Sights and landmarks in Belfast

Sights and landmarks in Belfast

1. See

   Botanic Gardens

   Established in 1828 and becoming a public park from 1895, this is an extensive leafy green space, popular with office workers and students from nearby QUB. The Palm House, completed in 1840, is an elegant cast-iron glasshouse by Lanyon and Turner (who went on to build similar glasshouses at Kew, London and Glasnevin, Dublin) with a cool and a tropical section. Near it is the Tropical Ravine House, where visitors walk around a raised balcony observing tropical flora and fauna. There are also extensive lawns, a herbaceous border as long as the Zambezi, a rose garden and woodlands. Presiding over the main entrance is a statue of Lord Kelvin.

   Daily 07:30-dusk·Free

2. See

   Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich

   Irish Language Cultural Centre

   The hub of Irish language activities in Belfast. It's a cultural centre with visitor information, art, trad music, a cafe and a bookshop. They put on regular Irish language classes, from beginners to advanced.

   Mon-Thu 9AM-6PM, Fri Sat 9AM-9PM, Sun 11AM-4PM

3. See

   HMS Caroline

   Royal Navy light cruiser built in 1914 and engaged in the Battle of Jutland. After the war Caroline had a spell in the Indian Ocean then was mothballed until 1924, when she came to Belfast as a training ship and navy headquarters.

   Fri-Sun 10AM-4:30PM·Adult £11, conc £10, child £9

4. See

   Irish Republican History Museum

   Eileen Hickey Museum

   Museum in a former mill depicting the history of Republicanism in Belfast. Eileen Hickey was a Provisional IRA organiser within Armagh prison and amassed a great collection of artifacts and memorabilia relating to her side of the conflict. This is the half-history where 1200 Catholic civilians died in Belfast during the Troubles. You have to cross the city to the Orange Heritage Centre for the half-history where 600 Protestant civilians died - and both are correct.

   Tue-Sat 10AM-2PM·Donation

5. See

   Queen's University

   August red-brick Victorian building in Tudor style modelled on Magdalen College Oxford, with extensive grounds. On University Square note the fine Union Theological College: the Northern Ireland Parliament spent its early years here until Stormont was ready in 1932.

   Welcome Centre Mon-Fri 8:30AM-4PM

6. See

   SS Nomadic

   Titanic and her sister-ship Olympic were too big to dock in Cherbourg, so in 1911 two tenders were built to transfer passengers, baggage and mail. SS Nomadic was the more luxurious and took first and second-class passengers, while SS Traffic took third class. During World War I they served as auxiliary military vessels then resumed as tenders for Olympic, until 1934 when Cherbourg harbour was enlarged. They saw further military service in World War II, after which the slow, accident-prone Traffic was scrapped. Nomadic was reprieved because bombed-out Cherbourg was again unable to receive large liners, so she tendered to the likes of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth before retiring in 1968. After a spell in Paris as a floating restaurant she looked destined for scrap, but a charitable trust brought her to Belfast for restoration.

   Daily 11AM-4:30PM·Same ticket as Titanic

7. See

   Titanic Belfast

   For a century this was the "T-word" in Belfast, even more than the Troubles, an unwelcome reminder of a catastrophe reflecting badly on the city. This exhibition, opened in 2012 in a striking modern building, has revitalised a whole city quarter and rescued RMS Titanic as a source of local pride, for its construction and its crew. You progress through the metal-bashing boomtown of Victorian and Edwardian Belfast, through the design, construction by Harland & Wolff, fitting out and test sailings, to events of the first and final voyage. Titanic left Southampton on 10 April 1912, picked up passengers by tender from Cherbourg and Cork, and sailed out into the Atlantic. She left behind a confident Britain that daily expected news of Captain Scott's triumphant return from the South Pole. The museum shows excerpts from films about her sinking, gashed by an iceberg that calved from a Greenland glacier about the same day the ship was launched. One myth that is nixed is the 1997 James Cameron film treatment, where patrician British officers near-as-dammit hold the Irish 3rd-class passengers' heads underwater while the gilded rich are helped to safety and the band plays on. In truth one group had even worse survival than 3rd class, and that was the ship's crew, many of them Irish. The final part of the exhibition has submersible images of the wreck, which lies in two pieces 12,500 ft / 3800 m deep off Newfoundland.

   Daily 10AM-5PM·Adult £25, conc £22, child £11

8. See

   Titanic Distillery and Pump House

   Impressive dry dock where the ship was launched, and the pump house which drained and flooded the dock. The pump house has been converted into a whiskey distillery which offers regular tours and tastings.

   Thu-Tue 10AM-6PM·Dock tour adult or child £10

9. See

   Ulster Museum

   Excellent comprehensive museum, covering natural history, archaeology, history including the Irish conflicts, textile and fashions, and a large collection of art. The original neoclassical building was extended in the 1970s in a modern Brutalist style. It's part of the National Museums of Northern Ireland, who also run the Transport and Folk museums at Holywood, and the Ulster American Park at Omagh.

   Tue-Sun 10AM-5PM·Free

10. See

    W5

    Interactive science museum aimed at younger children. Booking essential.

    Thu-Mon 10AM-6PM·Adult £12, conc or child £10.50

11. See Not mapped

    Belfast Castle

    Baronial pile built on Cave Hill for the Shaftesbury family in the 1860s. It's nowadays an event space for weddings and the like, plus a posh cafe, assistance dogs only. You might be able to peek in at some of the grand rooms, but mostly you come for the view over the city.

