The North’s largest city by a ways, with a inhabitants of some 270,000 within the internal city rising to 600,000 throughout its wider metropolitan area, Belfast has a pace and bustle you’ll discover nowhere else in Northern Ireland. For a lot of, however, the city will always be remembered as the main focus of the Troublesthat dominated Northern Ireland’s politics for nearly three decades from the late Nineteen Sixties and scarred so many lives. Indeed, as the North continues to come to terms with the aftermath of the peace process, instigated by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the city remains in some ways on a knife’s edge, always anticipating some new predicament to emerge.
In appearance Belfast closely resembles Liverpool, Glasgow or every other industrial port throughout the water, and, similarly, its largely defunct docklands– in which, famously, the Titanic was constructed – are undergoing huge redevelopment. Although the city centre is still characterized by numerous elegant Victorian buildings, there’s been an unlimited transformation right here, too, not least in the larger prosperity of the shopping streets leading northwards from the hub of Belfast life, Donegall Square. Yet economic improvement will not be reflected in every facet of Belfast life. Some areas of the city display obvious economic decline, most notably North Belfast and the as soon as-thriving so-called Golden Mile (now little more than a silver hundred yards at every end). On week-nights the city centre can resemble a ghost town, though there’s no doubt that Belfast continues to thrive culturally. Theatre and the visual arts are flourishing, and there are plenty of places to catch the city’s booming traditional-music scene.
A couple of days are enough to get a feel for the city, although it is an effective base from which to visit virtually anywhere else within the North. Within the city centre, concentrate on the glories resulting from the Industrial Revolution – grandiose architecture and magnificent Victorian pubs – and the rejuvenated space from Ann Street to Donegall Street now known as the Cathedral quarter. To the south lies Queen’s University and the extensive collections of the Ulster Museum, set within the grounds of the Botanic Gardens. A climb up Cave Hill, a few miles to the north, rewards you with marvellous views of the city spread out across the curve of its natural harbour, Belfast Lough. The River Lagan flows towards Belfast Lough along the japanese side of the city centre and presents riverside walks, and is also the main target for probably the most radical development in the previous few years, the Laganside, targeted on the Waterfront Corridor and the Odyssey Complicated across the water. In East Belfast, across the river beyond the nice cranes of the Harland & Wolff shipyard, lies suburbia and really little of curiosity apart from Stormont, the former Northern Irish parliament and home to the modern Assembly. The city’s once-formidable security presence and fortifications are actually virtually invisible, however the iron blockade known as the Peace Line still bisects the Catholic and Protestant communities of West Belfast, a grim physical reminder of the city’s and country’s sectarian divisions – and there are specific flashpoints such because the Short Strand in East Belfast and North Belfast’s Ardoyne area that it is still inadvisable to visit.
Belfast has a broad range of accommodation, particularly on the top finish of the market. Nonetheless, there’s still a relative dearth of finances places. A lot of the city’s lodging is concentrated round Great Victoria Street and south of the centre in the university quarter, particularly on and round Botanic Avenue and within the network of streets running between the Malone and Lisburn roads. Many hotels and guesthouses are geared towards business travellers and so often offer significant reductions for weekend breaks; most hotels provide free wi-fi.
Eating out in Belfast is very much a movable feast with new places popping up and others vanishing or relocating. There are many options for food during the day within the centre and on the southern end of the Golden Mile, starting from new cafés (many of which within the city centre keep open until 8.30pm on Thurs nights) to traditional pubs (which usually only serve lunch but in some cases proceed providing meals till 9pm).
Most of the city’s well-established restaurants are around Donegall Sq. or in the university area. Bear in mind that they are usually totally booked on Friday and Saturday evenings, so reserving a table’s essential unless you’re prepared to eat early. There is a truthful selection of delicacies, from trendy Irish and European, with French and Italian especially common, to a smattering of Indian and East Asian restaurants. Standards are generally high and sometimes exceptionally good value for money. The choice is limited for vegetarians but many places include veggie options on their menus.
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