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▶ Video · Best of Belize City
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Top 10North AmericaBelize

Top 10 Things To Do in Belize City

Country
Belize
Best months
Feb · Mar · Apr
Population
66,083
Language
English
Budget / day
$75–160
Quick answer

Start on the Fort George peninsula: the Museum of Belize in its old prison, then the Swing Bridge, St. John's Cathedral and the Museum of Belizean Art on Albert Street. Give a morning to Altun Ha or the Belize Zoo and an afternoon to the howler monkeys at Bermudian Landing. Two days covers the city, four with the day trips.

Best of Belize City

▶ Video guide Open the film page (4:36) →

Belize City is the country's port, its bus hub and the dock every caye runs from, and it repays the day you give it before the boat. A clapboard and brick grid sits on Haulover Creek, and the reef, the howler monkeys and the Maya are all inside an hour.

The 10 best things to do in Belize City

Museum of Belize, Belize City, Belize (Wimup)
1

Museum of Belize

Museum· Gabourel Lane, Fort George, Belize City, Belize

The national museum occupies Her Majesty's Prison, built in 1857 and holding prisoners into the 1990s. One cell is left as it was found. The rest runs from Maya jade and ceramics to a complete sheet of every Belizean stamp, and a replica of the Altun Ha jade head stands in for the original, which lives in the Central Bank vault.

Time1 to 2 hours
CostBZ$10 for adults
Best atTuesday to Saturday morning
TipClosed Mondays and on public holidays, and closing is 4pm on Friday and Saturday
Map↗ Website
Swing Bridge, Belize City, Belize (Wimup)
2

The Swing Bridge

Landmark· Queen Street at Albert Street, over Haulover Creek, Belize City, Belize

Cast in Liverpool and opened on 11 April 1923, this is the oldest swing bridge in Central America and one of very few anywhere still turned by hand. Four men worked the capstans to let masted boats up Haulover Creek. It is the hinge of the city: everything north of it is Fort George, everything south is the commercial district.

Time20 minutes
CostFree
Best atEarly morning
TipThe Marine Terminal for the cayes is a minute north on North Front Street
Map
3

St. John's Cathedral

Landmark· Albert Street at Regent Street, Belize City, Belize

Built between 1812 and 1820 from brick carried across the Atlantic as ships' ballast, and the oldest Anglican cathedral in Central America. Four Miskito kings were crowned in it. The inside is mahogany and sapodilla, and Yarborough Cemetery, the country's oldest, is a short walk further south.

Time30 minutes
CostFree, donations welcome
Best atSunday morning service
TipThe Museum of Belizean Art is directly across the street in the old Government House
Map
4

Museum of Belizean Art

Museum· Government House, Regent Street, Belize City, Belize

Government House went up in 1814 as the colonial governor's residence, and it is where the Union Jack came down in 1981. It reopened in April 2024 as the country's first art museum, hanging 68 works from the National Art Collection. The seafront lawn behind it is the best public green in the city.

Time1 hour
CostCheck the current admission at the door
Best atWeekday mornings
TipHours here have been inconsistent through the renovations, so call ahead
Map↗ Website
5

Baron Bliss Lighthouse and Tomb

Landmark· Fort George Point, Marine Parade, Belize City, Belize

Baron Bliss never set foot on the Belizean mainland. He anchored offshore, fell ill and left most of his fortune to a country he had only seen from the water. His granite tomb sits below a 15 m lighthouse at the tip of Fort George, and 9 March, the day he died in 1926, is still a national holiday.

Time30 minutes
CostFree
Best atLate afternoon
TipWalk the seafront north from here past BTL Park into Newtown Barracks
Map
Altun Ha, Belize City, Belize (Wimup)
6

Altun Ha

Maya site· Rockstone Pond Road, off the Old Northern Highway, Belize District, Belize

The Maya city on the Belikin label and the watermark of every banknote, 54 km north of the city and the easiest ruin in the country to reach. Two plazas, and the Temple of the Masonry Altars you can still climb. The jade head of Kinich Ahau came out of it in 1968, the largest Maya jade carving ever found.

TimeHalf a day with transfers
CostBZ$10 for non-residents
Best at8am, before the cruise coaches
TipOpen 8am to 5pm every day of the year, including holidays
Map↗ Website
7

The Belize Zoo

Wildlife· Mile 29, George Price Highway, La Democracia, Belize

Sharon Matola founded it in 1983 with animals left over from a wildlife documentary that could not be released to the wild. It still keeps Belizean species only, all of them rescues or born here, and the enclosures are fenced out of the savanna the animals already lived in. Jaguars, tapirs, harpy eagles.

