Where to Stay in Belfast, Northern Ireland

What is Belfast known for?

Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, and its main port. Its name was made by ships. The yards on the River Lagan built the Titanic, a story told at Titanic Belfast and the Titanic Memorial, with the tender SS Nomadic preserved nearby.

Linen made the city too, a trade remembered at The Linen Hall. Belfast is the second-largest city on the island of Ireland. The Albert Memorial Clock still leans over the streets near the harbour water.

What are the main landmarks in Belfast?

Belfast's landmarks cluster around the water and the old centre. Titanic Belfast rises over the former shipyards on the River Lagan, with the SS Nomadic and the warship HMS Caroline moored close by. In the centre, the Albert Memorial Clock and St George's Church stand among the older streets, and The Linen Hall keeps the memory of the linen trade.

The Ulster Museum holds the city's art and history. The Belfast Wheel once turned above it all.

What is the history of Belfast?

Belfast has no single founding date on record; it grew instead as a port and a factory town. The River Lagan and Belfast Lough gave it a harbour open to the sea, and industry did the rest. Linen came first.

The linen trade built much of the old city, a story The Linen Hall still keeps. Then came the shipyards, whose slipways on the Lagan launched the Titanic and made the city known for building ships. Both trades leaned on the water at the city's feet.

In the twentieth century Belfast became the capital of Northern Ireland, the new country formed in 1921 on the north-east of the island of Ireland. The later part of that century was a troubled one for the city. Those hard years are past.

Reconciliation and renewal have shaped the decades that followed. Belfast has turned back toward its river and its harbour, and the old shipyards carry Titanic Belfast and the restored SS Nomadic. The second-largest city on the island of Ireland draws travellers to that heritage as much as it ever drew trade.

Where is Belfast?

Belfast stands at the head of Belfast Lough, on the River Lagan, in the north-east of the island of Ireland. The Lagan runs through the middle of the city and out into the Lough, which opens through the North Channel to the open sea. Most of Belfast lies west of the river in County Antrim, with about a third on the east bank in County Down.

The river ties the two together. Water is never far off.

What is the climate of Belfast?

Belfast has a mild, damp climate. The sea at the head of Belfast Lough softens it, holding off the sharpest cold in winter and the real heat in summer, so the year keeps to a narrow, temperate band. Rain is frequent, carried in off the water in any season.

Cloud comes and goes quickly. Bright spells break through between the showers over the River Lagan.

How do you get to Belfast?

Getting to Belfast is straightforward. As Northern Ireland's main port, it takes ferries up Belfast Lough and in through the North Channel from the open sea. Flights land just outside the city, and roads and rail run out across Northern Ireland from the centre.

South over the open border, the Republic of Ireland is close. From the River Lagan, the rest of the island of Ireland is within a short drive by road.