Multi award-winning travel writer MAL ROGERS picks out the best of Belfast
Culloden Estate and Spa (image Tourism Ireland)A is for Andersonstown
At the end of the Falls Road, Andersonstown is home to Milltown Cemetery. This has served the Catholic population in Belfast since the 19th century. Within its grounds lies a wealth of fascinating individuals - from actors and writers to political activists. Home Rulers, nationalists, republicans, volunteers, victims of the wartime Belfast Blitz and British army soldiers all take their eternal rest here.
But above all — or perhaps below all — it remains the graveyard of hundreds of ordinary Belfast men and women, including the parents of CS Lewis.
B is for Black Taxi Tours
Belfast’s Black Taxi Tours offer one of the most compelling ways to explore the city’s complex past and divided present. Led by local drivers, these tours bring visitors through key areas like the Falls Road, Shankill, and along the infamous peace walls. Murals, memorials, and first-hand stories reveal the layers behind the headlines, offering insight into both republican and loyalist communities.
belfasttours.com/
C is for Crumlin Road Gaol
Now a tourist attraction, once a place of “assisted stays”, Catholics on one side, Protestants on the other, everyone cold in this draughty edifice. No matter what side of the political divide prisoners came from, one thing they agree on: this was one parky place to be incarcerated in. Among the city’s most atmospheric landmarks, it opened for business in 1846 closing as a working prison in 1996. It housed men, women, and even children over its 150 years, and was also the site of the last State-sponsored hanging in Ireland: Robert McGladdery in 1961.
The restaurant Cuffs in the old A-wing serves top class nosh — locally sourced ingredients are used in dishes that focus on hearty traditional fare (soups and soda bread). Don’t ask for porridge. They’ve heard that one. Book a tour and you can leave whenever you like – unlike past residents.
crumlinroadgaol.com
D is for Drennan
William Drennan, a poet and a rebel (a United Irishman to be exact) first came up with the phrase “the Emerald Isle”. He’s buried in the Clifton Street Cemetery, which also holds the remains of rich merchants, paupers, unionist politicians, many other republican rebels, famous inventors, an American diplomat, an escaped American slave.
belfasthistoryproject.com/
E is for Early Belfast, Early Ireland
We could probably have gone for the Europa Hotel here, but journalistic convention would dictate that I have to tell you it was the most bombed hotel, you didn’t need to shake your own cocktail, the IRA would do it for you etc), and it’s certainly a place you always asked for a room without a view. But instead it’s the Ulster Museum’s survey of Irish history from Neolithic times through to the Troubles. And all in a very arresting building, the pinnacle of Brutalist architecture in Ireland. Although pinnacle probably isn't the best word when you're talking about Brutalist architecture. Think more in terms of massive concrete slabs and Cold War architecture. And yet the Ulster Museum is a handsome building; perhaps more importantly, inside is a veritable encyclopaedia of Irishness from Stone Age axe-heads to the Good Friday Agreement.
ulstermuseum.org/
F is for Festival
The Belfast Maritime Festival takes place at the Titanic Quarter along the Maritime Mile and features boats, live music, historic ships, sea shanties, and all sorts of water-based activities September 6-7.
The live music is headlined by Hot House Flowers.
F is also Fitzwilliam
The five-star Fitzwilliam Hotel is bang in the middle of Belfast. Sleek angular furniture, terrific restaurant and bar, plus great views over Belfast – top drawer digs in other words. hotelsone.com/belfast-hotels-gb
G is for Game of Thrones
In a notably grave breach of social etiquette around the year 1573, the Earl of Essex invited 300 members of the ruling O'Neill clan to a feast in Belfast Castle - then promptly had them killed. This was no blueprint for good community relations, and predictably enough Belfast’s already blood-stained history took another turn for the worse.
The gore continues. Today Belfast is home the most successful TV series ever made, G of T. The mediaeval fantasy was extensively filmed in a corner of the former Harland and Wolff shipyards as well as at locations round Northern Ireland. G-of-T tours depart from outside the Belfast Visitor Centre (9 Donegall Square North, 028 www.visitbelfast.com). Meanwhile the Game of Thrones Studio Tour is based in Banbridge, around 25 miles south of Belfast. gameofthronesstudiotour.com/
H is for Harland & Wolff
Belfast's most famous duo, H&W. Shipbuilders to the world. Notable for building RMS Titanic. The twin yellow cranes, Samson and Goliath, still dominate the skyline.
