A Belfast Black Cab tour is an intimate, personal way into the city’s recent history - riding through areas once off-limits to visitors, guided by drivers who often lived through the Troubles themselves.
The Iconic Black Taxi
Belfast’s black taxis began in the early-to-mid 1970s, offering transport to working-class communities when normal bus services were disrupted during the Troubles. At the height of the conflict, taxis on the Falls Road were mostly driven by Catholic drivers and those on the Shankill Road by Protestant drivers, reflecting the city’s divided communities. Over time, the black taxis evolved from a practical transport solution into one of Belfast’s best-known tourism experiences.
Tour Highlights
Tours typically run through the Falls Road and Shankill Road, taking in murals shaped by the Troubles - including the Bobby Sands mural on the Falls Road and the King Billy mural on the Shankill - with the chance to add your own message to the Peace Wall, itself signed over the years by visitors including the Dalai Lama.
The Murals
Belfast’s murals document the city’s political and religious history and its communities’ identities, with subjects ranging from Troubles-era figures like Bobby Sands to a mural of Frederick Douglass, marking his visit to Belfast during his 1845 anti-slavery speaking tour. Street art in the city has broadened over time beyond political themes, with pieces like the Women’s Quilt Mural reflecting a wider range of local stories, and the Cathedral Quarter developing into a hub where historic architecture and contemporary street art sit side by side.
Booking
Tours are typically customisable for group size and length, with the standard tour around 90 minutes and extensions available. City-centre pickup is usually included, with pickups outside the centre or airport transfers arrangeable for an extra fee. Specific current pricing wasn’t independently re-verified this pass - check directly with a tour operator before booking, as prices change.
Beyond Belfast
Some operators extend tours to Game of Thrones filming locations across Northern Ireland - including Castle Ward (Winterfell), Ballintoy Harbour (the Iron Islands), and the Dark Hedges (the Kingsroad) - or combine a Belfast tour with a day trip to the Giant’s Causeway, Bushmills, and Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, or to the Marble Arch Caves in County Fermanagh.
