Belfast (population 345,000 — the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland and the second-largest city on the island of Ireland) is one of the most dramatically transformed cities in Europe: from the most dangerous city in Western Europe during the "Troubles" (the 30-year conflict between Nationalist (Catholic, Irish republican) and Unionist (Protestant, British loyalist) communities that left over 3,500 people dead between 1969 and 1998, with Belfast as its epicenter — the car bombings, the sectarian assassinations, the British Army checkpoints and the "peace walls" (the 99 concrete and steel barriers separating the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods, some reaching 9 meters in height, still standing today)) to the vibrant, creative city that now receives 2.5 million visitors per year and was named one of the "52 places to go in 2018" by the New York Times. The most important transformation moments: the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (the peace deal signed on Good Friday (April 10, 1998) by the British and Irish governments and the major political parties of Northern Ireland — the most important peace agreement in modern European history: reducing the Northern Ireland conflict from a full-scale political violence to a managed political disagreement) and the opening of the Titanic Belfast museum in 2012 (the world-class museum on the site of the shipyard where the RMS Titanic was designed and built (the Harland & Wolff shipyard in the Belfast Docklands — the most important shipyard in British history: the Titanic was the largest man-made moving object in the world when she was launched from Belfast in 1911): named the "World's Leading Tourist Attraction" at the World Travel Awards in 2016.
Titanic Belfast (opened April 2012 — the world-class museum on the site of the Harland & Wolff Shipyard in the Belfast Docklands where the RMS Titanic was designed and built (1909–1912)): the most visited tourist attraction on the island of Ireland (north or south): the 14,000 m² building shaped like the prow of a ship (the architect CivicArts and Todd Architects: the four prow-shaped towers represent the four gantries of the shipyard): 9 galleries covering the construction and sinking of the Titanic: Gallery 1 (the "Belfast Lives" — the social history of Belfast at the turn of the 20th century: the industrial city, the sectarian divisions, the shipyard culture), Gallery 2 (the "The Shipyard" — the most spectacular gallery: the full-scale recreation of the interior of the Titanic hull sections and the "ship-lift" ride that takes you through the simulated shipyard at working speed), and the Titanic Experience (the most emotional gallery: the detailed reconstruction of the sinking using the ROV footage from the 1985 Robert Ballard expedition that found the wreck on the Atlantic floor at 3,800m depth).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Cathedral Quarter (the most creative and culturally active neighborhood in Belfast — the former linen warehouses and Victorian commercial buildings of the North Quarter converted since the early 2000s into the most vibrant cultural district in Northern Ireland): St Anne's Cathedral (the Church of Ireland Cathedral, begun 1899 and still under construction in the interior — the "Cathedral of the Unfinished" — with the Spire of Hope (the stainless steel spire added in 2007 as a symbol of the Northern Ireland peace process)): the street art of the Cathedral Quarter (the most concentrated street art in Belfast — the back streets of the Cathedral Quarter are the most important outdoor gallery in Northern Ireland: the murals of the political artists and the commissioned street art of the Belfast Mural Arts Programme cover every available surface): the John Hewitt Bar (the most respected pub in Belfast: owned by the Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre (a community organization): the best selection of Northern Irish craft beer (the Hilden, the Whitewater and the Boundary craft beers on tap) and the most consistent live traditional Irish music sessions in the Cathedral Quarter).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCrown Liquor Saloon (the most famous pub in Ireland — opposite the Europa Hotel on Great Victoria Street): the Victorian "gin palace" renovated in 1885 by the publican Patrick Flanagan (who remodeled the interior in the most extravagant Victorian style using Italian craftsmen and materials brought from the Continent): the only pub in the United Kingdom owned and preserved by the National Trust (the heritage conservation body that owns and operates Chatsworth, Blenheim Palace and most of the UK's most important historic properties): the original mahogany snugs (the private booths with lockable doors and brass fittings — "snug" from the Gaelic "snag" (a knot or a tight space): the snug was the private booth in the Victorian pub where women, couples and those who wanted privacy could drink without being seen by the main bar crowd), the original Italian ceramic tile floor and walls, the carved wooden columns and the gaslight fittings (the gas lights still function and are lit during the winter evenings): the Crown serves Guinness (the stout brewed at the St James's Gate brewery in Dublin since 1759 — the most important beer in the British Isles), the Belfast Black (the Northern Irish stout) and the full range of Northern Irish whiskeys.