I is for Irish language
Yes, it’s alive in Belfast, and to some extent thriving.
Gaelscoileanna, parades, concerts, street signs and drama groups are keeping it flying high. Kneecap too, with their rap music, have brought it to a younger generation.
J is for JJ McConnell’s
The whiskey distillery and bar in Crumlin Gaol will give you the whole lowdown in whiskey — and they know what they’re talking about: the brand began in Belfast in 1776. You’ll learn about the distilling process and of course, taste a spot of the cratur along the way.
McConnell’s Distillery has an all-day café, plus a fully licensed bar to help you enjoy the tour.
You can even host your own event here; I imagine organising a do in a distillery is on a par with curating a night of inebriation at a brewery.
mcconnellsirishwhisky.com/
K is for Kelly’s Cellars
Kelly’s Cellars, one of Belfast’s oldest pubs, was a frequent meeting place for the United Irishmen in the run-up to the 1798 rebellion. As a not-qualified-at-all historian, I think I’m right in saying that Henry Joy, on the lam from English soldiers, hid behind the bar in this very establishment.
The pub was founded in 1720 — and 300 years after opening for business Kelly's manages to be a cross between everyman drinking pub, political meeting place and historic museum. Traditional music at the weekend too: Belfast is an epicentre of exceptional seisiúns. The ideal place to meet Belfast people, even if you aren’t planning a rebellion.
L is for the Linen Hall Library
A former librarian here, United Irishman Thomas Russell, was executed in 1803 – an unusual fate for any librarian. But the career of Russell gives you a pointer as to the history of this absorbing place. Today, the Irish and local-studies collection constitutes the definitive archive of the recent Troubles, but there’s much more besides.
linenhall.com/
M is for the Merchant Hotel
This is one of Belfast’s most luxurious boltholes, situated in the former Ulster Bank HQ. It remains a stylish way to max out your credit card.
In the centre of the Cathedral Quarter nightlife, the bank’s former safe is now a snooker room, which somehow seems right.
themerchanthotel.com/
M is also for Muddlers Club
The Michelin-starred Muddlers Club, tucked away on Waring Street in the Cathedral Quarter, is a buzzy restaurant in Belfast’s oldest area. The kitchen area is in full view of the diners, with the staff calm and relaxed. If your experience of kitchens is culled from the TV series Boiling Point or The Bear, The Muddlers will come as something of a surprise. It seems that the kitchen staff don’t have to swear and shout, “Oui chef, non chef, and please don’t hit me with that leg of mutton, chef”, in order to produce cutting-edge, mouth-watering cuisine.
The wait staff in general are a hugely talented bunch who will guide you through a seasonal tasting menu where you’ll encounter dishes such as Wicklow venison with parsnip and chestnuts, or white onion soup with smoked haddock and curry oil.
themuddlersclubbelfast.com/
M is also for the MAC
The MAC (Metropolitan Arts Centre) is a cutting-edge art space in the Cathedral Quarter with exhibitions, theatre, dancing, all manner of arty, folky, rocky, punky things and happenings and enough minimalist concrete to keep any urbanite happy.
themaclive.com/
N is for The Northern Whig
Once a liberal newspaper, now a swanky bar with statues of Lenin doing a bit of mood lighting. Located near the Cathedral Quarter, it's perfect for an Old Fashioned or maybe a an Irish whiskey sour.
thenorthernwhig.com/
O is for OX
The seasonal plant-led menu at the OX restaurant pivots on the weekly changing larder. In summer expect local Ballywalter fig leaves, preserved for use throughout autumn and winter, alongside tomato galette and wild rose, scallops from the Antrim coast and sourdough and butter from Glenilen. Tasting menus change with the seasons.
oxbelfast.com
P is for Peace Walls
Paradoxical barriers of “peace,” still separating communities more than 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement. Tourists marvel, locals mostly just walk the long way round.
Q is for Queen’s University Belfast
Imposing, Gothic and in a beautiful setting beside the Botanic Gardens. Past alumni include Liam Neeson, Simon Callow, Mary McAleese, Bernadette Devlin, Seamus Heaney — and also, dare I say with due humility, the alma mater of the writer of this article.
