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Shopping in Belfast?

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  • 29-01-2011 12:25am
    #1
    **Timbuk2**
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,395 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Hi

    I'm planning to drive to Belfast some Saturday for a bit of shopping, but we've never been before.

    Are there any central car parks that are good value for money, where we could leave the car and just walk to different shops?

    Where are most of the main shops located - is it fairly compact, or are most of the good places to shop spread out?

    Would arriving at 9.30-10am be early enough to get parking spaces?

    Does anyone have any other advice? Am I correct in saying Bank of England notes are accepted in Northern Ireland?

    Thanks - sorry for the silly thread :o


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    #2
    magooly
    Registered Users Posts: 159 ✭✭magooly


    **Timbuk2** wrote: »
    Hi

    I'm planning to drive to Belfast some Saturday for a bit of shopping, but we've never been before.

    Are there any central car parks that are good value for money, where we could leave the car and just walk to different shops?

    Oceans of parking in Belfast city centre, I generally use Victoria Sq underground (left slip lane of Victoria St, under the house of Frasier) Castlecourt or St. Annes Sq often at peak weekends without congestion. Price info: http://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/carpark/victoria_square/bt1/belfast/
    I remember seeing an initiative in the castle court for reduced rate on Sundays..
    Where are most of the main shops located - is it fairly compact, or are most of the good places to shop spread out?

    Most of the hight st. stores are located in or around Victoria Square shopping centre and Castlecourt shopping centre and the street between the two, where Ann st, Castle st and North st. meet.
    Would arriving at 9.30-10am be early enough to get parking spaces?
    Yes no worries there.
    Does anyone have any other advice? Am I correct in saying Bank of England notes are accepted in Northern Ireland?
    Much of the city centre is one way 2 / 3 lanes, so if you have a navi / Iphone that may save you some confusion. Yes, both Bank of England and Bank of Ireland sterling are used interchangeably here, not in England though.


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    #3
    PierceNWT
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4 ✭PierceNWT


    If it is your first time going you will not be able to get to see it all in the one day. There are many different shops, pubs, restrauants etc. I would recommend taking a weekend and making a real trip of it. <SNIP>


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    #4
    **Timbuk2**
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,395 Mod ✭✭✭✭**Timbuk2**


    Thank you - that's extremely helpful!

    I can borrow a Satnav off a friend, which I think I will do - I've found them invaluable in the past in cities. Even moreso in Northern Ireland as I can just enter the postcode and it brings me to the destination - no messing about with Addresses as we have to do down here!

    Some of those car parks are more expensive than I thought! Belfast Cromac Street appears to be central enough, and apparently charges £4.50 per day, which seems like very good value. Does anyone have any experience with it? Only 103 spaces though, so I imagine it would fill up very quickly! I'll comb through that link anyway - it seems to be an excellent resource, even showing how far it is away from the centre.

    EDIT: This site seems to suggest that on Saturday and Sundays, the maximum parking charge in Saint Anne's Square is £5, which seems very reasonable and in an excellent location.
    EDIT 2: That's also on the site that magooly linked to, I just missed it :o

    Thanks again :)


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    #5
    pow wow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,288 ✭✭✭pow wow


    You can park for free in the Frederick Street carpark on Saturdays - it's a manned site (as in you pay the parking fee to a human being) but there's not enough trade on a Saturday to have the guy in so it's open and free :) It's possibly a bit closer than Cromac Street too. I'd avoid Victoria Square for parking - it's really handy but seriously expensive.

    Most of the major name stores are all within walking distance in the city centre - the retail parks down around Boucher have some other stores but parking around there is crazy on weekends and it might not be worth the effort.


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    #6
    **Timbuk2**
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,395 Mod ✭✭✭✭**Timbuk2**


    Thank you - the prospect of free parking sounds wonderful! Even if it happens to be manned that day - £3 per day is a good price!

    Thanks for the answer :)


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    #7
    **Timbuk2**
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,395 Mod ✭✭✭✭**Timbuk2**


    Thought I'd update this.

    Thanks for the help everybody! I went last Saturday and it went fantastically :)

    pow wow, you were right - Frederick Street wasn't manned (i.e. it was free) so that was great - only a 5 minute walk and right beside the Westlink Dual Carriageway.

    The shops were great and plentiful, but we'd need about 3 days to get around it all! We didn't get that much time in Victoria Square due to an insistence to go to W5 in the Odyssey :P

    Will definitely go back again - thanks for the help, the information on this thread was extremely useful. :)


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