Time2 to 3 hours
CostBZ$40 for non-resident adults
Best at8:30am
TipLast admission is 4pm Monday to Saturday, 3:30pm Sundays and holidays
Map↗ Website
8

Community Baboon Sanctuary

Wildlife· Bermudian Landing, Belize District, Belize

Not a park but a pledge. Since 1985 landowners across a cluster of villages have farmed around the black howler's canopy instead of clearing it, and the population has climbed past a thousand. A village guide walks you to a family group, and the calling carries for a mile through the riverside forest.

TimeHalf a day from the city
CostGuided walk booked at the visitor centre
Best atEarly morning
TipThe visitor centre keeps a small natural history museum on the rainforest and the howler
Map↗ Website
Caye Caulker, Belize City, Belize (Wimup)
9

Caye Caulker

Island· Caye Caulker, Belize District, Belize

Forty-five minutes out by water taxi, no cars, and a village that runs on bicycles and golf carts. Snorkel trips to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley leave from here, or take the day and swim at the Split, the channel Hurricane Hattie cut through the island in 1961.

TimeA full day, or stay over
CostReturn water taxi from the Marine Terminal
Best atThe 8am boat out
TipBuy the return leg with the outbound; the last boats back fill
Map↗ Website
10

Traveller's Liquors Heritage Centre

Distillery· Mile 2.5, Philip Goldson Highway, Belize City, Belize

One Barrel was blended here in 1964 and the country has drunk it since. The heritage centre tells the distillery's story, a window looks straight onto the bottling line, and the tasting bar pours the full range: aged and white rums, wines, bitters and liqueurs.

Time1 hour
CostFree to enter
Best atWeekday afternoons
TipMonday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Ten minutes by taxi from the Swing Bridge
Map↗ Website

5 of the 10, mapped

Belize City · 5 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsWildlifeIslands

Belize City travel FAQ

Is Belize City safe to visit?+
Treat it as you would any working port. The tourist route from Fort George down Albert Street is busy and walked daily in daylight, and the Southside blocks away from it are not somewhere to wander. Take a licensed taxi after dark and agree the fare first.
How many days do you need in Belize City?+
Two. One for the Fort George walk, the Museum of Belize and the cathedral, and one for a day trip to Altun Ha, the zoo or the howler monkeys at Bermudian Landing. Add two more if you are taking the water taxi out to the cayes.
How do you get from the airport into the city?+
Philip Goldson International is at Ladyville, 16 km north of downtown, and a licensed taxi takes 20 to 30 minutes. Domestic flights use Belize City Municipal Airport instead, a mile from the centre. Tropic Air and Maya Island Air fly from both.
When is the best time to visit Belize City?+
February to April. The dry season runs from about late November to May, the sea is calmest for the caye crossings then, and the Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from 1 June to 30 November. March also brings Baron Bliss Day and the finish of the La Ruta Maya canoe race.
Can you reach Caye Caulker and San Pedro from Belize City?+
Yes. Water taxis leave the Marine Terminal at 111 North Front Street, a minute north of the Swing Bridge, through the day from 8am. Caye Caulker is about 45 minutes and San Pedro another 45 after it. Tropic Air and Maya Island Air fly the same hop in about fifteen minutes.
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Belize City

Seven kitchens worth crossing the Swing Bridge for.
Downtown

Riverside Tavern

Grill

The Bowen family's grill on Haulover Creek, and the burger most local arguments end at.

Map
Marine Parade

Celebrity Restaurant & Bar

Caribbean

Belizean and Caribbean plates in the Volta Building, beside the Central Bank.

Map↗ Website
Southside

Bird's Isle

Belizean

A thatched deck on its own islet off the south end of Albert Street. Stew chicken and sea breeze.

Map
Queen Street and Douglas Jones Street

Nerie's

Belizean

Home cooking at canteen prices: escabeche, stew beans, cow foot soup. Two branches.

Map
Fort George

Smoky Mermaid

Seafood

Courtyard seafood under the mango trees at The Great House, and the nearest thing downtown has to a garden.

Map
San Antonio Road

Chon Saan Palace

Chinese

A Belize City fixture since the 1970s, with a menu past 200 items and the seafood to justify it.

Map
Downtown

Dit's Restaurant

Belizean

Third-generation Belizean lunches and cakes, and about as local as downtown gets.

Map
After dark

Best bars & rum in Belize City

Where the city drinks, and where its rum is made.
Philip Goldson Highway

Traveller's Liquors tasting bar

Distillery bar

The distillery pours its whole range at the heritage centre, weekdays until 5pm.

