Things to do and see in Belfast

In every city, there exists a modern and natural beauty, which is true for the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. A city and a seaport, Belfast is one of Ireland's major commercial and industrial cities. If you are familiar with the star-crossed, unfortunate and very much sinkable Titanic, you just might be interested to know that that famous vessel was launched at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast. This shipyard is still active in the ship-building industry, making tankers, cargo ships and ships used in war.

The two Belfast universities are the famous Queen's University of Belfast and the University of Ulster. Queen's University offers a variety of courses in the line of agriculture, engineering, medicine, education, fine arts, social sciences, economics, and many more. The University of Ulster is a much younger university founded in 1968 and restructures in 1984. It also serves as the seat of the Belfast College of Technology and the Union Theological College.

This Northern Ireland capital with a population of 277,200 as of 2001 has historical sights all over the city, such as political murals painted across Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods. These murals echo Northern Ireland's violent past and now serves as one of Belfast's important legacies.

Now, what is a vacation if you're not doing any tours at all? If you're going around Belfast to explore its beauty and rich history, you might as well take the famous Belfast City Tours, or the so-called Black Taxi tours. These tours are a must, and you would be missing a lot if you don't get to experience this. Tour guides are available to take you to places you've never been before and also provide an unbiased narration of the events that happened during the past.

If you are up to some shopping, you can find in St. George's Market everything from fruits to fishes to second hand items.

One must-see natural sight is the Belfast Lough, which is known for its clean waters and home of some exotic sea creatures. There is also the Who What When Where Why, more popularly known as the W5, which is recommended for kids and kids at heart. Considered as the best indoor attraction in Ireland, the W5 offers small to large scale exhibits and events, most of them live science shows and demos.

Finally, there's the Albert Clock. When you see this clock tower, you'll see that the Tower of Pisa is not alone in suffering backbone problems (or rather, foundation problems). Built on soft marshy land, this is a modern-day example of why people shouldn't be building on land as good as sand.