Belfast Political Conflict 3-Hour Walking Tour

Divis Tower and the Lower Falls

The tour starts in front of Divis Tower, a tall block of flats on Divis Street at the bottom of the Falls Road, just west of Belfast city centre. Built in the 1960s as part of a large housing complex, most of which was later demolished, it became one of the most watched places in the city during the Troubles: the top floors served as an army observation post from the 1970s until 2005.

Here you meet your first guide, a former Republican political prisoner who grew up in the area. Before setting off, the guide outlines how the conflict began in the late 1960s, the roots of the divisions between the two communities and the peace process that followed the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Video and audio recording are not allowed during the tour, which lets the guides speak openly about their own experiences.

The Falls Road and Its Murals

The Falls Road is the heart of the nationalist and Republican community of west Belfast, where many residents see their future in a united Ireland. Walking up the road, you pass street signs in Irish, community centres and some of the most famous murals in the city, from the long International Wall, which links local history to struggles around the world, to painted memorials to those who died.

Your guide explains what the murals mean, who painted them and how they change over time, alongside personal accounts of life during the Troubles. Memorial gardens along the route honour those killed from the community. A Belfast murals walking tour like this gives far more context than seeing the paintings from a vehicle window, because you hear the stories from someone who lived them.

The Peace Line Gates and the Peace Wall

Between the Falls and the Shankill run the peace walls, barriers of concrete, steel and mesh first put up in 1969 to separate the two communities and still standing today. Some sections rise higher than a house, and the gates in them are still closed at night. Walking through one of these gates, you cross from one community to the other in a few steps, a powerful moment on the tour.

On the Shankill side of the wall, the concrete is covered in graffiti and messages of peace written by visitors from all over the world, and you have the chance to sign the Peace Wall and add your own. The guides discuss why the walls remain more than 25 years after the peace agreement and what local people think about taking them down. Many visitors ask how to get to the Peace Wall; on this tour you reach it on foot with the guides.

The Shankill Road and Its Murals

The Shankill Road, one of the oldest roads in Belfast, is the heart of the Protestant, unionist and Loyalist community, where most residents wish to remain part of the United Kingdom. Here you meet your second guide, a former Loyalist prisoner or ex-member of the security forces from the area, who tells the story of the conflict from the other side.

The murals on the Shankill reflect a different history: memorials to local people killed in bombings, paintings of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, where many men from the area fought, and images of community pride. Your guide explains their symbols and shares personal memories of growing up here. The tour ends on the Lower Shankill Road, about a 15-minute walk from where it started and close to the city centre.