Parking at the Ulster Museum?

slugger09

So packed the kids in the car this morning to set off for a nice family day out at the Ulster Museum, We are from the country so really don't know our way around Belfast, so had to use an iPhone to get us there, so going by the iPhone we were coming up to it on our left hand side, problem was the iPhone GPS is a few meters off and we were just past it, so sailed on out that road trying to get turned, "Trying" being the operative word here, cars parked up the side of the road, a cars tight behind you, anyway 2 mile out that road we get turned:mad:

So headed back in towards the Ulster Museum, and I might add sign postage is dire for it, the only way I knew I was at the Ulster Museum was I recognized one of the banners outside it from the internet, so get up beside it, there is 1 gate open for pedestrians no signs for car parking or anything, once again cars parked up the side of the road, someone tight up your tail, no where to pull in we ended up driving on and getting lost, so got the iPhone in action again and got directions to the M2 and headed home in a temper.

So can someone explain for future reference how do you get to the Ulster Museum from Antrim and where the hell do you park?

seatzie

Parking up there is a lottery, if it fits in and there's no yellow lines abandon it lol if it had been nice weather you could have parked at stranmillis roundabout and walked up - probably 15 min walk free parking assuming city centre workers weren't using it

caz2703

Having worked in that area I can safely say that it's a nightmare trying to get parked. I used to work across the road from Queens and during term time we had to battle with Queens students, Methody students, student doctors/nurses from the City Hospital, staff & visitors from the City, local residents and everyone else that worked near Queens and Lisburn Road.

There were times that if you were in the area after 8:30am you could be parked as far as half a mile away. Trust me when I say you get very good very quickly at reverse parallel parking tight against walls then climbing across onto the passenger seat to alight from your car!

I couldn't offer any insight into parking especially if you have kids with you. Maybe a better option would be to go at the weekend when parking would be easier but this may not be what you want to do with kids to entertain during the school holidays.

slugger09

Ah right, so there is no car park? It was pi$$ing down and every street around there seemed to be full of cars parked

belfastgirl23

There is no car park. And in fact if you were up today you were really lucky - most of the university staff take the 12th week off so parking was not nearly as bad as normal. You should try it on a weekday at the start of term

Best bet would probably have been either up by stranmillis roundabout as Caz says, or use park and ride facilities

caz2703

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

Best bet would probably have been either up by stranmillis roundabout as Caz says, or use park and ride facilities

Credit where credit is due, Seatzie suggested the roundabout.

My own personal suggestion would be to do what I saw an ex-colleague do with my own eyes. Drive alongside a gap in parked cars. Proceed to reverse into the space. The space isn't big enough ..... well what do you think bumpers are for? Push cars forwards and backwards until your car fits neatly into the gap :eek:

As I said before, there *should* be less parking as the schools & universities are out but best bet for the museum is to try again at the weekend. I've no idea what kind of park & ride there would be but you may be able to park in the city centre and get a City Bus to the museum - it may also be within the inner zone or close to it if you get off a bit early thus saving some more money and the possibility of a parking ticket!

sweetsounding

You could also park the other side in botanic, any of the roads off university street (google map- cromwell road, lawrence st, eblana st and canterbury st) and walk through the side gate of botanic gardens from Queen's University, nice walk through the park!

These streets are all generally quieter than stranmillis and this time of year you should be able to find a space.

dmxdave

There is on street parking along the Stranmillis Embankment, so try for a space near Queen's PEC and walk though Botanic Gardens. There is also a car park at the Welly boot (Wellington Park Hotel) but it is not cheap! £2 PH Might be worth paying for your parking inside the Hotel rather than at the paystation as Hotel users get a 50% discount

D.A.

Ulster Museum from Antrim? Simple - get the train to Botanic and walk through Botanic Gardens to the Museum. If I'm not mistaken, there's some kind of family ticket available for the trains at the moment also.

arkonite_babe

D.A. wrote: »

Ulster Museum from Antrim? Simple - get the train to Botanic and walk through Botanic Gardens to the Museum. If I'm not mistaken, there's some kind of family ticket available for the trains at the moment also.

I recommend this option too! Trust me, I work round Belfast/Queens 3 days a week and I find it hard to get parked and that's with a special permit that allows me into Queens carparking too!!!