lack cab tours have become very popular with backpackers in the last few years. As the name suggests, they are tours of the city in Black cabs.
The difference between these tours and other tours is that the tour concentrates mainly on the political aspects to Belfast's troubled history.
A black cab tour costs �6 and lasts around about 2 hours.
Alot of neighbourhoods in Belfast are divided along religious lines. In fact some catholic and protestant areas are literally divided by 30 foot high walls. These walls are ironically called peacelines. The black cab driver will take you to see some of these peacelines while giving you a running commentary on the history surrounding the troubles.
He will also take you to see alot of murals in both the catholic and protestant neighbourhoods. Murals are political wall paintings, usually put on the end of houses to commemorate some historic or political event or even just to raise awareness to a current political issue. You will be able to stop and get out of the taxi and take pictures of the murals while the driver explains the origin of each mural.
You can click on the links at the bottom of this page to see some examples of Belfast murals and there is also a link to see some examples of the murals in Derry.
The Derry murals are worth a mention as they are mainly concentrated in the Bogside area where Bloody Sunday happened. No-one interested in the political history of Northern Ireland should miss out on a visit to Derry , the literal cradle of the revolution.