    Daily 9AM-6PM·Free

12. See Not mapped

    Belfast Central Library

    The Victorian library building houses an excellent Irish section and a newspaper library, with archives of all Northern Irish newspapers.

    Mon & Thu 9AM-8PM, Tue Wed & Fri 9AM-5:30PM, Sat 10AM-4:30PM

13. See Not mapped

    Belfast Exposed

    Photography gallery with changing exhibitions in a refurbished warehouse. There's also an extensive photo archive.

    Tue-Sat 11AM-5PM·Donation

14. See Not mapped

    Belfast Zoo

    Extensive zoo on the north slopes of Cave Hill, daily talks and feeding sessions, free parking.

    Apr-Oct: daily 10AM-6PM; Oct-Mar: daily 10AM-4PM·Adult £14.50, conc or child £7.25

15. See Not mapped

    City Cemetery

    Opened in 1869, the cemetery is full of Victorian funerary statuary, with separate areas for Catholics and Protestants, plus Commonwealth war graves. There's a large Jewish section: this community fled Russia and Poland in the 19th century and set up in the Irish linen trade. Famous members (though buried elsewhere) included Otto Jaffe (twice Lord Mayor of Belfast), Chaim Herzog (6th President of Israel), and Gustav Wolff (co-founder of Harland and Wolff; his family had converted to be Protestant).

    Mon-Sat 8AM-4PM, Sun 10AM-4PM

16. See Not mapped

    City Hall

    Grand municipal architecture, built in 1906 of white Portland limestone in baroque style. Durban city hall in South Africa has the same design. Here are housed Belfast's Council chambers and admin offices. You can look in to the glorious entrance hall and rotunda anytime, but for a proper look, join the guided tour held 3 times a day. Outside stands a memorial to victims of the Titanic and a statue of Queen Victoria.

    Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM, Sat Sun 10AM-5PM·Tour £6

17. See Not mapped

    Crumlin Road Gaol

    Self-guided tour of this grim old prison, opened in 1846 with a typical Victorian hall design, and in use until 1996.

    Daily 10AM-4PM·Adult £14, conc £12.50, child £7.50

18. See Not mapped

    Milltown Cemetery

    Best known for its republican burials, but its range is far broader. It too opened in 1869 to receive the city's growing Catholic population, and its "poor grounds" hold some 80,000, many of them casualties of the 1919 flu pandemic. There is also a mass grave for casualties of the 1941 Blitz, Commonwealth war graves, and a Priests Row of leading RC clerics. The Republican plot, beneath the Irish tricolour, holds paramilitaries and other activists killed in conflict or dying in jail (including the 1981 hunger strikers), and there's a memorial garden. Other republicans lie in their separate plots around the graveyard. But not necessarily "rest in peace": in March 1988 at the funeral of those shot dead in their attempted bomb attack on Gibraltar, a loyalist attacked the mourners with hand grenades and pistol fire. Three mourners were killed and 60 were injured.

    Daily 9AM-4PM

19. See Not mapped

    Museum of Orange Heritage

    Oranges don't grow in Ulster, so how come so many institutions and events sound like a Spanish street fiesta? Well, in 35 BC Roman army vets founded Arausio in the south of France, named for a Celtic water god, which grew into the city of Orange and became conflated with the name of the fruit. This museum picks up the story from the 17th century, when William Prince of Orange ousted the Catholic king of the British Isles and began Protestant rule. The Orange Order was founded in the strife that followed, and which has continued on and off for over 300 years.

    Tue-Fri 10AM-5PM·Free

20. See Not mapped

    Royal Ulster Rifles Regimental Museum

    This light infantry regiment was formed in 1881 and served in the Boer War, World War I and II, and in Korea. The museum is part of the Royal Irish Regimental Museums group.

    Tue-Thu 10AM-4PM·Donation

21. See Not mapped

    Saint Anne's Cathedral

    This Church of Ireland (Anglican) cathedral was built in Romanesque style around the previous parish church and opened in 1904. It's been added to and reconstructed in stages ever since, most recently in 2007 by the addition of the 130-foot, slender metal spire, floodlit at night. It couldn't have a traditional sturdy tower or spire as the soft clay foundations wouldn't support that. There are regular services.

    Mon-Sat 10:30AM-4PM, Sat Sun 12:30-3PM·Adult £5, child free

22. See Not mapped

    Samson and Goliath

    These are two massive gantry cranes near the entrance to the Titanic Quarter. Goliath is the first you encounter, built in 1969 and 96 m (315 ft) tall; Samson built in 1974 is 106 m (348 ft) tall. They stand over the Harland & Wolff dry dock and each has a load capacity of 840 tonnes. They're painted yellow and have become an iconic part of the Belfast sky-line. They've been kept in working order even though large-scale shipbuilding and associated heavy lifting has ended on site, but there are no tours up into their structure. Harland & Wolff went bust in 2019 and are now owned by Navantia. Both cranes are scheduled as Historic Monuments.

    24 hours

23. See Not mapped

    Stormont Parliament Buildings

    These massive buildings, built in neo-Georgian style in 1926, are the home of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Tours are available W-F noon and 2PM, and last 45 minutes, free but book online in advance. The buildings stand on the wooded Stormont Estate, you approach along the long avenue from Newtownards Road and Massey Ave. There's a nearby cluster of modern government office buildings, plus the 19th-century baronial Stormont Castle, only open on special occasions.

    Mon-Fri 9AM-4PM

24. See Not mapped

    Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum

    Depicting city life during World War II.

    Mon-Fri 10AM-4:30PM·Free

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Belfast (CC BY-SA 4.0).