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBelfast pub crawl (the most underrated pub culture in the British Isles — more authentic and less touristy than Dublin, cheaper than London, with the best craft beer scene in Ireland): the Duke of York (the most famous hidden pub in Belfast — in the narrow Commercial Court off Hill Street in the Cathedral Quarter: the Court is one of the most photographed alleyways in Belfast, lined with Victorian gas lamps and covered with hanging baskets: the Duke of York was the first pub after the Troubles "peace dividend" to open in the Cathedral Quarter and is the pub most associated with the Belfast cultural revival): the Dirty Onion (the oldest building in Belfast — built in 1729 (before the American Revolution): the stone building on Hill Street that survived the Victorian redevelopment, the Blitz and the Troubles: the most atmospheric venue in Belfast for traditional Irish music): Bittles Bar (the Victorian triangular pub at Victoria Square — the most unusual pub building in Belfast: a three-story triangular building squeezed into a street junction, with the most important collection of Irish literary and political portraits in any pub in Ireland (the portraits of James Joyce, Brendan Behan, Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett)).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBlack Cab Tour (the most essential and most important experience in Belfast for understanding the city's history and the Troubles (1969–1998)): the tour is given in the iconic London black taxi (the most recognizable vehicle in Belfast — first introduced as a community transport service in the Falls Road during the Troubles when the official bus service refused to operate in the most dangerous neighborhoods): the Falls Road (the Catholic/Nationalist/Republican area of West Belfast — the heartland of Irish republicanism in Belfast: the Bobby Sands mural (the 10m × 10m mural of Bobby Sands (1954–1981) on the wall of the Sinn Féin office on the Falls Road — the most important political mural in Belfast: Bobby Sands was the Provisional IRA member who died on May 5 1981 after 66 days of hunger strike in the Maze Prison (Long Kesh), becoming the most important martyr of the Irish republican movement and the catalyst for Sinn Féin's electoral strategy: Sands was elected MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone on April 9 1981 — 26 days before his death)), the International Wall (the series of republican murals on the Falls Road: the most important political street art in Ireland, including murals in solidarity with the Palestinian people, the Basque people and the Catalan independence movement — the expressions of the Irish republican solidarity with other independence movements worldwide)) and the Shankill Road (the Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist heartland of West Belfast: the loyalist murals (the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) paramilitary murals) and the peace walls (the 99 concrete and steel barriers separating the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods, some reaching 9m in height, first erected by the British Army in 1969 and still standing today despite the 1998 Good Friday Agreement peace).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideUlster Museum (the national museum of Northern Ireland — the most comprehensive cultural institution in Belfast: free entry): the Armada Collection (the treasure recovered from the Spanish Armada ships wrecked on the Irish and Scottish coasts in 1588 after the famous storm that scattered and destroyed the fleet (of the 130 ships that left Spain, only 67 returned: the rest were sunk or wrecked): the most important single collection of 16th-century Spanish artifacts outside Spain (the gold jewelry, the bronze cannon, the personal effects and the navigational instruments recovered from the wreck of the Girona — the Spanish galleon that sank off the Antrim coast in October 1588 with 1,300 men aboard (only 9 survived)): the "Takabuti" (the Egyptian mummy — the most popular exhibit in the Ulster Museum: the mummy of an ancient Egyptian woman "Takabuti" (c. 650 BCE) purchased in Thebes in 1834 and donated to the museum — the most visited single artifact in Northern Ireland): the art collection (the most important public art collection in Northern Ireland: works by Turner, Picasso, Hockney and the most important collection of Irish Modernist art outside the National Gallery of Ireland).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideGiant's Causeway (UNESCO World Heritage Site 1986 — the most visited tourist attraction in Northern Ireland: 1 million visitors per year): the 40,000 interlocking basalt columns (mostly hexagonal — some pentagonal, heptagonal or octagonal) on the Antrim coast, formed 60 million years ago when the cooling of a massive lava flow caused the contraction and the cracking of the basalt into the regular hexagonal columns (the same process as the cracking of drying mud, but at geological scale): the tallest columns reach 12m above sea level: the most spectacular naturally formed geometric rock structure in the world: the Irish myth (Finn MacCool — the legendary Irish giant who built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight the Scottish giant Benandonner: the giant's stones were thrown into the sea in a fit of rage when Benandonner proved too large to fight, forming the causeway): the coastal walk (the 2km cliff-top walk from the Giant's Causeway to Benbane Head offers the most spectacular coastal scenery in the British Isles).