Creative Tours Belfast
Description
Music and arts tours of Belfast are their speciality, alongside a range of other exciting tours too! Join your expert tour guide to be shown around cool venues in the city and to hear stories about our city’s people and places, past and present. Take one of their tours to sample the ‘craic’ and vibrancy of Belfast and its cultural scene!
Creative Tours Belfast offers scheduled dates on two music walking tours, that are both delivered in association with Belfast’s music hub, the Oh Yeah Music Centre. They also offer in the summer months a scheduled ‘Belfast Music Bus Tour’.
PRIVATE TOURS AVAILABLE!
Creative Tours Belfast can arrange private walking or minibus tours for you - at a time and date to suit your schedule, and at competitive rates. Simply choose from the tours listed below. Contact Visit Belfast or Creative Tours Belfast to enquire and we can respond within half a day to confirm that we can deliver on the date and time you would like. A private tour can be a great way to get your family, friends or colleagues together and can be from 2 to 18 people.
A private walking tour for up to six guests is £200, plus £20 per additional guest.
A private minibus tour can be arranged, on two themes, with at least one week’s notice, for £600 for up to 15 guests.
To enquire about any private walking, minibus tour for your group, please email creativetoursbelfast@gmail.com or ring Dolores +44 (0)7305 754028
Or speak to the Ticketing team at Visit Belfast - ticketing@visitBelfast.com Tel: +44 28 9023 9026
Your guide will be experienced, qualified and fully insured, with a good sense of humour. They are passionate about their city and very knowledgeable about its history and the contemporary scene. On each tour you will visit special spots off the beaten track and see historic and contemporary venues and buildings. You will hear stories and get an authentic account of life in Belfast today.
While enjoying both hidden gems and popular visitor sights, tour guests will experience Belfast’s legendary ‘craic’ along the way!
Private Walking Tours:
Belfast Music Walking Tour
This is Creative Tours Belfast's most popular tour, lasting two and a half hours. Take a musical journey across the city to hear about the wealth of musical talent in Belfast across a wide range of genres, enjoying a specially curated music playlist along the way. From hip hop to classical and punk; opera to folk and electro pop - and everything in between – Belfast is alive with music, making it a vibrant city to live in or visit. You will visit cool venues, hear a host of behind-the-scenes stories, be introduced to our best-know musicians, including Van Morrison, Snow Patrol, Ash, the Ulster Orchestra and James Galway, as well as to a host of rising stars currently based in Belfast. By the tour end we hope you’ll agree that Belfast really is a City of Music and deserves the prestigious UNESCO City of Music designation, awarded in November 2021.
The tour ends at the Oh Yeah Music Centre, in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter, that houses a fascinating collection of music memorabilia in its NI Music Exhibition.
Belfast Punk Music Walking Tour
Come explore the story of punk music in Belfast, a city where punk meant more, with your passionate punk music loving guide! From the late 1970s, Belfast punk has held a special place in music history, near and far. See legendary music venues associated with punk, as shown in the film ‘Good Vibrations’. Look at locations of the Good Vibrations record shop and label set up by Terri Hooley in the late 1970s. From the conflict era punk bands, you will also discover the punk collectives that kept the punk spirit going in Belfast from the mid 1980s. You’ll have fun, hear a great punk soundtrack along the way, and also discover the city’s great contemporary punk bands.
Van Morrison’s East Belfast
Sir Van Morrison is undoubtedly Belfast’s best-known musician - known and highly-regarded around the world, and among the most-distinguished musicians of our times.
In his 80th year, this new tour lets you explore Van Morrison’s east Belfast. We will walk the streets he grew up in, see the parks he played in, the primary school he went to and the house he lived in. Many of the street and place names we will encounter, may be familiar to you from the lyrics of many of Van’s songs. And of course, we will listen to clips along the way of many of his songs that reference the streets.
You will also hear about the history of this part of the city, in particular touching on its industrial heritage. Plus, you will find out about other musicians and writers who are also very closely connected to this part of East Belfast.
Historic Pubs, Cathedral Quarter
This leisurely two hour tour explores some of the historic pubs of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter - the oldest part of the city!
Each pub you will hear about on this walking tour, from Kelly’s Cellars to the Dirty Onion, The Duke of York to White’s Tavern, and The Morning Star to McHugh’s, has fascinating tales and links to our city’s history that will be teased out. You’ll learn why several establishments claim the city’s ‘oldest pub’ title, which of them is in fact the oldest tavern – according to your Belfast Green Badge specialist guide - and what precisely the ‘oldest’ claims of some of the others relate to!
