One of Frommer’s Top Destinations for 2009:
“In little more than a decade, Belfast has been transformed from fractured city into a hot city break destination, moving fast towards its 19th-century accolade of Athens of the North.”
Lonely Planet’s “city on the rise”
• The Titanic was built in Belfast’s own Harland and Wolff shipyards
• The city hosts the UK’s second largest arts festival
• Home to the oldest English language daily newspaper in the world, The News Letter, which was first published in 1737
• The city’s name comes from Gaelic, Beál Feirste, which means “Mouth of the Farset” river.
• Although Norman lord John de Courcy built a castle here in the 12th century, the city did not develop until the beginning of the 17th century when Baron Arthur Chichester built a castle and the Plantation of Ulster was developed.
• The Plantation of Ulster brought settlers from England and Scotland, and later the Huguenots (French Protestants) arrived.
• Throughout the 17th century, the rope-making, tobacco, linen, engineering and shipbuilding industries emerged, and by 1800 the city was home to 20,000 people.
• Belfast grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, surpassing the size of Dublin by World War I with 400,000 inhabitants.
• In 1920, Ireland was partitioned and Belfast became the capital of Northern Ireland.
• In 1998, the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement brought an end to the civil war that started in the 1960s. Often called "The Troubles," the conflict centered on whether Northern Ireland should be a part of the United Kingdom or Ireland.
• CS Lewis - author of the beloved children book series The Chronicles of Narnia.
• Kenneth Branagh - actor/director. Appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film as Professor Lockhart and Valkyrie as Henning von Tresckow.
• Van Morrison - singer/songwriter
• John Hewitt - poet
• Jocelyn Bell Burnell - astrophysicist. Co-discovered pulsars with her doctoral advisor, Antony Hewish.
Queen’s University
Students at Queen’s like to take advantage of their massive Students’ Union Building. The Students’ Union, which is the center of student life at Queen’s, contains a fully staffed student advice center, as well as bars and shops. There are also 150 clubs and societies that are supported by the Students’ Union. These include everything from chess club to Gaelic Rugby.
Queen's offers a wide variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, especially in the sciences, and is ranked as a leading research university in Britain.
Queen’s University also hosts the annual Belfast Festival, which features events in many areas of art including opera, dance, comedy, and film. 2009’s Belfast Festival will run from the 16th to the 31st of October.
University of Ulster Belfast Campus (UUB)
The Belfast campus of the University of Ulster (UUB) is the home of the School of Art and Design. While the campus currently does not have any dormitories or a student union building, this brings student life out into the city, where students rent affordable shared housing. Students often visit Queen’s University’s Students’ Union for recreation, as well as the University of Ulster recreation facilities at the Jordanstown campus, which is a short distance away.
UUB is home to the University of Ulster's School of Art and Design, and School of Architecture and Design, which offer a number of courses in these areas.
Belfast is home to a variety of arts festivals, art galleries, cinemas, museums, theaters, clubs, and pubs. Belfast is renowned for its wide range of shops and malls. One place to go for shopping is Donegall Place, opposite City Hall. Most student accommodations are centered around southern Belfast and are located close to moderately-priced but good-quality restaurants, pubs, shops, clubs, and gyms. There is a lot to do in Belfast, especially in terms of eating and drinking.
Belfast is a very safe city and Northern Ireland in general has one of the lowest crime rates in Europe.
Ulster Museum: After a £17.2 million refurbishment, the museum will be reopening in October 2009. Ulster Museum’s diverse collection includes archaeology, decorative arts, historical archives, natural sciences, and fine arts – everything from British portraits painters Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds to British landscape artist J.M.W. Turner and American “Colour Field” painters.
The Grand Opera House-Built in 1895 by Frank Matcham, the “Matcham Masterpiece” has been home to opera, drama, comedies and musicals since its opening.
The Lyric Theatre- promotes and fosters new Irish writing.
Movie House- Located in the Yorkgate Shopping Complex.
Empire Music Hall- Offers live music 5 nights a week, including stand up comedy night Tuesdays, blues on Thursdays, and rock and roll on other evenings.
The Odyssey
Ulster Hall- Puts on performances that range from the Ulster Orchestra to pop bands such as Take That.
Waterfront Hall
Belfast Film Festival (26 March-4 April)
Belfast Children’s Festival (22-31 May)
Belfast Carnival (27 June)
Trans Belfast (4-31 July)
Belfast Festival at Queen’s (16-31 October)
Belfast’s ‘Golden Mile’ has many popular and lively bars and nightclubs all in close proximity to South Belfast’s student population. On the outskirts of the city, the Odyssey Arena has plenty of clubs. The City Centre and Cathedral Quarter feature a more upmarket, stylish range of bars and nightclubs. There is always something to do, somewhere to go at night in the city of Belfast!
According to the New York Times, Belfast's restaurant scene is among the best in Britain. Though many bars and pubs sell food, restaurants across Belfast serve a vast variety of different ethnic and cultural foods, and also provide an opportunity to get dressed up!
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