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideNorthern Irish fish and chips: the most traditional dinner after a day on the Antrim coast. The Bushmills haddock (the fresh Atlantic haddock from the Causeway coast fishing boats — the most popular fish in Northern Irish fish and chip shops): battered and fried in beef dripping (the traditional Northern Irish frying medium — giving a crispier and more savory batter than vegetable oil: the "chippie" (fish and chip shop) tradition is the most important fast food tradition in Northern Ireland): the Ulster chips (the thick-cut potato chip — not the thin French fry: the potato (the most important food crop in Irish history: the Irish Famine (1845–1852) was caused by the failure of the potato crop and killed 1 million Irish people while causing 2 million more to emigrate, reducing the population of Ireland by 20%) fried in beef dripping until golden and crispy on the outside and fluffy inside). Optional: a visit to the Old Bushmills Distillery (the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world — the first license was granted in 1608 by King James I: the most historically important whiskey distillery in the British Isles).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBotanic Gardens (the public park in the university quarter of South Belfast — the most popular green space in Belfast): the Palm House (the most beautiful Victorian glasshouse in Ireland — designed by the engineer Charles Lanyon and built by the Belfast ironmaster Richard Turner between 1839 and 1852: Turner also built the Great Palm House at Kew Gardens in London (1848) and the Curvilinear Range at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin (1848–1869): the palm house is a curvilinear wrought-iron and glass structure heated by steam pipes — the first building in Ireland to use the curvilinear (curved) glass and iron construction technique): the Tropical Ravine (the 1887 Victorian fernhouse with the spectacular ravine plantings of tropical and subtropical ferns, palms and exotic plants): Queen's University Belfast (the 1849 Tudor Gothic building by Charles Lanyon — the most beautiful university building in Ireland: the red brick and sandstone facade, the central tower and the quadrangle are based on Magdalen College Oxford).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCrumlin Road Gaol (the most important heritage site for understanding the Troubles in Belfast — the Victorian prison designed by Sir Charles Lanyon and built in 1845 on the Crumlin Road in North Belfast): 150 years of operation (1845–1996): the prison held the most important political prisoners of the Troubles (the IRA and the loyalist paramilitary leaders, the republican hunger strikers and the loyalist UVF bombers), the WWII prisoners (the German spies and the Nazi collaborators imprisoned in Belfast during WWII), and the ordinary criminals (the Crumlin Road Gaol was simultaneously a political prison and an ordinary criminal prison for its entire history): the execution chamber (the 1891 gallows — the most disturbing room in the Gaol: 17 prisoners were hanged at Crumlin Road Gaol between 1901 and 1961 (the last execution in Northern Ireland): the condemned cell and the trapdoor are preserved in their original state): the underground tunnel (the 45m tunnel connecting the Gaol to the Crown Court building across the Crumlin Road — prisoners were transferred through the tunnel to avoid public exposure during the most dangerous periods of the Troubles).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSt George's Market (the most important covered market in Ireland — built in 1890, operated every Friday, Saturday and Sunday: the most awarded market in the UK (the Great British Market Awards "Champion Market" award): 250+ stalls): the Northern Irish artisan food producers (the Strangford Lough oysters (the Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) farmed in Strangford Lough — the most important sea lough in Ireland: the largest sea inlet in the British Isles (150 km² of sheltered tidal water): the oysters from the Strangford Lough are among the most flavorful in Europe due to the cold, clean, food-rich water of the lough)), the Comber potatoes (the "Comber earlies" — the new potatoes grown in the Ards Peninsula near the market town of Comber (the most important potato-growing area in Northern Ireland): the first UK crop to receive EU Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status in 2012 — only potatoes grown in the Ards Peninsula can be sold as "Comber Earlies"), and the local craft beer (the Boundary Brewing, the Whitewater Brewery and the Lacada Brewery craft beers at the weekend market).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBelfast craft beer scene (the most exciting and most rapidly developing craft beer market in Ireland — growing faster than the Dublin craft beer scene due to the lower rents, the strong industrial brewing tradition (Belfast was one of the most important brewing cities in the British Isles in the 19th century: the Dunville Whiskey distillery and the multiple Victorian breweries of the Lagan River waterfront) and the vibrant post-Troubles cultural energy): the most important Belfast craft breweries: Boundary Brewing Co (the cooperative brewery in East Belfast — the most critically acclaimed craft brewery in Northern Ireland: the export stout, the Berliner Weisse and the IPAs: the Boundary Tap Room (open Thursday–Saturday) is the most important craft beer venue in Belfast), Lacada Brewery (the brewery inspired by the Giant's Causeway (the name "Lacada" is the local name for the Causeway rocks): the coastal-inspired craft beers), and Whitewater Brewery (the most commercially successful Northern Irish craft brewery: the "Belfast Lager" and the "Crown" Belfast ales that are the most widely distributed Northern Irish craft beers in the supermarkets and pubs).
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