Exploring the oldest part of Belfast town before it became a city in 1888, you’ll hear about early merchants and importers, where secret societies met, the pick-up points for mail coaches, old jails, former whiskey warehouses, newspapers of long ago, and more.
Spinning Yarns, Exploring Belfast's Linen Quarter
Just behind Belfast City Hall, a tour of this vibrant Belfast district combines heritage, entertainment, history, culture and craic!
From the heart of the linen industry in the 1800s, to a vibrant and distinct quarter in Belfast city centre today, this fun and informative walking tour links past and present, helping you see what’s on the streets in a new light and just how much there is to do and enjoy in this unique district.
Along the way, your experienced guide will share many entertaining ‘yarns’ - stories of people and events across 250 years that relate to what you are seeing. The leisurely route will take in buildings of impressive architecture, iconic entertainment venues, historic and quaint bars, exciting outdoor public spaces and markets, colourful street art, unique gems of shops, great places to eat and drink and much more.
Cathedral Quarter Arts Trail
The Cathedral Quarter of Belfast is now very much the city’s cultural quarter. It is also the heart of old Belfast the town.
Book this private tour for a thorough and fun exploration of its narrow entries, As you cross open squares, you will view historic and landmark buildings, to discover public sculptures and street art, learn about many of the city’s famous writers and hear about our wealth of current music.
Starting on Waring Street, opposite The Merchant Hotel, this two-hour tour will take in the Oh Yeah Music Centre, The MAC, Writer’s Square, Exchange Place, the ‘Four Corners’ and more.
Belfast’s Historic Entries, Street Art and Music
Explore the city’s oldest area, by the banks of the Lagan and Farset rivers, strolling through its narrow streets, known as ‘entries’. Belfast is one of the world’s top city destinations for colourful street art painted by both local and international artists. The modern street artworks in the entries shed light on many fascinating stories from Belfast’s past. You’ll also visit the city’s music hub to view its NI Music Exhibition and hear why Belfast is now a designated UNESCO City of Music.
Belfast’s industrial Heritage: the Signs on the Streets
This two-hour walking tour will show guests the signs that remain across Belfast city centre of the core industries that helped Belfast grow from a small town to the biggest and most industrialised city on the island across the 1800s. Find out about the significance of the linen, shipbuilding, whiskey, printing and engineering industries to our city’s story.
The city holds memories and clues to these former business ventures in the cobbled streets, entries and squares we will explore. Your guide will point out buildings, street names, sculptures and more that help to tell the story of our industrial past as Belfast developed into a prosperous Victorian city. You’ll hear stories too of some of the people who developed shipbuilding, printing, linen, whiskey and printing and paper production in Belfast.
Queen’s Quarter
This walking tour takes in the bustling area surrounding Queen’s University. The tour will begin by visiting the main campus of the university, examining some of its best-known and historic buildings. You will also walk around the beautiful Botanic Park with its Palm House and Tropical Ravine, see the Ulster Museum, and explore Botanic Village.
PRIVATE TOURS BY MINIBUS:
We can also arrange a private tour by minibus if that suits you better. These are each three-hour tours. The price is £600 for up to 15 guests
Belfast Music Bus Tour
Whether you’re a Vanatic, Snow Patrol obsessed, a BICEP raver or an all-round music enthusiast, the Belfast Music Bus Tour has something for everyone. Hop on board to discover the music, the artists and the landscape that have brought character to the city. Recognised as one of National Geographic’s Top 10 Things to Do in Northern Ireland, this is an experience that you won’t want to miss.What better to explore the city than to take in the sights through a musical lens as your local expert guide shares lesser-known facts and which won’t be found easily online.
The journey will also be accompanied by an especially curated multi-genre playlist with songs to illustrate the story of Belfast’s thriving music scene from generations past up until the present day. So you can sit back, relax and enjoy tunes and tales by way of awesome guitar players, traditional and folk to punk and Hollywood soundtracks and more!
Arts Across Belfast Bus Tour
Get to see more of Belfast and find out about its talented creative people!
Hop on board this three-hour bus tour for a fun exploration of the best of Belfast’s vibrant arts and cultural scene! Journey across the city with your entertaining and knowledgeable tour guide to become acquainted with a plethora of talented and creative people connected with the streets and districts of the city.
Discover many of the city’s arts centres, theatres, art galleries and music venues, see cool street artwork and public sculptures and listen to music and stories as we go.
See and hear about many great visual artists, writers, actors, directors and musicians who were born or spent time in different parts of Belfast.
The tour will start from and return to the Cathedral Quarter . We will stop for four short visits in each of north, south, east and west Belfast, giving you a chance to see what’s on and to explore a bit. There’ll be additional opportunities for photo stops too.
