranteed to find whatever it is you’re looking for, whether it’s a traditional Irish bar for a proper pint of Guinness accompanied with some Irish folk music, or something totally modern and cutting edge. There are some really vibrant live music venues in Belfast such as the John Hewitt Bar for some wicked live jazz, or The Tipsy Bird & Brewers Yard for original touring bands. There’s always something to keep you entertained in this bustling city, every night of the week.

The Titanic Belfast is a truly original looking museum from the outside as well as in, comprehensively covering the Titanic’s first and final journey. The museum isn’t all doom and gloom though, and gives a fantastic insight into how it would have been to be on the ship with interactive displays and recreated spaces. There’s a lot of really great information laid out in a genuinely interesting way, including how the wreck was discovered. It’s a guaranteed fun day out for all age groups.

If you’re into beautiful parks and open spaces, Belfast has an impressive 40 public parks in the city, as well as a magnificent botanical garden on the left bank of the river Lagan in the south of the city.

Belfast castle is another huge tourist magnet with 100s of thousands visiting each year. With an estimated 1.5million tourists visiting annually, Belfast can be pretty stressful to park in. We’ve scoured far and wide and found every free residential street parking location in the city centre, as well as all other paid and short term commercial parking options. Get out there and explore whilst saving yourself all the bother of looking for parking spots.