Black Taxi Tour Belfast: What You Can Expect

Learning About The History Of The Troubles

One of the things that we love about travelling is the ability to learn about different locations around the world. Many times, tours will be focused on beautiful, natural spots or deep, rich cultural backgrounds. However, there are also places that have a dark historical past, such as South Africa or Rwanda, that we found important to learn from. Belfast in Northern Ireland is a fantastic city nowadays, but it also has a dark history with the time known as the Troubles.

The city has many murals and memorials that highlight this difficult period, and the best way to learn about the struggle is by taking a tour called the Black Taxi Tour Belfast.  Driving in an authentic Hackney taxi cab, this is a unique way to meet a local who lived through the timeframe and hear a detailed account of what took place during those years. 

Starting in the 1960s, the whole of Northern Ireland had religious conflicts that led to intense internal feuding. It was an extremely violent time and unfortunately lasted for more than 30 years. During this time, there were many lives lost in the major cities of Belfast and Derry, and it only stopped following a Peace Treaty, called the Good Friday Agreement, that was signed in 1998.

Highlights Of The Iconic Black Taxi Ride

What Is The Best Black Cab Tour In Belfast?

There are different tours available that each have a slightly different focus. One is the Mural Tour, and another is the Belfast Political Tour. Both cover the same general information, only with an emphasis on one or the other topic. While we have visited other cities with murals, such as Buenos Aires and Lyon, the pieces of artwork in Belfast had a far more serious outlook on the history of the city.

We found the Mural Tour that we took to be an incredible experience. Our driver Mark is the owner of the company and delivered the information about this time period in a factual, unbiased way. It was deeply personal as he added accounts and stories about his own relatives. He brought us to the major locations and explained in great detail the significance of what had happened here. 

He was also open to many questions, and we had an honest discussion about how things are currently within the country. These are the types of things you discover from speaking frankly with a local. Visiting these sights on your own just doesn’t have the same impact as being shared by someone who lived through it firsthand.

✅ If you would like a very knowledgeable guide to share the dark history of The Troubles, we can highly recommend this tour that we took. It provided an insightful and personal look at this difficult time.

What You Will See On A Belfast Black Taxi Tour

Right away, we realized that our tour was taking us into areas that we wouldn’t have visited by just wandering around Belfast. These were residential neighbourhoods, many with large caging, barbed wire and strong metal fences with gates still intact. This was an area with serious defensive structures in place. There were a lot of stops during the tour and they will vary depending on the guide, but we will make mention of a few notable locations in these neighbourhoods, outlined below.

The Falls Road

Falls Road is a Nationalist and Republican area with its residents being traditionally Catholic. This group generally wanted to be separate from British rule. Although during The Troubles, this was a divided time.

After rioting took place in the late 1960s, and several Catholics were killed, the British came in to defend the residents. However, their tactics of putting the area on curfew and confiscating their weapons were not appreciated. This led to an uprising against the British Army and resulted in many casualties. The unrest resulted in a further division, with many eventually lending their support to the IRA (Irish Republican Army).

A large section of murals in this area, on Divis Street, is The International Wall, that are dedicated to global social and political issues. There are many revolutionary leaders depicted here, showcasing their contributions to peace around the world, and the murals are updated to reflect the changing times.

One very important sight is the striking mural painted on the side of a building, portraying the young Bobby Sands. He was a strong leader in the IRA, and during his last of many prison sentences, he died after a 66-day hunger strike that was initiated surrounding demands for prisoner rights. His actions raised global awareness of the ongoing issues in Northern Ireland.

With more than 3500 people dying during this time, there are many memorials installed around the neighbourhoods. A significant one is Clonard Martyrs Memorial Garden. It is a substantial space that houses a large placard with the names of IRA members, political activists and ex-prisoners from this area who were killed during The Troubles. It is also an acknowledgement of the many houses that were burned down in the area.

Its location, set right under the massive wall that separates the two sides, seems quite deliberate. From here, you could see that houses still have caging surrounding them, even almost 30 years after the official end of the conflict. Our guide told us they are making slow progress.

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Shankill Road

Shankill is a mainly Loyalist and Unionist area, with its residents being predominantly Protestant. This population considers itself British and wants to remain within the United Kingdom.

Shankill originally housed the headquarters of the Ulster Defence Association, and unfortunately, many people lost their lives in this area, including a horrific bombing in a fish and chips shop that went awry and killed nine innocent civilians. 

Another major memorial is the Bayardo Bomb Mural. This piece was erected to recognize the 5 innocent people who were killed and the 60 who were injured in a pub shooting and bombing. Unfortunately, this is just one of the many attacks that were undertaken in different pubs in the area.

Since this is the Loyalist neighbourhood, there are many signs of British allegiance, including very large murals dedicated to the Monarchy. At the time of our visit, Queen Elizabeth had only recently passed away, and the city was still in mourning.

The murals on this side have a different look to them – many with people’s images and a very angry and accusatory tone. It is a sobering display.

Belfast Peace Wall

As things escalated in the late 1960s, the British Army constructed what they called peace lines between the Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods in the hopes of keeping them separated. These original barriers were only corrugated metal with barbed wire, but as the conflict continued, the barricades were upgraded to more permanent structures made from brick and steel. That is what visitors see today.

There are more than 60 walls in Belfast, with the most prominent being Cuper Way that separates the Falls Road and Shankill Road neighbourhoods. This is such a long stretch that there are roads and gates cut into it to facilitate crossing points. The gates are closed every night, even now.

The wall is covered with graffiti, and people are encouraged to write a message of inspiration or hope on the wall, so we each left a short inscription.

When we asked about why the walls haven’t been demolished after all this time, we were told that there was a proposal to take them down, but it isn’t a popular decision. Since it still hasn’t happened, it seems the people of Belfast are not quite ready for those protective barriers to be removed.

Belfast Murals

While we highlighted some of the most popular murals above, it is important to note that there are many, many more to see in and around the western part of Belfast. Almost every little neighbourhood has some kind of painting or poster depicting its individual story related to The Troubles. While the meesages are grave, it is an important part of their history and hopefully a daily reminder for future generations of what not to repeat.

Is A Black Cab Tour In Belfast Worth It?

We found a Belfast Taxi Tour to be a unique and positive way to learn about this disturbing part of history. The facts are difficult to understand, but the delivery of the information by our taxi driver was extremely well done and gave us tremendous insight into the past of the people who live here.

✅ Be sure to check out the 5-star Black Taxi tour that we booked. Our guide gave us incredible personal insight and all the facts about this area in Belfast. We visited all the major sites and learned a lot.

How Long Is The Black Cab Tour Belfast?

The standard tour is typically 90 minutes but can be customized to your preferences. The tour that we used picked us up at our hotel and dropped us off at the Market when we were done.  Not all companies will pick you up and drop you off anywhere in the city centre, so be sure to check those details when making your reservation.

Places To Stay In Belfast

The hotel we stayed at in Belfast, The Fitzwilliam Hotel, was fantastic. It had very spacious and nicely decorated rooms. The onsite restaurant served a great breakfast and nice cocktails. Highly recommended. Other centrally located and highly rated options would be room2 Belfast or Ten Square Belfast.

The Final Word…Taking A Black Taxi Tour Belfast

If you are visiting Belfast city, we highly recommend taking this important tour to learn about Belfast’s history. It was eye-opening and really provided us with both sides of the story of what exactly happened during that dark time. We would consider it one of the best things to do in Belfast.

Be sure to read our other blog posts for help with planning your trip, including a suggested itinerary for your time in Belfast and the other fabulous sights that you can see in Northern Ireland.