Sep 5, 2024
Fascinating, insightful & thoroughly recommended. - An amazing tour where you learned so much as an outsider gazing in on a complex issue. Thanks for a fascinating insight. A fabulous thought provoking three hours.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 4, 2024
Healing through art - Marti is an encyclopedia of his beloved Belfast. A historian who lived it and walks the very thin line that is needed to preserve the peace. To win the peace. Such amazing insights to a complicated situation. You will not regret it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 19, 2024
Memorable - I took this tour last week. It was really interesting and I learnt a lot.
But.... the amazing bit is how much I have thought about it afterwards. My mind keeps coming back to the tour... not really the pieces of information, but the memory of the nature of Belfast... the awful troubles but, more importantly, the sense of moving forwards, with one eye on the past (but not two).
I have tried to tell people about it, but I really can't capture the sense that Marti gave through his words and the murals and places he showed us.
It is a detailed tour.... not an easy listen... but worth it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 28, 2024
Take this tour for a different understanding of Belfast’s past, present and future! - Marti provides an excellent overview of the nuances other considerations of the history of Belfast during, in particular, the las century. Walking in the areas of the Peace Wall and other community gathering places, it was easier to see the Belfast of today vs that of years in the past. A very interesting tour!
Review provided by Viator
Jul 23, 2024
This is the walking tour to take in Belfast - This is a highly recommended tour if you want to better understand the history of Northern Ireland and The Troubles. Marti is an excellent tour guide and does a great job telling the story of Belfast. The political murals and street art in Belfast are amazing and Marti will take you to some of the highlights and also recommend others to see. Three hours is a lengthy walking tour but we asked a lot of questions and had good discussions and Marti went an extra half hour. Thanks Marti for sharing your knowledge and love of Belfast, your pragmatic optimism for peace, and keeping one eye on the future.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 20, 2024
Just Do It. - Went with Marty on this tour. I thought 3 hours was going to stretch it but it was fine. He has so much knowledge of the politics of the place. He’s personally invested in in the story as he’s lived parts of it.
I could have gone on all day.
Finished up buying him a beer at the end of the tour.
Strongly recommend this.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 18, 2024
Unique tour - Marty offers unique tours. He keeps the group small.
He is very knowledgeable and will try his best for you to learn as much as you can. For me it was too much information in little time but this is personal because some people prefer it that way.
His English accent is clear. Easy to understand.
You need to keep pace with him not to miss anything he says. Be aware he doesn’t use a microphone like other guides do.
He walks fast. Think if you would also be able to walk fast.
We walked a bit more than 6km in 3h.
He loves teaching and showing, and will do extra time if needed. He did extra time with us. Thank you.
Review provided by Viator
Jul 14, 2024
Street art and political statements through time - take this tour to enjoy! - Wasn't quite sure what to expect, but Marty was superb in pulling together the history of Belfast and N. Ireland/Ireland through art, history and culture. This was an excellent tour that went through Belfast and into areas of northern Belfast. Interesting to see how street art evolved over time including into political statements. Very wide-ranging tour and enjoyed the music examples!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 18, 2024
A curate's egg - Tour – This is a 3 hour guided walking tour which starts from MAC building in St. Anne’s Square – it is a lot cheaper than taking the Black Taxi tour that appears at many of the stops on this tour
There was a lot of walking – different underfoot surfaces - some uphill - often at speed – across busy roads – through housing estates – through security gates with views of the walls separating the communities
Many views of the murals on the Peace Wall – some disturbing - others controversial especially referring to the fallen from the Troubles as well as those reflecting a pro-Palestine agenda – we had a comfort break after about 2 hours – we ended close to Kelly’s Cellars pub and the community centre next door
Guide - Marti - good to start with a detailed explanation of the history of Ireland as background to the tour – but he often talks with his back to you whilst walking at pace - at different volumes - strident to a whisper - lost my attention at the Falls Road – for me he mixed messages and opinions amongst a smatterings of fact – as well as seeming to think he could be a target for assignation - overly theatrical - seemed to think that Belfast invented Peace and could export the process to anywhere in our troubled world – didn’t impress a couple from Israel who were faced with some very graphic pro-Palestine murals – the walls told a different story.
Despite Marti - this tour route was interesting and instructive – clearly wounds haven’t fully healed and the divide is still being enforced by gates – being in a guided group gave the feeling of security in areas we would have been reluctant to visit on our own – so despite my reservations this tour is a must when visiting Belfast – thank you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 26, 2024
Informative but awkward - We did this tour yesterday and firstly, we must give Marti credit for his knowledge on the troubles dating way back to 5-8000 bc. He is sure knowledgable! The tour felt like a school field trip as we were hit with a plethora of information from beginning to end. Questions are not always welcomed as the guide was quite rude to a lady in our group when asked about one of the many facts that we were given. This was within the first 10 minutes of the tour which sort of lost all of our full attention for the next 3 hours. The vast majority of the tour was really good, as previously mentioned! If you want a lot of information and a personal/historical view on the troubles, then definitely go with Marti, however other members of the tour with whom we stayed with after the tour had finished, felt Marti was rude and there was another issue with a local due to some comments he made out loud about the area of Shankill road… awkward.
All in all I think it was a decent tour, but on this occasion there were too many awkward moments… all due to the guide and his manner! The three stars are for his knowledge alone!
Review provided by Viator