Titanic Belfast

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We have taken four of our children to Belfast for a few days on our short tour of the North of Ireland. Staying at the Crowne Plaza Belfast for the first two nights, we decided to take them all to the Titanic Belfast Exhibition on the site of the drydock which launched the Titanic over 111 years ago. We didn’t know what to expect, but we all had a great time and learned a lot about both the Titanic and Belfast.

The Exhibition is a story of how Belfast became a centre of ship-building, how the Titanic and other ships were built, and how it set sail on its maiden voyage. The sinking and later efforts to explore the wreck are examined in a modern and engaging manner as well.

The Titanic Belfast is found on the dockside, overlooking the ramps that launched the Titanic from Belfast on 31 May 1911. The exhibition centre which houses it is built on the site of the Harland & Wolff ship builders yard, and was built to commemorate 100 years of the sinking of RMS Titanic. It opened in 2012.

Parking is found beneath the museum and costs only £2 for the first hour and £1 per hour after that. Access to and around the museum is by lift or escalator, and is very friendly for buggy and wheelchair users. The surrounding area is partially pedestrianised and forms the Titanic Quarter of Belfast.

The cost of the Titanic Experience is £21.50 for adults and £10 for children. Carers are free and under fives are free. You can queue up and pay for tickets on arrival, or you can do what we did and buy the tickets online, printing them on arrival at the self-serve printers. You need to choose a time slot (every 10 minutes) and try to arrive then. We had to book in two time slots as it didn’t think enough tickets were free, but we were let in as one group anyway. The tickets also include entry to RMS Nomadic, the last remaining ship belonging to the White Star Line. This ship acted as tender to Titanic in 1912, and today floats near to the museum.

The Titanic Belfast experience is spread over four floors. The first floor covers the history of Belfast during the industrial revolution and later, and describes how people lived in the early 1900s. Towards the end of the floor it moved towards the construction of the Titanic before a lift takes you up to the top of the building.

An excellent slow-moving ride takes you around a tour of the shipyard with stories from the workers. It was surprisingly enjoyable and informative.

On the way back down the floors the narrative turned to the launching and fitting out of the Titanic, and later to the sinking. A window looks out on to the actual slipway that the newly riveted Hull of the Titanic was launched from. Then you see the various rooms and stories of the people who travelled on the Titanic on her maiden voyage.

The most interesting part was the display on the radio messages between the ships on receiving the emergency call, and finding that there were mixed messages on what had happened, the extent of the emergency, and which ships were actually responding to the call.

There was then a great cinematic display and interactive experience of an ROV exploring the shipwreck and the various artefacts strewn in the debris field. It finished with a look into the current methods of ocean exploration and analysis.

The tickets we got for the Titanic Belfast included entry to the RMS Nomadic which is berthed as a visitor attraction just outside of the Titanic Belfast. It was used as one of the tenders, bringing aboard passengers and luggage. As this was the Titanic’s tender, there was luxury built right into the Nomadic too. This was like the warm-up for the main event for the passengers.

The trip was excellent. It took us around three hours in total, even with a three year old in a buggy and an unforeseen trip to the Nomadic included. Parking was cheap, and it wasn’t too busy. We would certainly recommend it if you are in any way interested in the Titanic and are in Belfast.