Map↗ Website
Fort George

Baymen's Tavern

Hotel bar

The Radisson Fort George's bar and grill, and the steadiest hotel bar on Marine Parade.

Map
Fort George

The Wet Lizard

Waterfront

Upstairs at the Fort Street Tourism Village, over the water and busiest on cruise days.

Map
Newtown Barracks

Thirsty Thursdays

Bar and grill

Grill and bar just north of downtown, and a reliable weeknight room.

Map
Downtown

Riverside Tavern bar

Sports bar

Separate sports bar beside the restaurant, with a deck straight onto the creek.

Map
Culture

Best museums & galleries in Belize City

A prison, a governor's house and a distillery, all now museums.
Museum of BelizeFort George

Museum of Belize

National museum

The national collection in the 1857 colonial gaol, with one cell left unrestored.

Map↗ Website
Southern Foreshore

Museum of Belizean Art

Art museum

Belize's first art museum, opened in 2024 in the 1814 Government House.

Map↗ Website
Southern Foreshore

Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts

Theatre and galleries

A 600-seat auditorium on the Southern Foreshore, with gallery space and the film festival.

Map↗ Website
Philip Goldson Highway

Traveller's Liquors Heritage Centre

Distillery museum

The rum museum behind the working distillery, tasting bar included.

Map↗ Website
George Price Highway

Old Belize

Heritage centre

A walk-through rainforest and Maya exhibit five miles out, sharing a site with Cucumber Beach.

Map↗ Website
Ancient Belize

Best Maya sites in Belize City

Four Maya cities within a day of the port.
Altun HaOld Northern Highway

Altun Ha

BZ$10 · daily 8am to 5pm

54 km north, two plazas, and the find spot of the Kinich Ahau jade head.

Map↗ Website
New River Lagoon

Lamanai

Orange Walk District

Reached by an hour up the New River from Orange Walk, past crocodiles and mangrove.

Map↗ Website
San Jose Succotz

Xunantunich

Cayo District

The Cayo showpiece near the Guatemalan border, crossed by hand-cranked ferry.

Map↗ Website
San Ignacio

Cahal Pech

Cayo District

A small hilltop palace complex on the edge of San Ignacio, walkable from town.

Map↗ Website
Wild Belize

Best wildlife & nature in Belize City

Jaguars, howler monkeys, manatees and the jabiru, all within two hours.
La Democracia

The Belize Zoo

Mile 29, George Price Highway

Belizean species only, all rescues, in enclosures cut from the savanna they lived in.

Map↗ Website
Bermudian Landing

Community Baboon Sanctuary

Guided village walks

Black howler monkeys on farmed land, protected by landowner pledge since 1985.

Map↗ Website
Crooked Tree Village

Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary

Over 260 resident bird species

Lagoons and swamp forest run by the Belize Audubon Society, and the country's jabiru nesting ground.

Map↗ Website
Belize Harbour

Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary

About 45 minutes by boat

Manatee ground four miles offshore, where boats cut their engines and pole in.

Map↗ Website
Between the city and Belmopan

Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

Mile 31.5, George Price Highway

Field station on the Sibun River with canoeing, trails and a long bird list.

Map↗ Website
Where to stay

Best neighborhoods in Belize City

Five parts of a city that changes block by block.
Marine Parade

Fort George

Northside

The colonial peninsula: old wooden houses, embassies, the museum and the lighthouse.

Map
Albert Street

The Commercial District

Southside

Albert and Regent Streets south of the bridge, where the shops, banks and cathedral are.

Map
Barracks Road

Newtown Barracks

Northside

Barracks Road runs the seafront a mile north of downtown, park on one side, houses on the other.

Map
Princess Margaret Drive

Buttonwood Bay

Northside

Quiet residential coast further north, and the calmest base within reach of downtown.

Map
Freetown Road

King's Park

Northside

A small suburb west of Freetown Road, near the municipal airstrip and the Belcan Bridge.

Map
Out of town

Best day trips in Belize City

Six trips that fit between the morning boat and the last one back.
Caye CaulkerNorthern cayes

Caye Caulker

Water taxi

Forty-five minutes by water taxi to a car-free village and the Split.

Map↗ Website
Northern cayes

San Pedro, Ambergris Caye

Water taxi or Tropic Air

Ninety minutes by boat or fifteen by plane, and the jump-off for Hol Chan.

Map↗ Website
Goff's CayeBarrier reef

Goff's Caye

About 30 minutes by boat

A sand island half an hour out, sitting directly on the barrier reef. Snorkelling straight off the beach.

