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.

Getting there: Multiple access points, main entrance is off University Rd by Ulster Museum
Hours: Daily 07:30-dusk
Price: Free
Website: belfastcity.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)

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Listing from Wikivoyage: Belfast, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

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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-5PMFree
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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
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Queens Film Theatre
Belfast's art house and repertory cinema, and the main venue for the Belfast Film Festival.
Eat
Scalini
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Tue-Thu 5-10PM, Fri-Sun 4-10PM