Philip Larkin spent a period as librarian in Queen’s University. This helps explain a later comment when, on the subject of how to eat well in Dublin, he advised: “Take sandwiches from Belfast.”
Queen’s is the venue for many of the concerts for the Belfast International Arts Festival October 15 – November 9. International and homegrown artists in theatre, dance, music, visual arts, literature and film. Confirmed so far are Martin Hayes, Lisa O’Neill and legendary bluesman from Florida Chris Smither.
belfastinternationalartsfestival.com/
R is for Retail
Retail opportunities are many in Belfast, but one shopping trip that you shouldn’t miss is St George's Market, open Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Trading since 1604, the present building has been operating since the 1890s. Around 200 market stalls sell fruit, vegetables, antiques, books, clothes, hot food, cakes and buns, crafts and a large selection of fresh fish.
The St George's Market Walking Tour will guide you through all the nooks, and indeed crannies, of this wonderful Victorian complex.
belfastcitysightseeing.com/
S is for Spa
The Culloden, a five-star hotel, estate and spa overlooking Belfast Lough has the full range of luxury accoutrements. There are enough treatments, unguents, lotions to make never stirring out of the hotel an enticing option. But think what you’d miss in Belfast.
cullodenestateandspa.com/
T is for Titanic Belfast
A shimmering shrine to the ship they once didn't want to mention after the Mid-Atlantic mishap. Now a must-see, this museum is full of RMS Titanic high-tech exhibits.
In a city where architectural extravagance is scarce, this building truly stands out. Opened in 2012, it stands in the shadow of the Harland and Wolff shipyard cranes.
The museum is composed of nine interactive galleries that explore the history of the Titanic, from its conception, design and construction in Belfast to its appointment with fate in 1912.
www.titanicbelfast.com/
U is for Ulster Hall
The Ulster Hall has a footnote in rock history: this is where Stairway to Heaven had its first live performance. On March 5, 1971 — at the height of the Troubles, and with civil disturbance, violence and mayhem a daily occurrence in Belfast — Led Zeppelin appeared at the Ulster Hall.
It would be hard to conjure up a more unlikely setting at a more unlikely time to unveil what most people regard as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
Facts such as these you’ll learn on the next walking tour — October 11, 2025.
ulsterhall.co.uk/what-s-on/ulster-hall-guided-tours-2/
V is for Victoria Square
Retail therapy meets city views. Ascend the glass dome and spy the city – or at least Primark’s roof. It’s like a posh shopping centre got lost in Belfast and decided to stay.
Victoria Square is the home of designer and luxury brands.
W is for White’s Tavern
White’s is Belfast’s oldest pub (one of several, as it happens). Yet when the barman tells you they received their first liquor licence in 1630, “the year before work on the Taj Mahal began”, you’re inclined to believe him. It’s traditional, friendly and tucked away in the centre of Belfast, on Winecellar Entry.
whitestavernbelfast.com/
X is for the mark on ballot papers
X is always a difficult one for list-makers, and we might have gone for St Xavier. But I think in this instance to single out Stormont as the place which has been the recipient of all those ballot papers is fair enough. And if you don’t agree you can take it up with the Northern Ireland Ombudsman. Tours of the building and estate are available.
niassembly.gov.uk/visit-and-learning/visit/tours/
Y is for York Street Flaxing Mill
York Street Mill was the first large-scale linen mill in the world. Production ceased suddenly in 1941 when the Luftwaffe bombed it. After the war the linen industry slowly began to wane, and now has almost disappeared. But in prior times it was one of the industrial caryatids of Belfast (shipbuilding was of course another). But the linen industry gave the city its fine red-brick mills, grand merchant houses, and people who still know what a heckle is (and not the comedy kind). They’ll also know what a scutcher did — after heckling, scutching and spinning the flax was ready for weaving.
Z is for Zoo
The majority of the animals in Belfast Zoo are from species which are in danger in their natural habitat. The zoo carries out important conservation work and takes part in over 90 European and international breeding programmes which help to ensure the survival of many species under threat. Overlooking Belfast Lough from the Antrim Road, the zoo is one of the most appealing in Britain or Ireland. The enclosures are spacious and attractively set on the sloping terrain, and viewing facilities are first class.
belfastcity.gov.uk/zoo/home
For more information
See More: Belfast, Irish Travel, Northern Ireland