Map
Altun HaOld Northern Highway

Altun Ha

54 km north

The closest Maya city, and the only one you can do in a morning from downtown.

Map↗ Website
Orange Walk District

Lamanai by river

Full day

Drive to Orange Walk, then an hour up the New River to the ruins. A full day.

Map↗ Website
Cayo District

San Ignacio and Cayo

About 2 hours by bus

Two hours west by bus, and the base for Xunantunich, Cahal Pech and the caves.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Belize City (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
1 January

KREM New Year's Day Cycling Classic

A 92-mile sprint down the Philip Goldson Highway from the Corozal border, finishing on Central American Boulevard.

9 March

National Heroes and Benefactors Day

Ceremonies at Baron Bliss's tomb on Fort George Point, and a sailing regatta in the harbour.

March

La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge

Four days and 180 miles of canoe racing down from San Ignacio, finishing at the Belcan Bridge.

March or April

Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic

The longest one-day race in the Western Hemisphere: 144 miles from the city to San Ignacio and back.

September

Belize Carnival Road March

Costumed bands and sound trucks take the streets on the middle Saturday of the September Celebrations.

10 September

St. George's Caye Day

The National Day, marking the battle of 1798, with the Citizens Parade through the city.

21 September

Independence Day

Belize left Britain in 1981. The Uniform Parade and a full day of flag-waving follow.

November

Belize International Film Festival

At the Bliss Centre since 2003, with recent editions running as a hybrid programme into spring.

Getting around

Belize City transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
BZE

Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport

At Ladyville, 16 km north of downtown, and the country's only international gateway. A licensed taxi in takes 20 to 30 minutes. Tropic Air and Maya Island Air run the domestic network from here.

Map↗ Website
TZA

Belize City Municipal Airport

A mile from downtown on the seafront, domestic flights only, and the faster of the two for the cayes. San Pedro and Caye Caulker are about fifteen minutes in the air.

Map↗ Website
Marine Terminal

Water taxis

San Pedro Belize Express sails from 111 North Front Street, a minute north of the Swing Bridge. Caye Caulker is about 45 minutes, San Pedro about 90, with departures through the day from 8am.

Map↗ Website
Novelo's

Buses and taxis

The terminal on West Collet Canal sends westbound buses toward Belmopan and San Ignacio about every half hour from 5am. In town, take a licensed taxi and agree the fare before you get in.

Map
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Belize City, Belize

The classics to order before you leave.

Stew chicken with rice and beans

The national plate: chicken browned in recado rojo, rice cooked through with beans and coconut milk.

Fry jacks

Puffed fried dough at breakfast, split and filled with beans, cheese or egg.

Garnaches

Fried corn tortillas under refried beans, crumbled cheese and pickled onion.

Panades

Fried masa pockets stuffed with fish or beans, eaten two or three at a time.

Salbutes

Puffed fresh-masa tortillas topped with chicken, cabbage and onion.

Boil up

A Kriol Sunday pot: cassava, plantain, egg and fish or pigtail in one broth.

Escabeche

Onion soup sharpened with vinegar and oregano, usually with chicken.

Conch ceviche

Diced conch cured in lime with onion and habanero. Legal only from October to June.

Belize City fact sheet

Belize City at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Belize
Region
Belize District
Population
66,083 in the city (Belize City Council), 113,630 across the Belize District at the 2022 census
Founded
1638, by English logwood cutters at the mouth of Haulover Creek
Nickname
The Old Capital, since Belmopan took the seat of government in 1970
Language
English is official, Belize Kriol is the everyday language, and Spanish is widely spoken
Currency
Belize dollar (BZ$), fixed at two to the US dollar
Time zone
CST (UTC-6), no daylight saving
Calling code
+501
Airports
Philip S. W. Goldson International (BZE) at Ladyville, 16 km north; Belize City Municipal (TZA), a mile from downtown
Power
110V, type A/B/G sockets
Emergency
911
Ideal length
2 days, 4 with day trips
Getting around
On foot downtown, taxi or bus beyond it
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • The Swing Bridge was cast in Liverpool and opened in April 1923. It is the oldest swing bridge in Central America.
  • Baron Bliss left most of his fortune to Belize without once setting foot on the mainland. He saw it from his yacht.
  • The jade head of Kinich Ahau, dug out of Altun Ha in 1968, is the largest Maya jade carving ever recovered.
  • Hurricane Hattie damaged roughly seven in ten buildings here in 1961. Belmopan was built inland because of it.
  • Conch may only be taken from October to June. The closed season covers the whole of July, August and September.

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