Page 284 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Ireland

282  IRELAND REGION B Y REGION

Exploring Belfast

Away from the city centre, Belfast has many pleasant
suburbs to explore. The Queen’s Quarter around Queen’s
University to the south of the city has two major attractions
in the Ulster Museum and the Botanic Gardens. To the north,
there are splendid views to be enjoyed from the heights of
Cave Hill, while visitors interested in Belfast’s industrial
heritage will be keen to visit the Titanic Quarter, the old docks
and the Harland and Wolff working shipyards.

Interior of the Victorian Palm House at
E Ulster Museum mummy. In addition to its perm- the Botanic Gardens
Botanic Gardens. Tel 0845 608 0000. anent collection, the museum
Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun & bank hols has a changing programme of and cast-iron work. The Tropical
on Mon. 7 - = ∑ nmni.com/um temporary exhib itions and events, Ravine, or Fernery, is another fine
Founded in 1929 as the Belfast several learning zones and plenty piece of Victorian garden archi-
Municipal Museum and Art of opportunities for hands-on tecture. Visitors can look down
Gallery, the Ulster Museum activities, including interactive from the balcony to a sunken
reopened in 2009 following a areas where visitors can try on glen of exotic plants.
£17 million refurbishment. Its Victorian costumes and handle
galleries house rich collections the skull of a two-headed calf. P Queen’s University
of art, local history, natural University Rd. Tel 028 9024 5133
sciences and archaeology. Y Botanic Gardens 8 7= ∑ qub.ac.uk
Modern Irish art is particularly Botanic Ave. Tel 028 9032 4902. A 15-minute stroll south from
well represented, while the 6 m- Open daily. ∑ belfastcity.gov.uk Donegall Square, through the
(20 ft-) long Edmontosaurus dino- Backing on to the university, the lively entertainment district
saur skeleton in the Window On Botanic Gardens provide a quiet known as the Golden Mile, leads
Our World display tower is one refuge from the bustle of campus. to Northern Ireland’s most
of Ulster’s most popular exhibits The 1839 Palm House is a superb prestigious university. The main
along with Takabuti, the Egyptian example of curvilinear glass building, designed by Charles
Lanyon in 1849, bears similarities
to Magdalene College, Oxford.
A towered gateway leads to a
colonnaded quadrangle.
E W5
Odyssey, 2 Queen’s Quay. Tel 028 9046
7700. Open daily (Sun: pm only). &
∑ w5online.co.uk
W5, short for “whowhatwhere
whenwhy”, is an award-winning
interactive museum, which
presents science as an exciting
Large-scale metal sculpture outside the Ulster Museum process of discovery.
The Political Murals of West Belfast
During the period of the “Troubles” (1968–1998), popular art played a
conspicuous role in pro claiming the loyalties of Belfast’s two most intransigent
working-class communities, on the Protestant Shankill Road and the Catholic
Falls Road. The gable walls of dozens of houses in these areas
have been decorated with vivid murals expressing local
political and paramilitary affiliations. Likewise,
kerbstones on certain streets are painted either
in the red, white and blue of the United
Kingdom or the green, white and gold of Ireland.
Even with the successes of the
current peace process, many are
Republican mural in the Falls Road
likely to remain. Some tourists
make the journey out to West Belfast just to see the murals. The
simplest way to do this is to pre-book a “Black Cab Tour” through
the Belfast Welcome Centre. Call 028 9024 6609. Protestant Loyalist mural
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp302–3 and pp323–5

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
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Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm