Belfast, Northern Ireland travel guide and things to do: Nine highlights

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Belfast, Northern Ireland travel guide and things to do: Nine highlights

By Steve McKenna
Don't miss Titanic Belfast.

Don't miss Titanic Belfast.

THE ONE VIEW

With its ace Titanic and Game of Thrones attractions, foodie hotspots and rejuvenated pubs, today's tourist-friendly Belfast is a far cry from the one depicted in Kenneth Branagh's eponymous new black-and-white film, which is up for seven Oscars and recalls his childhood here in the strife-torn late-1960s. Get your Belfast bearings, with a cocktail or gin-fuelled afternoon tea, at The Observatory, a stylish lounge-bar on the 23rd floor of the Grand Central Hotel. Survey Belfast's backdrop of blue sea and emerald-tinged mountains and landmarks like the green-domed wedding cake-esque City Hall and "Samson" and "Goliath" - the giant yellow cranes of the Harland & Wolff shipyard, where the Titanic was built.

See grandcentralhotelbelfast.com/observatory

THE ONE LUXURY HOTEL

The Merchant is a five-star hotel, spa and fine-dining venue in a spruced-up 1860s bank. The jaw-dropping Great Room - with its gorgeous glass cupola, epic chandelier and seasonal menus - is among Belfast's top restaurants, while the 62 guest rooms and suites come in both elegant Victorian period styles and art deco decadence with furniture from legendary designers like Eileen Grey and Le Corbusier. Also home to Berts, Belfast's only dedicated jazz bar, and a rooftop hot-tub, The Merchant appears in The Fall, a serial-killer drama that starred Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan, and helped stoke Northern Ireland's booming TV and film industry.

See themerchanthotel.com

THE ONE GALLERY

Belfast has fine contemporary galleries, but its most vivid art is in the open air. Witty topical murals and portraits of Northern Irish heroes and heroines brighten up the city centre's Cathedral Quarter, where there are guided street art walks. Alternatively, black taxi tours focus on the human stories behind the graffiti-scrawled "peace walls" and partisan murals of west Belfast. This district was particularly hard hit by "The Troubles", and although that three-decade-long conflict ended with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, it's still segregated into predominantly Loyalist (mainly Protestant) and Republican (mostly Catholic) neighbourhoods.

See seedheadarts.com and touringaroundbelfast.com

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THE ONE SECRET GARDEN

Credit: iStock

Beautifully-kept lawns and Victorian-era glasshouses brimming with fuchsia, begonia, lush tropical plants and flowering climbers, make Belfast's Botanic Gardens a leafy delight. It's tucked away in the Queen's Quarter, a 20-minute walk (or quick bus ride) south of the city centre, and is hedged by handsome university buildings, funky boutique hotels (like The Harrison Chambers of Distinction), and the impressive, admission-free Ulster Museum, which has five floors of art, natural history, history and pop culture from Northern Ireland and beyond.

See nmni.com and chambersofdistinction.com

THE ONE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Worth a mosey day and night, the Cathedral Quarter spreads out from St Anne's Cathedral and its Spire of Hope - a modern needle-like sculpture seen as a symbol of peace and reconciliation. Flanking the quarter's cobbled lanes are post-industrial buildings reborn as artists' haunts, watering holes and gourmet addresses. Try The Muddlers Club, a Michelin-starred bistro with innovative (and reliably delicious) tasting menus, and The Duke of York, with its wonderful whiskey selection and antique mirror-adverts. Occupying an ex-bonded spirits warehouse, The Dirty Onion and its adjoining Second Fiddle bar are springboards for traditional, toe-tapping Irish music tours.

See belfasttradtrail.com

THE ONE MARKET

Credit: iStock

Belfast's Christmas Markets generate a convivial, gluhwein-scented air around City Hall. But year-round, St George's Market is the place to go, its revived 19th-century red-brick setting bursting to life Friday to Sunday. Soak up the banter between vendors and customers as you browse stalls laden with everything from hand-crafted fashions, bric-a-brac and books about George Best (the Belfast-born Manchester United footballer) to chocolates, hand-roasted coffee and locally-sourced produce. Sample the market's food and drink on fun city tasting tours.

See tasteandtour.co.uk

THE ONE MUSEUM

Don't miss Titanic Belfast. Billed as "really quite phenomenal" by James Cameron, whose Titanic flick marks its 25th anniversary in 2022, this exhibition is set in a dazzling aluminium-draped building an anchor's throw from where the ship was designed, built and launched. Interactive galleries trawl through Titanic's story and legacy, and recall Belfast's boomtown days when shipbuilding, linen and ropemaking transformed it into one of the British Empire's richest ports. Kids (and big kids) love the Shipyard Ride, a noisy, fairground-like foray through a replica of the Titanic's rudder.

See titanicbelfast.com

THE ONE PUB

Belfast has scores of bustling, yet easygoing pubs where tourists and locals (from all backgrounds) gladly mingle. For wow-factor, it's hard to trump the Crown Liquor Saloon, an ornate former Victorian gin palace restored by the National Trust. Behind its polychromatic-tiled exterior, you'll find the carved-mahogany snugs, mosaic floors and gas lamps conjure an atmospheric setting for a gin or a pie and a pint of local ale.

See nationaltrust.org.uk/the-crown-bar

THE ONE VENUE

Fondly known as "The Grand Dame", the Ulster Hall is one of the UK's oldest purpose-built concert halls. Since 1862, she's staged everything from Charles Dickens readings and Barry McGuigan boxing bouts to political rallies, stand-up comedy and gigs by local rockers Ash and Snow Patrol. Led Zeppelin played Stairway to Heaven for the first time ever here, while Irish singer Delia Murphy went down in Belfast folklore for continuing to perform while Luftwaffe bombs struck the city in the 1941 Blitz. Check the listings here and at its younger sibling, the Waterfront Hall.

See ulsterhall.co.uk

ONE MORE THING

Belfast is a magnet for Game of Thrones fans, with much of the HBO sensation shot in and around the city. There's a raft of themed tour options for "Thronies", including an immersive new attraction with original sets, props and costumes in the show's old filming studios half-hour south of Belfast.

See gameofthronesstudiotour.com

Steve McKenna was a guest of Tourism Northern Ireland (discovernorthernireland.com) and Tourism Ireland (ireland.com)

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