Belfast Political Tour-Conflicting Stories Walking Tour
Recommended by 93% of travelers
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Belfast, Northern Ireland
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore Belfast with local guides during this half-day walking tour. Join ex-political prisoners, who served time in jail for standing up for their beliefs, to learn about the political history of Belfast. Hear stories about the two opposing views of The Troubles and visit city landmarks including the Peace Wall and the murals along Shankill Road.
- Learn about the political history of Belfast
- Explore the city on foot with local guides
- See the political murals along Shankill Road
- Meet ex-political prisoners who share their personal stories
What's Included
- Two Tours Guides one each side of the Peace Wall
- Two local tour guides — one from each side of the conflict
- Personal stories and historical commentary
- Free admission to the sites visited along the route
- Food and drinks
- Hotel pickup/drop-off (you meet at Divis Tower)
- Gratuities/tips
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Divis TowerBelfast BT12 4QA, UK
Meet the guide outside Divis Tower (tall red and white apartment building)
End point
- 154 Shankill Rd, Belfast BT13 2BE, UK
Tour ends at the Lower Shankill Road which is a 8 minute walk back to the start and 15 minutes back to city centre. Guide will assist in directions or obtaining a taxi for the guest.
Itinerary
Peace Wall (Pass By)
1
Bobby Sands Mural
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Shankill Road
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.6
based on 481 reviews
Lise_M, Apr 2026
This was a 3 hour walking tour. The group was large. The tour split for Irish interpretation first we found better. The guide spoke loudly, personal stories through the troubles and on way introduced us to important figure in IRA. The second portion unfortunately the man was soft spoken and with a large crowd made it difficult to hear. Thus making us wish it was shorter not taking away the English version he might benefit from a microphone.
We got a lot out of the tour and so much history.
Paul_M, Apr 2026
This is an excellent structure for a tour about the history and current political environment of West Belfast. Both guides were passionate and informative and it made for a very worthwhile walk. I would highly recommend it.
Philip_S, Apr 2026
This tour is an absolute must for all to understand the cultural differences in NI. Our guides were brilliant and presented in a constructive way the impacts on communities. This devastating period was explained and certainly leaves food for thought. Well done.
Sarrasin_L, Apr 2026
To bring an umbrella and a raincoat. Also, that you have to be close to the guide otherwise, it’s difficult to hear what he has to say because of the traffic noise. I suggest that guides wear a microphone to make it easier to hear them.
Sally_A, Apr 2026
Really interesting tour with guides from both sides of the troubles, both of whom had lived through it and had their own personal experiences to share.
Robert_G, Apr 2026
Well worth the walk. Guides were informative and it was great to get the conflict given to you from both sides. Media report only their narrative
Gerardine_C, Mar 2026
The guide who gave us the information regarding The Troubles and the IRA and associated activism was well-informed and interesting, answering questions with concern toward clarity and fairness. The second guide stopped at murals and gardens but did not appear as informed and complained about general Irish propaganda. Was worth the tour for the first half.
gerard_h, Mar 2026
An excellent informative narration of the troubles from both perspectives . It gives you a deeper understanding of why it happened and why oppression of any kind Will ultimately back fire
Lacy_M, Mar 2026
The tour was just as it’s described: a walk along both sides of the Peace Wall, guided by former political prisoners. I expected to hear about the Troubles, and how that was all in the past, but the feeling I got from our guides (one more than the other) was that the wounds remain quite raw in some ways. There is no doubt the situation is better now than in the past, with hope for the future, but I honestly found the whole tour quite sad and sobering. Perhaps I was naive going into it.
Physically, it was three hours of walking, but the walking was strolling, with a stop for restrooms and drinks along the way.
Bruce_H, Mar 2026
Firstly, it is all outdoors so do dress for the weather. It was windy and cold on our tour. This was an excellent experience. Fascinating stories from both sides of Belfast's troubled past. The only room for improvement was the absence of some context-setting at the start where the first guide should really have declared their bias and explained that we would hear the 'other side' too.
Christine_M, Mar 2026
Definitely need to be aware it is 3 hours walking and standing, fortunately it wasn't raining when we went. But both Paul and Mark gave a very interesting , if conflicting, account of the very complicated history and how it still affects them today. Thank you for a great insight.
Gavin_C, Feb 2026
Really great tour and very eye opening, with the same story but from both sides of the fence.
Highly recommended
Cedric_C, Jan 2026
Both guides, for either side of the peace wall, gave very personal information about the history of the place, which illustrate very contrasting perspectives of life on either side.
