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Unless you approach Belfast from the sea you cannot help but come to upon the city suddenly because of its fine setting: a 'Hibernian Rio' as one writer has called it, ringed by high hills, sea lough and river valley. This robust northern metropolis of nearly half a million people - a third of Northern Ireland's population - has much in common with Liverpool and Manchester, those breezy cities across the Irish Sea. Belfast was the engine-room that drove the whirring wheels of the industrial revolution in Ulster.
There are many exuberant Victorian and Edwardian buildings with elaborate sculptures over doors and windows. Stone-carved heads of gods and poets, scientists, kings and queens peer down from the high ledges of banks and old linen warehouses. The City Hall, built around 1903, dominates the main shopping area. It looks rather like American State capital buildings except for the big statue of Queen Victoria at the front. She came to Belfast in 1849 and must have been held in high esteem by its citizens since dozens of streets, a hospital, a park, a man-made island, the harbour deep-water channel and the university were all named after her.
The southern part of the city is good for moderately priced restaurants, pubs and accommodation and for shopping and theatre. The Botanic Gardens and the Ulster Museum are here too.
Some of Belfast's grandest buildings are banks. In Waring Street - round the corner from the North Street tourist information centre - the interior of the Ulster Bank (1860) is like a Venetian Palace and the Northern Bank in the same street started life as a market house in 1769.
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Recommended Hotels
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| Fitzwilliam International Hotel |
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Address : Belfast International Airport
Contemporary luxury and style awaits at the Fitzwilliam International Hotel, Northern Ireland's premier 4 star hotel. Located in the very heart of the country, yet easily ...
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Address : 22 Ormeau Avenue
Holiday Inn Belfast is located in the heart of Belfast city centre's 'Golden Mile' , being about 17 miles from Belfast ...
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List of Hotels in Belfast
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United Kingdom