- ‘Belfast Music Walking Tour’ This tour covers many genres
- The ‘Belfast Punk Music Walking Tour’ This tells the story of punk music in Belfast from the late 1970s right up to today’s punk bands.
PRIVATE TOURS AVAILABLE!
Creative Tours Belfast can arrange private walking or minibus tours for you - at a time and date to suit your schedule, and at competitive rates. Simply choose from the tours listed below. Contact Visit Belfast or Creative Tours Belfast to enquire and we can respond within half a day to confirm that we can deliver on the date and time you would like. A private tour can be a great way to get your family, friends or colleagues together and can be from 2 to 18 people.
A private walking tour for up to six guests is £200, plus £20 per additional guest.
A private minibus tour can be arranged, on two themes, with at least one week’s notice, for £600 for up to 15 guests.
To enquire about any private walking, minibus tour for your group, please email creativetoursbelfast@gmail.com or ring Dolores +44 (0)7305 754028
Or speak to the Ticketing team at Visit Belfast - ticketing@visitBelfast.com Tel: +44 28 9023 9026
Your guide will be experienced, qualified and fully insured, with a good sense of humour. They are passionate about their city and very knowledgeable about its history and the contemporary scene. On each tour you will visit special spots off the beaten track and see historic and contemporary venues and buildings. You will hear stories and get an authentic account of life in Belfast today.
While enjoying both hidden gems and popular visitor sights, tour guests will experience Belfast’s legendary ‘craic’ along the way!
Private Walking Tours:
Belfast Music Walking Tour
This is Creative Tours Belfast's most popular tour, lasting two and a half hours. Take a musical journey across the city to hear about the wealth of musical talent in Belfast across a wide range of genres, enjoying a specially curated music playlist along the way. From hip hop to classical and punk; opera to folk and electro pop - and everything in between – Belfast is alive with music, making it a vibrant city to live in or visit. You will visit cool venues, hear a host of behind-the-scenes stories, be introduced to our best-know musicians, including Van Morrison, Snow Patrol, Ash, the Ulster Orchestra and James Galway, as well as to a host of rising stars currently based in Belfast. By the tour end we hope you’ll agree that Belfast really is a City of Music and deserves the prestigious UNESCO City of Music designation, awarded in November 2021.
The tour ends at the Oh Yeah Music Centre, in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter, that houses a fascinating collection of music memorabilia in its NI Music Exhibition.
Belfast Punk Music Walking Tour
Come explore the story of punk music in Belfast, a city where punk meant more, with your passionate punk music loving guide! From the late 1970s, Belfast punk has held a special place in music history, near and far. See legendary music venues associated with punk, as shown in the film ‘Good Vibrations’. Look at locations of the Good Vibrations record shop and label set up by Terri Hooley in the late 1970s. From the conflict era punk bands, you will also discover the punk collectives that kept the punk spirit going in Belfast from the mid 1980s. You’ll have fun, hear a great punk soundtrack along the way, and also discover the city’s great contemporary punk bands.
Van Morrison’s East Belfast
Sir Van Morrison is undoubtedly Belfast’s best-known musician - known and highly-regarded around the world, and among the most-distinguished musicians of our times.
In his 80th year, this new tour lets you explore Van Morrison’s east Belfast. We will walk the streets he grew up in, see the parks he played in, the primary school he went to and the house he lived in. Many of the street and place names we will encounter, may be familiar to you from the lyrics of many of Van’s songs. And of course, we will listen to clips along the way of many of his songs that reference the streets.
You will also hear about the history of this part of the city, in particular touching on its industrial heritage. Plus, you will find out about other musicians and writers who are also very closely connected to this part of East Belfast.
Historic Pubs, Cathedral Quarter
This leisurely two hour tour explores some of the historic pubs of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter - the oldest part of the city!
Each pub you will hear about on this walking tour, from Kelly’s Cellars to the Dirty Onion, The Duke of York to White’s Tavern, and The Morning Star to McHugh’s, has fascinating tales and links to our city’s history that will be teased out. You’ll learn why several establishments claim the city’s ‘oldest pub’ title, which of them is in fact the oldest tavern – according to your Belfast Green Badge specialist guide - and what precisely the ‘oldest’ claims of some of the others relate to!
Exploring the oldest part of Belfast town before it became a city in 1888, you’ll hear about early merchants and importers, where secret societies met, the pick-up points for mail coaches, old jails, former whiskey warehouses, newspapers of long ago, and more.
Spinning Yarns, Exploring Belfast's Linen Quarter
Just behind Belfast City Hall, a tour of this vibrant Belfast district combines heritage, entertainment, history, culture and craic!
