Belfast to London flights

Belfast to London flights link Northern Ireland with the UK capital. Departures leave from Belfast International Airport, northwest of the city, or George Best Belfast City Airport, just three miles from the centre.

British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair fly the route non-stop. Fares on this route currently start from £15.

Belfast International Airport lies 18 miles northwest of the city centre. easyJet and Ryanair fly from here to Gatwick, Luton and Stansted.

The airport is reached by the M2 northbound and the A57, or by the Airport Express 300 bus via Templepatrick. It has two runways.

George Best Belfast City Airport is closer to the centre, and British Airways flies from here to Heathrow. The airport also handles Aer Lingus services.

Reach it by the A2 Sydenham Bypass, or take a train to Sydenham station, where a shuttle bus connects to the terminal. It has a single runway.

Flights from Belfast land at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton or Stansted, depending on the airline. Links into central London:

• Heathrow: the Heathrow Express reaches Paddington in 15 minutes, while the Piccadilly line takes about 50 minutes
• Gatwick: the Gatwick Express runs to Victoria, and Thameslink trains run to London Bridge and St Pancras
• Stansted: Stansted Express trains run to Liverpool Street station in the City in 47 minutes
• Luton: the Luton DART links the terminal to Luton Airport Parkway for trains to St Pancras

For onward travel across the capital, tapping a contactless payment card or an Oyster card is the simplest way to pay on the Underground, buses and most trains.

Travellers from Belfast often fly to London for major sporting events, West End shows or weekend breaks. Places to start with:

• West End: award-winning theatre around Shaftesbury Avenue and Covent Garden, with shows most nights of the week
• Soho: a dense grid of pubs, restaurants and late bars, with more nightlife out east in Shoreditch
• Oxford Circus: the heart of the main shopping district, where Oxford Street meets Regent Street
• British Museum: world history from the Rosetta Stone to the Parthenon sculptures, under one glass-roofed court
• Tower of London: the medieval fortress beside Tower Bridge that guards the Crown Jewels
• Natural History Museum: dinosaurs and a blue whale skeleton in a Victorian building in South Kensington
• Borough Market: street food and fresh produce under the railway arches beside London Bridge

For a quieter afternoon, take a stroll through Regent's Park or walk along the Southbank by the River Thames, past the London Eye and Tate Modern.

Big events draw many Belfast visitors: rugby and football at Twickenham and Wembley, tennis at Wimbledon in summer, and the Christmas lights on Oxford Street and Regent Street in winter.