Belfast Travel Forum

Hi,
My niece is about to start a one year PGD/Msc course in communications, Advertising and Marketing at the University of Ulster. She is scheduled to reach the Jordanstown campus on the 22nd of this month and we would be grateful for any information my fellow members (based at or had been to Belfast)can provide about the day to day life there. She is from Kerala, India and is venturing out of India for the first time and the family here are naturally anxious. As I am temporarily away from the UK the possibilty of my visiting the place to gather first hand information (would've been the case normally) also looks out of question.We are interested to know more about student life there (she will of course be staying inside the campus) and more about the safety level in general when you are out and about. Public transport is another area we are interested to know about including how expensive, frequent and reliable it is. Like the other UK towns(for eg. Oxford)are there charity Shops (Oxfam, Bernardo's etc) where a budget concious student can buy reasonable 2nd hand clothing and foot wears? Any info covering areas like this is warmly welcomed. We also would like to have friends from that area with whom we can continuesly communicate via e mails and perhapes even arrange cultural exchanges at a later date. I look forward to hearing from my fellow VT members in Belfast and would like to thank you all in anticipation.
Cheers,
Kris Kandath (KK Mar)

Hello Kris

I am not very familiar with the UU campus but I know that it is well connected to the city centre by bus. There is also a bus that goes between UU and Queen's University that she can take into the University area of the city. I don't know the fares but I can find out for you.

There are plenty of charity shops along the Dublin Road and Botanic Avenue (the latter is near Queen's University and there are a lot of student-type cafes, shops, etc there). There are also 2 shops in the city centre, one opposite City Hall called The Shirt Centre and one further down Royal Avenue called Primark that have very cheap clothing.

You may have heard about trouble in Belfast but there has not been any trouble in the Jordanstown area and the worst your niece might experience would be traffic problems.

I am sure that UU will be able to provide more information about the Jordanstown area.

Jane

Jordanstown is a lovely Campus, I am sure she will really enjoy life there.

It is not a dangerous area at all, so there is no need to worry. I imagine her life will revolve around the campus as it is out of Belfast. It is close to Sea Walks which are nice also places of interest would be carrickfergus. It is easy for her to get buses in and out to Belfast and if she is looking for second hand clothing shops, she might like to try Botanic Avenue or The Ormeau Road which has a lot of Charity Shops.
If she is looking for cheap fashionable clothes - it is hard to beat PRIMARK in Belfast City Centre or DUNNES Stores. I am sure she will settle down and make lots of friends there. My advice to her would be to join in some of the university societies and sports clubs etc.

Best Wishes
Travel Di