Traveling with teenagers is a bit like negotiating with a tiny, sarcastic adult who didn’t ask to be there in the first place. You suggest castles. They suggest WiFi. You suggest museums. They suggest… staying in bed. And yet, somehow, the UK actually pulls this off. There are places where history meets just enough chaos, […]
Author Archives: Two Scots Abroad
Packing Lists, Northern Ireland
Belfast Packing List: What You Actually Need (2026 Guide — Don’t Overpack)
27
Mar
Mar
I turned up to Belfast once with a coat so heavy it could have doubled as body armour. Wore it twice. Spent the rest of the trip in a lightweight waterproof jacket I nearly left at home because I thought it looked a bit sad. Lesson learned, eventually. Belfast’s weather has a personality. It’s not […]
27
Mar
Mar
I’ll be honest: before our first trip to Belfast, I had done the kind of obsessive pre-trip research that would embarrass a PhD student. Conflict murals, the Peace Walls, the Troubles, Orange parades. I had basically talked myself into thinking we were heading somewhere genuinely tense. We arrived, walked around the city centre for about […]
27
Mar
Mar
I turned up in Belfast expecting decent pub grub and left genuinely annoyed at myself for not booking more dinners in advance. The city has Michelin-starred restaurants, a market that deserves half your Saturday, and a deli that has been doing its thing since 1897. I had no idea. Past-me was, frankly, underprepared. Here is […]
26
Mar
Mar
I’ll be honest, I spent way too long agonizing over which part of Belfast to book before our first visit. I read everything, made a spreadsheet (yes, really), and still nearly ended up in entirely the wrong place. So let me save you the faff. Belfast is compact, walkable if you pick a central base, […]