Tourists urged to get "on your bike”

The McCausland Hotel in Belfast was the venue for the launch of an initiative that will see tourists take to the streets of Belfast - on bicycles.

From Wednesday May 1, City Cycle Tours, the brainchild of Irish Cycle Tours, will start guided tours from McCausland Hotel on Victoria Street, taking tourists, visitors and motivated locals on a tour of some of the most historic buildings and sites in Belfast. Visitors will learn about the newly refurbished Albert Clock, City Hall, Crown Bar, Opera House, Queens University and the Botanical Gardens, on this scenic route.

The tours are available each week day evening at 6.30pm and on Saturdays and Sundays at 10.00am and 2.00pm and last for approximately two hours.

Launching the initiative, Brian Thompson, Director of Irish Cycle Tours said: “Many of the capitals across Europe have guided cycle tours so I am delighted to introduce guided cycle tours for the City of Belfast. It’s environmentally friendly and a healthy option to seeing the urban, historic and scenic sites of Belfast.”

Belfast’s Lord Mayor Jim Rogers welcomed the new tours as a boost to the City’s growing tourism industry, he added: “This is an exciting time for the city of Belfast. We have so much to offer local people and visitors alike and this is the perfect way for visitors to see the many and varied aspects of what Belfast has to offer.”

Gerry Lennon of Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau was delighted that Belfast would have another string to its tourism bow and that this new cycle tour was likely to appeal to all sorts of visitors, from family groups to business travellers.

Irish Cycle Tours has been in operation for three years and also specialises in weekend, short break and seven day cycling and walking holidays in Northern Ireland.

Cycling holiday areas include the Antrim Glens & Causeway Coast, The Mourne Mountains and the Lakelands of Fermanagh, Leitrim and Cavan.

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