My Guide to Belfast
A few weeks ago, some of the Routes team and I were lucky enough to visit the wonderful city of Belfast, the official host of Routes Europe 2017.
Belfast has everything you could want from a destination, lovely hotels, period architecture, amazing restaurants and bars, and enough culture to keep you busy for days!
Our first day was spent exploring and experiencing some of the city’s unique history including the Shankill Road Murals, Falls Road Murals and The Peace Line. If you are visiting Belfast these famous political and cultural murals are a must!
For lunch, we headed back into Belfast’s city centre to The Ivory, which boasts fantastic views over the city. We spent the rest of our day visiting the newly refurbished Belfast Waterfront, the venue for Routes Europe 2017. Conveniently linked to the Hilton Hotel, the Waterfront’s recent expansion has really transformed it into a world-class events venue.
Our second day took us to the impressive Titanic Belfast, which was truly amazing and is a ‘must-see’ when visiting the city - lucky for us it is the venue for our Networking Evening! Located next to the historic site of the world famous ship's construction, the museum will certainly provide an impressive backdrop for the event.
From the Titanic Belfast, we could see the studios where HBO blockbuster TV series Game of Thrones is filmed. Our evening was then spent hunting for Kit Harrington in some of Belfast’s most popular haunts, including the Howard Street Restaurant and the Crown Liquor Saloon, the city’s most famous pub.
During our visit, we stayed the Fitzwilliam Hotel, which is located just a short walk from the Belfast Waterfront and the City Hall and happens to be one of our official hotels. The hotel was the perfect combination of luxury and Irish charm and definitely added to our stay!
On our third and final day, we were treated a fantastic meal at the multi-award winning James Street South Restaurant. Set in an old linen mill, the restaurant received the highly coveted accolade of ‘Best Restaurant’ in the 2016 Georgina Campbell Awards, the longest running Hospitality Awards in Ireland, and it is not difficult to understand why!
Three days was certainly not enough time to enjoy everything that Belfast has to offer and we are very much looking forward to heading back for Routes Europe 2017!
Written by Rebecca Teale
Senior Host & Project Manager, Routes