From the heart of the linen industry in the 1800s, to a vibrant and distinct quarter in Belfast city centre today, this fun and informative walking tour links past and present, helping you see what’s on the streets in a new light and just how much there is to do and enjoy in this unique district.
Along the way, your experienced guide will share many entertaining ‘yarns’ - stories of people and events across 250 years that relate to what you are seeing. The leisurely route will take in buildings of impressive architecture, iconic entertainment venues, historic and quaint bars, exciting outdoor public spaces and markets, colourful street art, unique gems of shops, great places to eat and drink and much more.
Cathedral Quarter Arts Trail
The Cathedral Quarter of Belfast is now very much the city’s cultural quarter. It is also the heart of old Belfast the town.
Book this private tour for a thorough and fun exploration of its narrow entries, As you cross open squares, you will view historic and landmark buildings, to discover public sculptures and street art, learn about many of the city’s famous writers and hear about our wealth of current music.
Starting on Waring Street, opposite The Merchant Hotel, this two-hour tour will take in the Oh Yeah Music Centre, The MAC, Writer’s Square, Exchange Place, the ‘Four Corners’ and more.
Belfast’s Historic Entries, Street Art and Music
Explore the city’s oldest area, by the banks of the Lagan and Farset rivers, strolling through its narrow streets, known as ‘entries’. Belfast is one of the world’s top city destinations for colourful street art painted by both local and international artists. The modern street artworks in the entries shed light on many fascinating stories from Belfast’s past. You’ll also visit the city’s music hub to view its NI Music Exhibition and hear why Belfast is now a designated UNESCO City of Music.
Belfast’s industrial Heritage: the Signs on the Streets
This two-hour walking tour will show guests the signs that remain across Belfast city centre of the core industries that helped Belfast grow from a small town to the biggest and most industrialised city on the island across the 1800s. Find out about the significance of the linen, shipbuilding, whiskey, printing and engineering industries to our city’s story.
The city holds memories and clues to these former business ventures in the cobbled streets, entries and squares we will explore. Your guide will point out buildings, street names, sculptures and more that help to tell the story of our industrial past as Belfast developed into a prosperous Victorian city. You’ll hear stories too of some of the people who developed shipbuilding, printing, linen, whiskey and printing and paper production in Belfast.
Queen’s Quarter
This walking tour takes in the bustling area surrounding Queen’s University. The tour will begin by visiting the main campus of the university, examining some of its best-known and historic buildings. You will also walk around the beautiful Botanic Park with its Palm House and Tropical Ravine, see the Ulster Museum, and explore Botanic Village.
PRIVATE TOURS BY MINIBUS:
We can also arrange a private tour by minibus if that suits you better. These are each three-hour tours. The price is £600 for up to 15 guests
Belfast Music Bus Tour
Whether you’re a Vanatic, Snow Patrol obsessed, a BICEP raver or an all-round music enthusiast, the Belfast Music Bus Tour has something for everyone. Hop on board to discover the music, the artists and the landscape that have brought character to the city. Recognised as one of National Geographic’s Top 10 Things to Do in Northern Ireland, this is an experience that you won’t want to miss.What better to explore the city than to take in the sights through a musical lens as your local expert guide shares lesser-known facts and which won’t be found easily online.
The journey will also be accompanied by an especially curated multi-genre playlist with songs to illustrate the story of Belfast’s thriving music scene from generations past up until the present day. So you can sit back, relax and enjoy tunes and tales by way of awesome guitar players, traditional and folk to punk and Hollywood soundtracks and more!
Arts Across Belfast Bus Tour
Get to see more of Belfast and find out about its talented creative people!
Hop on board this three-hour bus tour for a fun exploration of the best of Belfast’s vibrant arts and cultural scene! Journey across the city with your entertaining and knowledgeable tour guide to become acquainted with a plethora of talented and creative people connected with the streets and districts of the city.
Discover many of the city’s arts centres, theatres, art galleries and music venues, see cool street artwork and public sculptures and listen to music and stories as we go.
See and hear about many great visual artists, writers, actors, directors and musicians who were born or spent time in different parts of Belfast.
The tour will start from and return to the Cathedral Quarter . We will stop for four short visits in each of north, south, east and west Belfast, giving you a chance to see what’s on and to explore a bit. There’ll be additional opportunities for photo stops too.
Top Reasons To Visit
- Specialist expertise in music, especially the current scene across many genres and can give recommendations for what's on.
- Their tours are fun and entertaining – weaving in stories of local people past and present.
- Music tours often end with a private performance by a local rising star of our music scene.
- Meet and talk to local people and gain access to places you mightn’t otherwise find.
- Your guide is passionate about the music & arts of Belfast, fully-insured & holds an internationally-recognised qualification.
Contact Details
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