Belfast
United Kingdom
- Cityscape
- Industrial-chic Victoriana
- City life
- Rebirth of cool
Belfast is back. The Northern Irish capital has had a makeover, put the tough times behind her and is stepping out in style from behind Dublin's shadow.
The inner city, once a no-go area, is now largely pedestrianised, providing the compact, access-all-areas kind of town centre where coffee drinking, gallery browsing and window-shopping are the order of the day. Grand Victorian buildings are a testament to the city’s shipbuilding and linen-trading glory days. But the regenerated Victoria Square and highly cultured Cathedral Quarter offer a new kind of civic pride, focused on a lively – and increasingly hip – bar and restaurant scene where the prosperous locals are happy to chat and enjoy good company, great food and excellent wine. After they’ve won you over, head for the hills or explore the rugged coastline, easily accessible for wave-crashingly windy walks that will, quite literally, blow you away.
Pictured: The Merchant Hotel
Boutique hotels in Belfast
Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and boutique hotels in Belfast
more
Getting there
Planes, trains, automobiles and boats – or maybe even horse and cart – we tell you the best way to go.
more
Worth getting out of bed for
Highlights the best Belfast has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
more
Eating, drinking & dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Belfast. All you have to do is make sure you've packed your favourite threads…
more
Smith Maps
Here is the map of Belfast; each Mr & Mrs Smith hotel is marked by a flag; click it for more details.
moreLocal knowledge
- Taxis
- With much of the city pedestrianised, and with a compact centre, it’s great to navigate on foot; for trips beyond the city centre, it’s easy to grab a black cab (just hail one on the street), especially at your hotel. Alternatively, Value Cabs is a reliable minicab company (+44 (0)28 9080 9080).
- Tipping culture
- Tip up to 15 per cent for a good meal, but make sure they haven’t added that ‘discretionary’ 12.5 per cent for you already.
- Siesta and Fiesta
- Many shops close at 5.30pm, though the more central boutiques are starting to stay open later. Most popular restaurants have two sittings at weekends, 7pm and 9pm. Book well in advance. Pubs are open until 1am, clubs till 3am, though, technically, they can’t sell alcohol after one.
- Packing tips
- Perhaps pack an umbrella. Many of the murals dating from the Troubles are being repainted with less provocative imagery, so bring a camera to record these historic artworks before they’re gone for good.
- Recommended reads
- Most modern novels touch on the Troubles in some way. While Brian Moore’s Lies of Silence is a gripping suspense novel, Robert McLiam Wilson offers a lighter, comic take in Eureka Street, which focuses on two friends, one Catholic, one Protestant. This Human Season by Louise Dean is full of blood, sweat, tears and smoking. That Which Was by Glenn Patterson is also an insightful read.
- Cuisine
- There’s great gourmet cooking with local produce to be had here, but make sure you have an Ulster Fry for breakfast at least once: expect black and white pudding and soda bread to be a big feature. While steak is still ever-present on restaurant menus, these days it’s more likely to come with a mango and chilli salsa.
- Regional specialities
- Carb addict? You’ve come to the right place: baked goods are a Belfast speciality. Soda bread, potato griddle cakes, buttermilk bannocks, farls and barmbrack – you name them, they’re available with breakfast or coffee all over town. Atkins adherents may prefer to tuck into Armagh beef, pork from Cookstown or seafood landed at Portavogie. If you book a table at Mourne Seafood Bar on Bank Street (+44 (0)20 0924 8544; www.mourneseafood.com), you can try oysters, cockles and mussels from their own shellfish beds in Carlingford Lough.
- Currency
- Pound sterling.
- Time zone
- GMT.
- Dialing codes
- UK country code: +44. Northern Ireland: 028. Belfast: 90.
- Do go/don't go
- April to September are the months to pick if you want to enjoy the best of the weather. January is the bleakest month.
