Belfast

Belfast

Belfast has done something that most post-conflict cities fail to do: turned its difficult history into a genuine tourist asset without sanitising it. The murals on the Falls Road and Shankill Road – painted during the Troubles, added to since, still being created – are among the most politically charged public art anywhere in the world. The black cab tours that take visitors through West Belfast work because the drivers lived it, and their versions of the conflict (republican cabs and unionist cabs tend to offer different framings) give you something that no museum exhibit replaces.

The city also made the Titanic, which sank. Titanic Belfast, opened in 2012 on the site of the original shipyard, is consistently rated one of the best museums in Europe. The building itself, shaped like a ship’s bow, sits at the end of the slipway where the Titanic was launched. The exhibits combine technical detail on the ship’s construction with survivor testimonies and the story of its discovery in 1985. Give it three hours; most people give it one.

What to Visit

Titanic Belfast: the museum itself, the SS Nomadic (the tender that ferried first and second class passengers to the Titanic at Cherbourg, now restored and moored adjacent), and the Thompson Graving Dock where the ship was fitted out. The whole Titanic Quarter is worth a few hours.

Black Cab Murals Tour: book through any central accommodation or tourist office. Typically 1.5-2 hours. The guides are local and the difference between a good guide and an average one is significant.

Ulster Museum: free, in the Botanic Gardens. Strong Irish history and archaeology collection, good contemporary art programme, and a reassuringly non-partisan approach to the island’s history.

Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street: a Victorian pub owned by the National Trust, with gas lighting, carved snugs, and ornate tilework. Order a Guinness and sit in one of the private booths. The Crown’s Victorian interior is genuine, not reconstructed.

Giant’s Causeway: one hour north, a UNESCO World Heritage site of hexagonal basalt columns formed by ancient volcanic activity. The walk along the coastal path above the columns is better than the main causeway itself, which gets very crowded in summer. Early morning on a weekday gives a different experience.

Where to Eat

Ox on Oxford Street is the reference restaurant for contemporary Irish cooking – local seafood, Ulster beef, seasonal vegetables. Booking required. St George’s Market on Friday mornings has food vendors alongside antique and produce stalls; it is the best version of itself before 10am.

For pubs: the Crown, obviously. The Duke of York in the Cathedral Quarter has been serving since 1796 and has the back lane setting to prove it.

Where to Stay

The Merchant Hotel in the Cathedral Quarter is a five-star boutique property in a former Ulster Bank HQ from 1860, with a Victorian great hall that is the best-designed hotel room in Northern Ireland. Generator Belfast, opened in the Cathedral Quarter in recent years, is the best mid-range option with strong design and good common areas.

Getting There

Belfast has two airports: George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD, 3 miles from city centre, served by British Airways, Aer Lingus, Loganair) and Belfast International (BFS, 30km west, served by Ryanair, easyJet and others). Dublin is 2 hours south by bus or train. The Translink Goldline express between Dublin and Belfast runs roughly every 30 minutes during the day.