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Belfast, Belle of the North
For most visitors, a trip to Ireland translates this way: visit Dublin, and perhaps a tour bus to the south’s green countryside. The North Ireland city of Belfast is usually an afterthought, but that’s a mistake. Years ago, during The Troubles, no one -- and particularly families -- would ever think of Belfast as a tourist destination.
“Why would they want to come here other than to say they survived a trip to Belfast?” sardonically asks Rosemary Connolly, a Blue Badge Irish tour guide. Actually, the three-decades-long strife between Protestants and Catholics ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Peace Accord, heavily influenced by former President Bill Clinton.
How safe is Belfast today? That is always a difficult question to answer because crime can be found anywhere, but tourism officials like to quote a United Nations study that found Northern Ireland’s present-day crime rate is lower than any country worldwide but Japan. Families can expect the Irish to be friendly and patient, unless you profess a British background ("The Troubles" -- like the US’s own Civil War -- did not come to a sudden screeching halt.)
Budding Tourism Center
Today, this city that never capitalized on its fame as the site where the Titanic was built is hungry for tourists to replace its once strong industrial economic base. They are starting to come to Belfast, where the number of hotel rooms has tripled in just five years. There are cranes everywhere, and the city’s finally getting around to building a museum to promote the Titanic.
Its shipbuilding and linen-making past behind it, Belfast today has two airports, two universities, two cathedrals, and a Grand Opera House with velvety red seats and gold elephants, to serve a population of 600,000. Families can find many other good reasons for coming here, including the centuries-old castles, ancient buildings and the country’s long history.
Parents old enough to remember The Troubles can appreciate revisiting the areas we used to view on the 5 o’clock news. For family members too young to remember, various tours are educational, easily available and inexpensive.
The usual children’s entertainments such as a 36-hole Pirates Adventure Golf can be found in Belfast, but in no other country can you visit the grave and Down Cathedral of St. Patrick, whose life is celebrated every year by millions of people. Another reason to visit Ireland is that it’s like going to see a first cousin. Many of our first presidents such as Andrew Jackson were born in Belfast.
I also highly recommend the Crown's Liquor Saloon. The Farmer's Chicken was excellent and keeping with the wonderful pub atmosphere. Now that there is a smoking ban in Northern Ireland, I bet it's even more pleasant without the cloud of smoke.
A couple other things that to think about doing is visiting Queen's University, just to see how like good wine, universities are better with age and a stroll through the Botanical Gardens is nice when weather permits, but if showers occur, seek shelter in the Palm House, a glass greenhouse with a huge variety of tropical flowers and plants. Admission is free to both.
Another way to travel through Belfast is with the Black Cab tours, which offers private tours in those classic cab cars that look old fashioned compared to the sedan Yellow Taxis of New York City. These personalized tours allow up to four people to pick and choose which sites ranging from within Belfast City to as far as Antrim to the Giant's Causeway. They also have tours to the Shankill Murals and Falls Murals, which are always viewed better with a local guide to explain what these paintings represent, along with the history.
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