Review: Is it worth visiting the Titanic Belfast museum in Northern Ireland?

Titanic Belfast is a large museum located on the banks of the River Lagan in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is dedicated to the history of shipbuilding in the city and its most famous product, the ocean liner RMS Titanic.

Most people are aware that Titanic glanced off an iceberg on 14 April 1912 and sank in the early hours of the next morning. 710 of the 2,214 passengers and crew were saved, while 1,514 perished in the disaster. It has remained well known in popular culture since.

Location and Tickets

The museum is situated on the site where Titanic was built by Harland & Wolff, in what is now called the Titanic Quarter of Belfast. You could walk it from the city or take a taxi to get there.

An adult ticket cost me £21.50 (US$26.60, €25.11, AU$37.96) and you select your time of arrival during the booking process. With tourism not really having returned fully to normal, it was quite quiet the morning I was there.

Titanic Belfast

The story inside begins with some history on Belfast and the fact it was a boomtown around the turn of the 19th and 20th century. The various industries are outlined and then it moves into shipbuilding and so on.

Of course, it doesn’t take long to get to the fateful voyage. On display are letters, menus, cabin recreations from all three classes, and many photos. Everything has explanatory notes and there is quite a bit of use of video and reenactments, which is all very high tech.

There are some quite poignant pieces, such as the actual voices of survivors describing what happened that night. You can look through the manifests, see a life size recreation of a lifeboat (none of the originals exist) and more.

Towards the end is a large theatre where you can see the wreck, some bits on ocean exploration and the technology, the sister ships such as RMS Olympic and then you’re done. All in all, it’s a fascinating two to three hours.

There’s Also Nomadic

When the White Star liners called at Cherbourg, passengers and mail had to be taken from port to ship by tender. Nomadic was one of these, built to service Olympic, Titanic and Britannic and it has survived to this day.

The tender is the last surviving White Star Line vessel in the world and you get a visit included with your museum ticket. It is worth checking out and I rather enjoyed the video inside about the restoration. A lot of people put in a lot of work and money on this.

Overall Thoughts

Titanic Belfast and Nomadic are world class tourist attractions, where it seems no expense has been spared. It is extremely well put together, covering all the history in an accessible and interesting way. It would be suitable for adults and children, with many of the displays being interactive, such as with deck plans or finding out about passengers.

This was my second visit here, but the first time I’ve been since Nomadic was restored. Being on the tender was interesting, knowing that some of the passengers from Titanic would have set eyes on the exact same things I was looking at. For example, the bar is original, a lot of the wood panelling is original from 1911 when it was built and so on.

I think this place is unmissable, so if you’re ever in the area, make sure you visit. Have you been to Titanic Belfast and Nomadic? What do you think of it? Do you know the story of Titanic? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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