---
title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Belize City, Belize | Wimup"
description: "Belize City ranked: the Museum of Belize, the Swing Bridge, Altun Ha and the Belize Zoo, plus where to eat, the water taxis and the day trips that actually fit."
url: https://wimup.com/city/belize-city
type: City guide
updated: 2026-11-08
publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com)
---

# Top 10 Things To Do in Belize City

Belize City, Belize · North America · By Wimup Editorial, 13 min read

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.

## 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.

## Quick facts

- **Best months:** Feb · Mar · Apr
- **Ideal length:** 2 days, 4 with day trips
- **Budget per day:** $75–160
- **Language:** English, with Belize Kriol spoken daily
- **Getting around:** On foot downtown, taxi or bus beyond it
- **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://www.travelbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## The 10 best things to do in Belize City

### 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.

- **Time:** 1 to 2 hours
- **Cost:** BZ$10 for adults
- **Best at:** Tuesday to Saturday morning
- **Tip:** Closed Mondays and on public holidays, and closing is 4pm on Friday and Saturday

Links: [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 20 minutes
- **Cost:** Free
- **Best at:** Early morning, when the skiffs are unloading
- **Tip:** The Marine Terminal for the cayes is a minute north on North Front Street

### 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.

- **Time:** 30 minutes
- **Cost:** Free, donations welcome
- **Best at:** Sunday morning service
- **Tip:** The Museum of Belizean Art is directly across the street in the old Government House

### 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.

- **Time:** 1 hour
- **Cost:** Check the current admission at the door
- **Best at:** Weekday mornings
- **Tip:** Hours here have been inconsistent through the renovations, so call ahead

Links: [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 30 minutes
- **Cost:** Free
- **Best at:** Late afternoon, with the sea breeze up
- **Tip:** Walk the seafront north from here past BTL Park into Newtown Barracks

### 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.

- **Time:** Half a day with transfers
- **Cost:** BZ$10 for non-residents
- **Best at:** 8am, before the cruise coaches
- **Tip:** Open 8am to 5pm every day of the year, including holidays

Links: [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 2 to 3 hours
- **Cost:** BZ$40 for non-resident adults
- **Best at:** 8:30am, when the cats are moving
- **Tip:** Last admission is 4pm Monday to Saturday, 3:30pm Sundays and holidays

Links: [Website](https://www.belizezoo.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** Half a day from the city
- **Cost:** Guided walk booked at the visitor centre
- **Best at:** Early morning, when the troops call
- **Tip:** The visitor centre keeps a small natural history museum on the rainforest and the howler

Links: [Website](https://howlermonkeybelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** A full day, or stay over
- **Cost:** Return water taxi from the Marine Terminal
- **Best at:** The 8am boat out
- **Tip:** Buy the return leg with the outbound; the last boats back fill

Links: [Website](https://belizewatertaxi.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

### 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.

- **Time:** 1 hour
- **Cost:** Free to enter, tastings at the bar
- **Best at:** Weekday afternoons
- **Tip:** Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Ten minutes by taxi from the Swing Bridge

Links: [Website](https://www.onebarrelrum.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best restaurants in Belize City

Seven kitchens worth crossing the Swing Bridge for.

1. **Riverside Tavern** (Grill · Downtown): The Bowen family's grill on Haulover Creek, and the burger most local arguments end at.
2. **Celebrity Restaurant & Bar** (Caribbean · Marine Parade): Belizean and Caribbean plates in the Volta Building, beside the Central Bank. [Website](https://www.celebritybelize.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Bird's Isle** (Belizean · Southside): A thatched deck on its own islet off the south end of Albert Street. Stew chicken and sea breeze.
4. **Nerie's** (Belizean · Queen Street and Douglas Jones Street): Home cooking at canteen prices: escabeche, stew beans, cow foot soup. Two branches.
5. **Smoky Mermaid** (Seafood · Fort George): Courtyard seafood under the mango trees at The Great House, and the nearest thing downtown has to a garden.
6. **Chon Saan Palace** (Chinese · San Antonio Road): A Belize City fixture since the 1970s, with a menu past 200 items and the seafood to justify it.
7. **Dit's Restaurant** (Belizean · Downtown): Third-generation Belizean lunches and cakes, and about as local as downtown gets.

