Belfast has thrown off its grim and troubled past and emerged triumphant as one of Northern Ireland's most vibrant cities. Huge foreign investment—much of it from the European Union—has helped clean up and revitalize the city center; many of the public buildings have been fabulously restored to their former glory, and two of the main sights, the Ulster Museum and City Hall, are in the midst of refurbishment. In addition, the recent opening of the luxury Victoria Square has brought more top designer names to add extra luster to Belfast shopping.
Belfast enjoyed its greatest era of prosperity during the 19th century when the Industrial Revolution brought opportunities that local entrepreneurs were quick to embrace. The city soon boasted the largest linen mill, tobacco factory and rope makers in the world as well as, of course, the largest ship builders—the famous Harland and Wolff Shipyards. Belfast was a boomtown, a place for civic pride displayed in public buildings like the Grand Opera House, Ulster Hall and the cathedrals of St Peter and St Anne.
While Belfast doesn't have the great 19th-century boulevards or 14th-century medieval bridges of cities like Paris or Prague, its Victorian architecture is impressive. And despite the city's recently troubled history that landed it on the front pages of newspapers around the world, its resilient residents are among the friendliest people on the planet.
The 1998 Good Friday peace agreement locked a lasting truce in place between the warring Protestants (or Loyalists) and Catholics (or Nationalists) who clashed during a period of time known as the "Troubles." The "Troubles" meant that the city remained undeveloped, unspoiled by the march of bland high streets and faceless office blocks, and today the city has an individual feel to it, with locally owned butcher shops, pharmacies, shoe stores and cafés.
The revitalization of the city has produced a string of up-market hotels, restaurants and clubs in the last few years. Walk through the city streets in the evening and you'll discover clubs, pubs and late night venues catering to a new generation determined to enjoy itself.
The addition of top class accommodations is impressive. If you want to be in the action, the choice is wide, from the new five-star Merchant to the latest chic offering, Ten Square, just behind City Hall, and the delightful Malmaison in the Cathedral Quarter. For those with a sense of history, try the Hastings Europa Hotel, a favorite of the Clintons and Julia Roberts. For those staying outside Belfast, the five-star Hastings Culloden Estate and Spa is the top choice. A 19th-century chateau, it overlooks Belfast Lough.
DAY 1
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| Albert Memorial Clocktower |
For first-time visitors, one of the many surprising and delightful aspects about Belfast is its compact size and accessibility. Divided into the city center and four well-defined cultural "Quarters," each posesses its own character and history. Breakfast at your hotel before starting out at Donegall Square right in the center where Belfast City Hall, a high Victorian, pompous architectural statement, sits in grandiose state. Completed in 1906 as the administrative heart of the city, its current refurbishment has it closed off to visitors. Instead, take the short fifteen-minute trip on the Belfast Big Wheel in City Hall's grounds for a view of the spires, towers, green spaces and river of Belfast.
A stroll along Howard Street brings you to the Grand Opera House, opened in 1895 and the theatre for the likes of Sarah Bernhardt, Laurel and Hardy, Orson Welles and Gracie Fields. Refurbished to the sum of £9 million after the IRA bombs of the early 1990s, the gilt and red auditorium and gallery are worth a visit. Or book for one of the world-class performances of dance and music.
Saint George's Market, on the corner of May and Oxford streets, has been supplying the locals with everything they could possibly need since 1604. On Fridays, Ireland's oldest covered market offers antiques and clothes alongside boxes of fresh fish and organic fruit and vegetables which attract the city's chefs; on Saturdays the range of food becomes even wider and more eclectic.
From here, it's a short walk north on fashionable Victoria Street to the brand new, up-market shopping center, Victoria Square. In its wake has come a whole new swathe of cafés and restaurants like Café Vaudeville, located in what was originally a whiskey distillery then a bank. The elaborate wrought-iron work, splendid pillars and sinuous decorations recall a more leisured era. It's great for lunch, but come back in the evening for a champagne moment in the fabulous Bollinger Bar, which has rapidly established itself as one of Belfast's hot spots.
If shopping's not your thing, a brisk walk north will bring you to Belfast's leaning tower. While the 1867 Albert Memorial Clocktower may not lean as much as its counterpart in Pisa, the tilt is noticeable if you look closely enough. To its east is the Custom House, where the Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope worked in the 1850s; Custom House Square is now the venue for live concerts, festivals and events.
Another good lunch spot is the John Hewit, a local institution since it opened in 1999 and is now a gastro pub, popular for its modern Irish take on traditional dishes. The pub's interior, with its dark wood, is almost as impressive as its mission: profits from the pub go to the unemployment agency next door, set up by local poet and politician John Hewitt in 1983. Come back in the evening for a pint of Guinness and live traditional Irish music.
You're now in the Cathedral Quarter, one of the liveliest of the newly revitalized areas, with St. Anne's Cathedral anchoring it firmly in Belfast's historical fabric. Facing the façade, Writers' Square commemorates Belfast's strong literary tradition and is the centerpiece of the annual Cathedral Quarter's Arts Festival and the Belfast Pride Festival. The cobblestone streets of the area, once known as Sailor Town, are now home to art galleries and exhibition spaces displaying contemporary art, photography and graphics, earning the Quarter a reputation for a burgeoning arts scene.
Afterwards, try something completely different. To the west of Belfast, the Gaeltacht Quarter has largely shed its former image of the continuous raging battles between Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. In good entrepreneurial spirit, the "Troubles" have been turned to advantage. You can either book a Black Taxi Tour or hail a black taxi in the street for a tour of the area with its ghosts of the past and famous murals, painted homages to the fallen in the battle for faith, ideology and turf. You'll be taken to Shankill Road, the Protestant stronghold, which is particularly known for its murals and also to Falls Road, the epicenter of the city's Catholic movement. Alternatively, you'll feel close to the conflict if you book a Coiste Belfast Political Tour. Political ex-prisoners, now trained as tour guides, take you through their particular patch, and then pass you on to the other side. You will begin to understand both the loyalist and republican viewpoints.
Other historic attractions in the area include Conway Mill, which recalls the thriving linen industry of the past and is now a center for local artists and craftspeople that make and exhibit their work, as well as Clonard Church and Monastery, home to the initial talks which helped start the peace process.
Once you've exhausted this area, return to the center for a pre-dinner drink at the renovated Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street. Built in 1839 and bedecked with Victorian tack a half-century or so later, this famous pub is a feast for the eyes where locals and tourists alike can happily drink side-by-side in carved wooden booths, while wooden griffins stare down from above and gold tiles reflect the light on the walls.
Nothing sums up the resurgence of Belfast as a hip city better than its new and wide range of restaurants. In the city center, try Cayenne, owned and run by famed chef Paul Rankin, whose Asian-Irish fusion menu offers the likes of Thai fish cakes in crispy noodles and peppered local venison with ginger braised salsify, mushrooms and wild rice. Also on everybody's list is the relatively new Mourne Seafood Bar, which serves the freshest locally caught fish. Finish the evening off at Apartment in Donegall Square, a sleek, stylish bar with a great cocktail list and music. Serious clubbers go to the Cathedral Quarter for Ollie's Club, one of the hot, top venues in the basement of the Merchant hotel, or The Potthouse (the "Pott" if you're desperate to fit in), with its upstairs Sugar Room, which attracts the young and energetic.
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