A week ago I got a sneak peak of the new Titanic Belfast experience, and it was great. They've incorporated a lot of neat features so that it's really an experience and not a museum. Giant's Causeway was also a great visit. It's definitely going to be easier to get there if you have a hire car than if you're trying to sort out buses.

I found that learning more about the Troubles in Northern Ireland by touring the murals in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry (along with the city walls in the latter) was fascinating. I was a teenager when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, so I was aware of the Troubles while growing up but found that what we would hear in the American media didn't really provide enough information to fully understand the situation. To hear the nationalist side in Derry, go to the Free Derry Museum and get on a walking tour. We had a great tour that ran almost three hours, and it's really moving to hear things from people who experienced it. I wish we'd had time to find a guide from the unionist/protestant side to provide the alternative viewpoint. The sanitized view of things provided by officials trying to promote a positive image for Northern Ireland doesn't do justice. Northern Ireland is fully deserving of a positive image (and recent polling suggests that even a majority of Catholics prefer remaining as part of the United Kingdom instead of integrating into the Republic of Ireland), and I hope people visit. However, learning about what went on there in the past, warts and all, is crucial to understanding the current state of affairs.