The Vibrant, Gritty, and Colorful Hodgepodge That Is Belize City
Belize City is far from a sanitized tourist paradise. It’s raw, real, and full of character.
Here you will find Belize’s largest urban center, a lively, unpolished hub where Caribbean rhythms, an ancient Maya past, colonial history, and modern Belizean life collide.
The city has seen major improvements in recent years, with better roads and telecom infrastructure. Challenges like crime and corruption persist.
Though no longer the capital (the government moved inland to Belmopan in 1970 after hurricanes repeatedly battered the city), it remains the nation’s cultural and economic heart.
The grit and color of Belize City, BZ
Walking its streets, you’ll feel its unmistakably Caribbean soul. English is the official language, but the melodic lilt of Belizean Kriol fills the air, blending with Garifuna drumbeats, Spanish, and the chatter of market vendors. The city’s multicultural identity is everywhere: in the aromatic curry shops run by East Indian descendants, the sizzle of fresh seafood at street stalls, and the brightly painted wooden houses perched on stilts against floodwaters.
Belize City doesn’t hide its scars. Its weathered colonial architecture, like the hand-cranked Swing Bridge (1923) and St. John’s Cathedral, Central America’s oldest Anglican church, stands alongside modern developments.
Yet Belize City’s energy is undeniable. By day, the streets buzz with activity, with fresh-fish grills, conch fritters sizzling, and vendors selling everything from tropical fruit to handmade crafts. At night, music spills from bars: reggae, punta, and brukdown (a Creole folk style) keep the city alive.
A regional hub
Belize’s largest city also serves as a major hub for the region, as ferries and water taxis to the country’s most popular islands like San Pedro and Caye Caulker depart from the city’s port regularly. There are also water taxis that can get you to Mexican destinations through the bay of Chetumal, though this option is considerably more expensive than taking the bus and takes roughly the same amount of time.
Speaking of buses, Belize City is also the spot where the country’s two major highways intersect, making it somewhat of an obligatory stop regardless of direction. The most popular route, at least for tourists, is towards the Guatemalan border to visit the ancient Maya City of Tikal.
Buses are also a great way to get from Mérida to Belize City, as is driving, though you can expect to spend up to seven or eight hours behind the wheel.
Ancient beginnings, British colonialism, and Independence
Belize City’s story begins long before the British arrived. It is rooted in the ancient Maya civilization that once dominated the region. But it was the arrival of British logwood and mahogany cutters in the 17th and 18th centuries that shaped the city into a bustling colonial outpost.
Back then, it was little more than a rough settlement known as Belize Town, a hub for the timber trade that relied heavily on enslaved African labor. In time, these settlements expanded, and the nation began to shed its colonial identity, shifting from its name of British Honduras to Belize.
The British Empire’s grip on the region turned Belize into a unique cultural crossroads. Enslaved Africans, brought by colonial powers, were mixed with the Indigenous Maya and later, Garifuna people, descendants of West African, Carib, and Arawak ancestors who arrived in Belize after being exiled from St. Vincent in the early 1800s. That is at least one version of the story; the reality is much more complicated. Waves of indentured laborers from India, China, and the West Indies further enriched the city’s ethnic tapestry, creating a Creole culture that still defines Belize today.
Belize City today
Belize finally shed its status as a colony in 1981 and is, to this day, one of the youngest nation-states in the Americas. However, just like Canada and Australia, Belize remains a member of the British Commonwealth, a fact driven home by its currency, the Belizean Dollar (set at .50 USD), which still bears the images of Queen Elizabeth II.
It is also true that Belize City (and the country as a whole) have made impressive strides. Many dirt roads have now been replaced with modern highways, telecommunication infrastructure has improved by leaps and bounds, and although at night Belize City can be dangerous, especially to solo travelers. Corruption remains a serious problem, which has driven several expats to leave, but can also be felt in smaller ways, like sketchy goings-on at border crossings.
Belize City is not a postcard-perfect tourist haven — it’s a city that feels lived in and is unapologetically itself. It’s a place where the past and present collide, where the descendants of slaves, Indigenous peoples, and colonial settlers have forged a society that is uniquely Belizean.
And yes, I am always excited when visiting Belize City and am continually impressed by its improvements, which seem to compound with every visit.
If you go to Belize City
To find out more about the many things to see in Belize City, as well as recommendations of popular hotels in Belize City, visit the official Travel Belize website.
Senior Editor Carlos Rosado van der Gracht is a Mexican expedition/Canadian photographer, adventure leader, and PhD candidate. Born in Mérida, Carlos holds multimedia, philosophy, and translation degrees from universities in Mexico, Canada and Norway.
