Ulster Museum

This is a really well done museum, covering a huge range of subject matter in an informative but never dull manner.
Due to current Covid restrictions, and booking the day before, we were only able to get entry from 3.30pm which limited the amount we were able to see. We chose the history and nature routes. The history area covers Irish, and specifically northern Irish, history from prehistoric times right through to the Troubles and the present day and complemented the escorted tours about the Troubles that we did earlier in our visit to Belfast. The natural history section is very eclectic and the selection of rocks, animals etc on display are well grouped and interestingly presented. The Elements gallery area is particularly good and quite “different”.
There is a small but good gift shop and a cafe which we didn’t use. Hopefully we will return one day to see the Art collection!

My wife and I spent a day in this beautiful museum.
The exhibits were informative and covered a very wide variety of topics.
The “Troubles” exhibit is enlightening, provocative, poignant, disturbing and moving. I had to collect myself through this exhibit and think about how fragile and hard won freedom is.
The cafe on the ground floor is excellent and serves a wide variety of very tasty sandwiches, salads and desserts. Staff is pleasant and eager to please.
Take advantage of this free cultural site.

This is a very good museum, and given that it’s free, it’s definitely worth visiting!

Staff were nice and helpful and it was all COVID-safe. My only issue was that now that the museum is one-way, everyone must start with The Troubles exhibition which is the most recent in time, and then work backwards through time to the dinosaurs etc. Reading the information in this order was quite confusing for me as it seems like the museum has been designed to be experienced in the opposite order (chronologically).

I booked my tickets online beforehand but you may be able to get away with turning up and paying for tickets on the door.

My family and I visited in a Sat afternoon having booked easily beforehand for free on the website, you get a 30 minute window for your arrival. Friendly staff and a one way system which is so easy to follow. You don’t need to queue if you have prebooked. Some incredible things to see here including an actual Egyptian mummy! I think you would need a whole day to see around all the floors, we will definitely be back!

We love the museum. No matter how often we visit, it's always an interest. I've been bringing my children since they were 2 and as they've grown thrive found new interests in the museum, and I also derive a great deal of enjoyment from our visits.

We enjoyed visiting this museum and although we didn’t explore everything it covered The Troubles which was something we wanted to learn more about. A balanced exhibition covering key events.
Other things we visited was the 1920s fashion (only a small room on the top floor). More impressive was the exhibition on La Girona which was a boat from the Spanish Armada that sunk off of Giants Causeway. It was interesting reading about this and also seeing a coin depicting Mary I and Philip II of Spain.
The museum is free to enter and also has a cafe on the ground floor. We had a snack and tea. It has easy bus links to the centre of Belfast and we’d recommend especially if you have a rainy afternoon!

The Ulster museum is situated in the Botanic Gardens. It’s around half a mile from Botanic station on foot.

You currently need to book a ticket to gain admission. I was fortunate to get a slot at 3.30 on a Wednesday afternoon leaving me 90 minutes for viewing.

La Belle Époque showed fashions from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was quite interesting.

I preferred the exhibition of Willie Doherty photography over the years, especially those documenting borders in Derry and more recently between USA and Mexico.

I enjoyed the information about the Spanish Armada and those who were shipwrecked on the west coast of Ireland.

The displays about the ‘Troubles’ were most enlightening and unbiased. This was arguably the highlight of the museum.

There were also displays of ceramics and other decorative arts but I didn’t have time to see these in any detail.

Booking system showed they were sold out but at 11 30am they had space for walk ins.

Really great lay out with some very informative exhibitions. Can't believe it's all donation based!

It has a lot of content and takes hours to get around it all so we had achey feet by the end. We would have loved a drink in the cafe after but it was very loud, a bit like a creche, so we gave it a miss. That's the only reason it's not 5*.

Went to view the history and art displays but found other displays well worth a visit - the exhibition on costume/fashion was very informative and interesting. Staff were . knowledgeable. I am slightly disabled so I appreciated the care and helpfulness they showed. Very good café, the wheaten (brown) bread was particularly good!

This is a superb resource for the city. Situated in attractive botanic parkland and close to the prestigious Queen's University, the museum houses an impressive art collection and many historical and prehistorical artefacts. Suspended from the ceiling above the atrium are spectacularly lifelike wickerwork dragons, inspired by Game of Thrones. It's well worth a leisurely visit (admission is free!). There is an excellent café/restaurant with a varied menu, and the ornate palm house and the tropical glasshouse are not to be missed.