## Best bars & rum in Belize City

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

1. **Traveller's Liquors tasting bar** (Distillery bar · Philip Goldson Highway): The distillery pours its whole range at the heritage centre, weekdays until 5pm. [Website](https://www.onebarrelrum.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Baymen's Tavern** (Hotel bar · Fort George): The Radisson Fort George's bar and grill, and the steadiest hotel bar on Marine Parade.
3. **The Wet Lizard** (Waterfront · Fort George): Upstairs at the Fort Street Tourism Village, over the water and busiest on cruise days.
4. **Thirsty Thursdays** (Bar and grill · Newtown Barracks): Grill and bar just north of downtown, and a reliable weeknight room.
5. **Riverside Tavern bar** (Sports bar · Downtown): Separate sports bar beside the restaurant, with a deck straight onto the creek.

## Best museums & galleries in Belize City

A prison, a governor's house and a distillery, all now museums.

1. **Museum of Belize** (National museum · Fort George): The national collection in the 1857 colonial gaol, with one cell left unrestored. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Museum of Belizean Art** (Art museum · Southern Foreshore): Belize's first art museum, opened in 2024 in the 1814 Government House. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts** (Theatre and galleries · Southern Foreshore): A 600-seat auditorium on the Southern Foreshore, with gallery space and the film festival. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **Traveller's Liquors Heritage Centre** (Distillery museum · Philip Goldson Highway): The rum museum behind the working distillery, tasting bar included. [Website](https://www.onebarrelrum.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
5. **Old Belize** (Heritage centre · George Price Highway): A walk-through rainforest and Maya exhibit five miles out, sharing a site with Cucumber Beach. [Website](https://www.oldbelize.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best Maya sites in Belize City

Four Maya cities within a day of the port.

1. **Altun Ha** (BZ$10 · daily 8am to 5pm · Old Northern Highway): 54 km north, two plazas, and the find spot of the Kinich Ahau jade head. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Lamanai** (Orange Walk District · New River Lagoon): Reached by an hour up the New River from Orange Walk, past crocodiles and mangrove. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Xunantunich** (Cayo District · San Jose Succotz): The Cayo showpiece near the Guatemalan border, crossed by hand-cranked ferry. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **Cahal Pech** (Cayo District · San Ignacio): A small hilltop palace complex on the edge of San Ignacio, walkable from town. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best wildlife & nature in Belize City

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

1. **The Belize Zoo** (Mile 29, George Price Highway · La Democracia): Belizean species only, all rescues, in enclosures cut from the savanna they lived in. [Website](https://www.belizezoo.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **Community Baboon Sanctuary** (Guided village walks · Bermudian Landing): Black howler monkeys on farmed land, protected by landowner pledge since 1985. [Website](https://howlermonkeybelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary** (Over 260 resident bird species · Crooked Tree Village): Lagoons and swamp forest run by the Belize Audubon Society, and the country's jabiru nesting ground. [Website](https://www.belizeaudubon.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
4. **Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary** (About 45 minutes by boat · Belize Harbour): Manatee ground four miles offshore, where boats cut their engines and pole in. [Website](http://swallowcayemanatees.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
5. **Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary** (Mile 31.5, George Price Highway · Between the city and Belmopan): Field station on the Sibun River with canoeing, trails and a long bird list. [Website](https://monkeybaybelize.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)

## Best neighborhoods in Belize City

Five parts of a city that changes block by block.

1. **Fort George** (Northside · Marine Parade): The colonial peninsula: old wooden houses, embassies, the museum and the lighthouse.
2. **The Commercial District** (Southside · Albert Street): Albert and Regent Streets south of the bridge, where the shops, banks and cathedral are.
3. **Newtown Barracks** (Northside · Barracks Road): Barracks Road runs the seafront a mile north of downtown, park on one side, houses on the other.
4. **Buttonwood Bay** (Northside · Princess Margaret Drive): Quiet residential coast further north, and the calmest base within reach of downtown.
5. **King's Park** (Northside · Freetown Road): A small suburb west of Freetown Road, near the municipal airstrip and the Belcan Bridge.

