A Twenty Something Guide to Belfast

You’ve just arrived in the great city of Belfast, perhaps you’re a student, weary traveller or a native. It’s raining no doubt. It rains continuously here. You’ll learn to love it (insert witty sarcasm here). If you’re a traveller, you’ve probably been dreaming of green parks just like Dublin and Guinness by the river. But a lass, you’ve been greeted with the concrete jungle of Great Victoria street. As you depart the depo towards civilization, a glimmer of hope sprouts forward from the mass of seventies architecture. In the distance you spot one of Belfast’s most stunning features the City Hall. If you’re a tourist/or student from the sticks, we advise you to start taking endless selfies now and begin updating your social media channels virtuously. We’ll point out here that during the summer, City Hall is an excellent spot for sunbathing, “really”, we swear.

You’ll also notice that Belfast is a rather compact city. Well, the city centre is at least, making the city centre highly accessible by foot. So get your earphones in and get listening to some Celtic thunder to get you in the mood, we joke of course.

If you’re not living in Belfast or staying with friends, we would advise you to stay in either Vagabonds hostel or the Etap Hotel if you’re on a budget. If you have a little extra cash to spend check out Dukes at Queens, or for pure five star indulgence the Merchant Hotel, the roof top hot tub looks onto one of belfast’s most famous land marks. Location is key of course, South Belfast is probably your best option if you’re looking to check out the city, plus everything is in walking distance.

Ok so you’ve sorted your accommodation and you’ve arrived in Belfast now what?

First and foremost if you’re after site seeing check out the Queens quarter, the Layon building at Queens is pretty awesome for a few snaps. There’s a vibrant student feel about the area. The Ulster museum is also located nearby, we’ve spent a little time exploring this and it’s good to kill a few hours and check out the Egyptian mummy. Belfast is of course synonymous with the Titanic, so you need to check out the Titanic Quarter and the Titanic Centre which was voted the best tourist attraction in Europe, beating the likes of the Eiffel tower, so it’s clearly amazing. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, YOU ARE, ARENT YOU, you’ll be pleased to know it’s filmed in a studio in this area.

So, you’re a twenty something individual and you’ve spent the day sightseeing; now it’s on to checking out what Belfast has to offer from a hospitality point of view. And what an offering it is. This little city caters for every taste, from hipster to rocker. So where’s best I hear you ask? If you’re looking to grab a coffee, you should check out Established Coffee, down in the Cathedral quarter. The design of this place gives us all kinds of happiness, the brushed concrete floor and long communal desks make are inner designer oh so happy. It’s the sort of place you could talk art, politics and culture. The coffee is insane, we were perplexed by the amount of types they had on offer, when greeted by the rather hipster staff member.

So what are we doing for food?

Right, your starving aren’t you? Well we’re massive sushi fans and we know our sushi, having spent some time in Asia, so gappy of us. If you’re on a budget check out Sakura on botanic, again in south Belfast. They have one of those rotating plate things, which is so cool and their sushi is so good. However, if you’re willing to spend a little extra check out Shiro in the city centre, it’s like an oasis in the city, upon entry you’ll be greeted by a super friendly host. Shiro, means white in Japanese and the place is white inside (obviously you knew that). We advise the sushi platter to share, you’ll get an amazing selection of Maki & Nigiri rolls and if you can manage to use chopsticks, you’ll have an amazing experience, if not, you might need to ask the server awkwardly for a knife and fork. Also the cocktails here are great (of course we would say that), we normally order off the menu, but they do a great Dark & Stormy. So, you’re having a great day, aren’t you? Of course you are. You’ve been following our kick ass advice. Ok, so we’ve tried the high life, had some sushi and a coffee, were to next?

What about the nightlife?

Well it’s getting late, so how about some pints? I’ll take that is a yes. One thing the city does best is great pubs, there are hundreds of them. But you simply must check out Kelly’s Cellars, which happens to be the city’s oldest public house. Picture this, the modern world forgotten enter its dark and mysterious atmosphere you step back in time. Take a seat by the fire and grab yourself a Guinness, a bloody good one we might add. Soak up the ambience of this quirky little bar, the floor isn’t even level, it’s that wonderful. They have live music during the week, which just adds to its character. Share a yarn or two with the locals, they won’t bite.

It’s getting late, let’s get ready to head out. Ok you ready ? Let’s go. Clubbing in Belfast can be a mixed bag given that everywhere closes early, well 2am. You need a plan, you either stick to one place or move about early. Everywhere gets busy quick. For a good night out we suggest Alibi, this rather new club has only been going for a short period but attracts large crowds at the weekend. We’ve been and it’s a great night out. The club is rather pretty with its oh so dark and fancy interior with neon triangles on the ceiling (their pretty cool). An alternative option go to Lavery’s. It’s an excellent choice, a good shout and a bit of craic. It’s got some seriously good music and those music snobs among you will adore it.

Enjoy

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