Belfast
Belfast, Northern Ireland's revitalized capital, has transformed into one of the most engaging city breaks in the British Isles, and its standout attraction is Titanic Belfast. Standing on the very slipways where the RMS Titanic was designed, built and launched in 1912, this striking silver building, shaped like four ship prows, houses a world-class interactive museum telling the liner's story from the booming Belfast shipyards to the fateful maiden voyage.
Around it, the Titanic Quarter includes the SS Nomadic, the last surviving White Star vessel, and the great Harland and Wolff cranes still loom over the skyline. The whole quarter has been reborn on the old shipyard land, and walking the slipways where the hull once towered above the workers gives the story a scale that the galleries inside only deepen.
Beyond the Titanic, Belfast rewards exploring: the grand City Hall, the lively bars and street art of the Cathedral Quarter, the Victorian-era Crown Liquor Saloon, and the powerful political murals and black-cab tours that tell the city's recent history. Belfast is warm, witty and full of stories, and a day or two here is the perfect counterpoint to the wild coast and glens that lie just up the road.