## Best day trips in Belize City

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

1. **Caye Caulker** (Water taxi · Northern cayes): Forty-five minutes by water taxi to a car-free village and the Split. [Website](https://belizewatertaxi.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
2. **San Pedro, Ambergris Caye** (Water taxi or Tropic Air · Northern cayes): Ninety minutes by boat or fifteen by plane, and the jump-off for Hol Chan. [Website](https://www.tropicair.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
3. **Goff's Caye** (About 30 minutes by boat · Barrier reef): A sand island half an hour out, sitting directly on the barrier reef. Snorkelling straight off the beach.
4. **Altun Ha** (54 km north · Old Northern Highway): The closest Maya city, and the only one you can do in a morning from downtown. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
5. **Lamanai by river** (Full day · Orange Walk District): Drive to Orange Walk, then an hour up the New River to the ruins. A full day. [Website](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
6. **San Ignacio and Cayo** (About 2 hours by bus · Cayo District): Two hours west by bus, and the base for Xunantunich, Cahal Pech and the caves.

## Festivals & annual events in Belize City (2026)

- **KREM New Year's Day Cycling Classic** (1 January): A 92-mile sprint down the Philip Goldson Highway from the Corozal border, finishing on Central American Boulevard.
- **National Heroes and Benefactors Day** (9 March): Ceremonies at Baron Bliss's tomb on Fort George Point, and a sailing regatta in the harbour.
- **La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge** (March): Four days and 180 miles of canoe racing down from San Ignacio, finishing at the Belcan Bridge.
- **Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic** (March or April): The longest one-day race in the Western Hemisphere: 144 miles from the city to San Ignacio and back.
- **Belize Carnival Road March** (September): Costumed bands and sound trucks take the streets on the middle Saturday of the September Celebrations.
- **St. George's Caye Day** (10 September): The National Day, marking the battle of 1798, with the Citizens Parade through the city.
- **Independence Day** (21 September): Belize left Britain in 1981. The Uniform Parade and a full day of flag-waving follow.
- **Belize International Film Festival** (November): At the Bliss Centre since 2003, with recent editions running as a hybrid programme into spring.

## Must-try dishes in Belize City, Belize

- **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 transport & airports

- **Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport** (BZE): 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. [Website](https://www.tropicair.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Belize City Municipal Airport** (TZA): 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. [Website](https://www.tropicair.com/belize-city-tza/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Water taxis** (Marine Terminal): 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. [Website](https://belizewatertaxi.com/schedule/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- **Buses and taxis** (Novelo's): 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.

## Belize City at a glance

- **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

## 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.

## 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.

## Nearby guides

- [Roatan](https://wimup.com/city/roatan.md): Honduras · 10 picks
- [Tulum](https://wimup.com/city/tulum.md): Mexico · 10 picks
- [Palenque](https://wimup.com/city/palenque.md): Mexico · 10 picks
- [All of North America →](https://wimup.com/north-america): 40 cities

Part of the [Belize guide](https://wimup.com/country/belize.md) · [North America](https://wimup.com/north-america.md)

## Sources

- [Belize City tourism board](https://www.travelbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Museum of Belize (official site)](https://nichbelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [The Belize Zoo (official site)](https://www.belizezoo.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Community Baboon Sanctuary (official site)](https://howlermonkeybelize.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Caye Caulker (official site)](https://belizewatertaxi.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Traveller's Liquors Heritage Centre (official site)](https://www.onebarrelrum.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Celebrity Restaurant & Bar (official site)](https://www.celebritybelize.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Old Belize (official site)](https://www.oldbelize.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (official site)](https://www.belizeaudubon.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary (official site)](http://swallowcayemanatees.org/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (official site)](https://monkeybaybelize.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [San Pedro, Ambergris Caye (official site)](https://www.tropicair.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Belize City Municipal Airport (official site)](https://www.tropicair.com/belize-city-tza/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- [Water taxis (official site)](https://belizewatertaxi.com/schedule/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral)
- Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.