Belize City Tour with Belize Blue Morpho Tours

If you are interested in learning about the history of Belize during the colonial times when Great Britain ruled the land, then you should take a Belize City tour. Scattered around the city, you will find several historic buildings and landmarks that tell the story of British Honduras and how Belize came to be. Some notable buildings are The Museum of Belize, the Supreme Court of Belize, and St. John’s Cathedral. On your tour of Belize City, you will see many buildings featuring colonial-style architecture, and some still standing by the support of “London bricks.” Come along with us and read about our experience sightseeing in Belize City with Belize Blue Morpho Tours. This tour is perfect for cruise passengers looking for things to do in the Belize city cruise port, and also available to overnight visitors staying in or near Belize City.

Belize City is known to be the commercial and business center of the country with all the large corporate buildings and shopping centers in the area. It was once the capital of Belize before it was destroyed by Hurricane, after which the new capital city of Belmopan was built. Today Belize City is rich with culture and history as we learned on our city tour with Belize Blue Morpho Tours. While it’s a great place for souvenir shopping and some local dining, one of the most popular activities to do in the city is to go sightseeing on a city tour. We recommend Belize Blue Morpho Tours for this experience.

We traveled around the city in a comfortable, air-conditioned van with our guide, Carlos from Belize Blue Morpho Tours. He was very informative and entertaining as he pointed out important buildings and landmarks, telling the history of Belize City from the colonial days to present day. A drive with Carlos is like a journey back in time to the days when the British empire ruled British Honduras, the impact of slavery in developing Belize’s culture, reliving the struggles and perseverance through natural disasters, the building of a proud nation and the struggles for independence. These stories are captured in the buildings, landmarks, and people you will encounter in Belize City on a tour with Carlos. His stories are so captivating that you will wish you could spend an entire day with him.

There are too many stories to recount on this blog, but we’ll share a few interesting highlights as told by Carlos. The first building that Carlos pointed out to us was an old brick building, now housing department stores - one named Tropicana Store.

He explained to us that the building was constructed from “ballast” bricks, which were bricks that the colonial ships would bring from Europe to balance the ship. These bricks were then left in the colony so the ships could take back logwood, and so the settlers would use them to erect buildings.

You will find that many of the street names in Belize City are clues to our colonial past. Turning right unto Albert Street, named after Prince Albert, we entered what locals now refer to as “Downtown” Belize City. Here, many Indian merchants have set up stores selling clothing, cosmetic items or other household products. As mentioned by Carlos, the Indians arrived in Belize as indentured servants, and eventually transitioned to successful business owners.

Driving down Albert Street, Carlos pointed out several historical landmarks and buildings such as an old English mailbox that was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II when Her Highness took the throne for the first time. We drove past St. John’s Cathedral, the oldest church in Belize, which endured the great, unnamed, hurricane of 1931 as well as Hurricane Hattie in 1961. It was built in 1812 as the Church of England’s headquarters in Central America. Very interestingly, 90% of the bricks on the structure today are the same original bricks used to construct it in the 1800’s. Anyone can visit St. John’s Cathedral, and there are no fees to visit. Depending on time, Carlos may be able to make a stop, but on our tour we opted not to stop in.

Continuing in our Belize City tour, we journeyed down to Regent Street, formerly known as “Front Street,” where we stopped by the Government House of Culture around the corner. The Government House of Culture was previously an old colonial structure built for the English governors that lived in the area. As noted by Carlos, after Belize gained its independence, the building was then abandoned and later converted to a public space. It is now commonly used to host cultural events and galas.

We traveled throughout the city, stretching from the seaside, where the Baron Bliss Lighthouse and BELIZE monument sign was erected, to Princess Margaret Drive, where the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital is located, and crossing the old swing bridge back to Downtown Belize City. Carlos was able to tell us interesting stories and facts that vividly describes the history of the colonial times of Belize City. You will be amazed by the rich history of the city when you go on a tour with Carlos on your next trip to Belize City.

There are several ways to get to Belize City. For our Belize City tour, we travelled by shuttle from San Ignacio Town with Belize Ground Shuttle. Belize Ground Shuttle is a reliable and professional shuttle service that offers comfortable, air-conditioned vans along with other amenities for passengers. See our Transportation Blog for more information about transportation options in Belize. Other ways to get to Belize City would be by private vehicle, public bus, and aircraft provided by Tropic Air or Maya Island Air. If you arrive by cruise ship to the Fort Street Tourism Village in Belize City, you can book your tour with Carlos here on Belizing.com and he will meet you outside one of the cruise terminals. This tour is perfect for cruise passengers and Carlos will get you back to the port with enough time to spare.

Things that you should take for this Belize City tour are cameras, comfortable clothing, and cash if you’d like to stop at a souvenir shop. If you are opting to spend the full day with Belize Blue Morpho Tours by going cave tubing after your private Belize City tour, then you should take along water shoes, bug spray, and swimwear.

What’s the cost of the Belize City Tour?

This private Belize City tour costs $35. Belize Blue Morpho Tours also offers a combo tour of this private Belize City tour and cave tubing for $140. The cost includes a private air-conditioned vehicle, water, lunch, towels, equipment, and your private tour guide. You can find these listings on Belizing.com

If you would like to go sightseeing around Belize City as well as go cave tubing, the you should definitely book this tour with Belize Blue Morpho Tours. Our Belize City tour with Carlos was exceptionally insightful and interesting. I would definitely recommend you to book the full day tour and go cave tubing!