Is Belfast the New Hot Spot in Ireland?

by Christopher Trout

Checking In: Belfast.
Checking Out: Dublin.

Once a hot bed of political violence, Belfast is reinventing itself as a hot spot for international travel. Dublin’s time as Ireland’s central attraction has passed, and travelers with champagne tastes are leaving the pub grub behind and traveling North for a first class experience.

Belfast’s most notorious tourist attraction isn’t a national monument or a museum; it’s not even a park. It’s a bar, well, The Bar. Located inside the Merchant Hotel, a five-star establishment in the city’s historical Cathedral Quarter, The Bar boasts the World’s most expensive cocktail; a Mai Tai, made from Wray and Nephew Rum, that will set you back £750.

If £750 sounds more like a new pair of shoes than a bar tab, make your way down to Lisburn Road, Belfast’s posh shopping district. Lisburn is home to fine dining restaurants like Chef Brian McCann’s French-inspired, Shu; boutiques like Carter, a swank shop selling labels like Marc Jacobs and Patrick Cox; and a bevy of trendy hair salons. You won’t come across a Gucci or an Yves Saint Laurent front on Lisburn Road, but that is part of its charm.

Though it has garnered a reputation for shopping and dining, there is more to Belfast than money can buy. Art is a major player in the city’s renaissance. Once a year, the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival brings the historical district to life. CQAF covers all areas of the arts from folk music, to street theatre, to the visual arts, and does so with an eccentric eye. This year’s lineup includes a concert by Sinead O’Connor, a night dedicated to the Big Lebowski, and a street theatre performance dubbed, The Insect Circus, which employs giant bugs to pay homage to old-school freak shows.

It seems fitting that such creativity and cultural vitality flourish in a city once riddled with violence. Today, Belfast is the unparalleled alternative to the uniform Irish experience. The time to travel north is now.