Shannan_D, Jan 2026
Very detailed and informative walking tour. Having both perspectives from different guides truly showcased how complex the troubles were and the situation continues to be. Paul and Ian were fantastic guides. Dress warmer than you think you need to - it’s a full 3 hours outside in windy areas.
Ephebe, Jan 2026
Thoughtful, informative and authentic guides....
Moving through geography , memory, understanding community...
A+
Rob_S, Jan 2026
The tour was very informative and covered a lot of Irish history which is not much discussed elsewhere definitely recommend it
Deborah_G, Jan 2026
Brilliant, both guides describe the political conflict from their own perspectives and it shouldn't be missed on your trip to Belfast. You really get to know the detail of where some of the conflict happened and it is quite eye opening. Our guides, Paul and Ian, were open to any questions too. If you miss this, you miss a key aspect of Belfast, so my advice is to book yourself on the tour, we left with so many more questions. (Wear warm clothing if it is cold).
Chris_M, Jan 2026
Amazing tour would highly recommend to anyone! But you need to have an open mind to enjoy. You could feel the history
Wayne_H, Jan 2026
A very informative and educational tour. Our tour guide Paul was amazing.
Wear comfortable footwear its a 3 hour walking tour.
Good value for money
Matthew_D, Dec 2025
Fully recommend this to get a full understanding of what the troubles meant but mostly still how it manifests itself in daily life today. Really fascinating to hear there’s still so much distrust between the neighbourhoods of the Falls and Shankill. The two guides were excellent and ‘conflicting stories’ is the right description. Not sugar coated and made it so much better. Best compliment was that my partner and I were still debating things we’d heard hours later in the bars.
Diane_B, Dec 2025
Very interesting and informative tour, spoken from the heart, from both sides of the wall. The speakers from IRA and UDF expressed a commitment to peace, after giving a personal account of the terrible atrocities that took place historically. I was left with the impression that wounds are starting to heal, the peace wall is symbolic of this. Excellent tour.
SHARON_M, Nov 2025
This was such a unique and fascinating experience. The two guides were knowledgeable and gave good insights into all sides of the conflict from their direct experience. Although booked through Yellow Umbrella, the tour was actually executed by a well-known group in Belfast providing political tours, Coiste Political Tours, who work with great guides and are very experienced in this work.
Phil_M, Oct 2025
Amazing experience to see and learn more about the troubles!! Great guides and brilliant to see where a lot of the violence took place. Highly recommend - a lot of walking and worth every step
Bill_M, Oct 2025
Be prepared to walk. But there were no hills and it was so interesting that time flew. It’s not easy to understand how this all started but I have a much better understanding now.
Janet_S, Sep 2025
The tour was very informative and a great learning experience. The first half was much better than the second half though.
Jerry_T, Sep 2025
A thought provoking insight into "the troubles" and their legacy in the current day.
The first part of the tour was around Falls Road, where our guide, Jack, aimed to justify his Republican views. Whilst being fascinated by what he had to say, it was hard to accept how much he hated us English because of historical events! such views could never be a reason for what happened in the second part of the twentieth century!
Our Unionist guide, Mark, took us along Shankill Road. He focused on how his life had been affected and how childhood friends, both catholic and protestant, had been lost in one way or another.
We were shocked to realise that the gates in the "Peace Wall", which separates the two districts, are still locked every night at 8pm. Surely, the lack of connectivity between the two groups hinders the chance of lasting peace 😢
Christine_C, Sep 2025
Very interesting hearing both sides of the story of the troubles and how they are working together for peace. Both tour guides were passionate and informative about the history of the Troubles.
Maja_P, Aug 2025
Very interesting, both sides tell their stories, republican and loyalist, passionate people, highly recommended.
Paul_M, Aug 2025
It was confronting and informative. Two guides led us one from the IRA the other an English Loyalist. Each had a very different view on the conflict.
Ruth_M, Aug 2025
This tour was terrible. I swear by Viator tours and this was the first failure. The guide smelled of alcohol. We could not hear him for several reasons. First he had a microphone but the speaker was against his chest so the sound was muffled. Second we were walking along a busy city street with substantial traffic including trucks and buses. Third he never asked if we could hear him. We were a large group standing right beside a busy road. He could have found ways to get us off the sidewalk and not so close to the traffic. This would have provided safety for the group. We made stops along the street and some were for no reason it seemed. I was hoping to hear about the troubles from a global view and personal view. Instead we got his personal stories including comparing America’s civil war to the troubles of Northern Ireland. It was such a stretch and they were two different situations separated by a century. It was terrible and we left the tour disgusted. I am glad this was not my first experience with Viator because I would never do a Viator tour again. I know this was an anomaly.
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