All direct flights from Belfast International

Mark Says

ON initial appearances Belfast looks like any other provincial city. Scratch underneath the surface though and visitors will see a unique energy that nowhere else in Britain can boast. There is a noticeable urgency among residents to move forward and put the dark days of sectarian violence behind them. Belfast has successfully reinvented itself as a top notch party destination. There are few obvious signs of the troubles that blighted the city during the last quarter of the 20th century save a few murals on the Shankhill Road and Falls Road, and the odd armoured Land Rover during marching season. Stability in wake of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement has brought with it a host of new bars, nightclubs, and shops that had previously stayed away. The swathe of high-quality new hotels being built is only going to encourage more people to visit. Property developers too have been quick to exploit the city's ship building heritage ' turning former warehouses along the River Lagan into trendy flats. The enormous cranes at the Harland & Wolff shipyard still loom over the skyline to the east of the city centre. Apart from the raucous pub scene centred on the historic Entries, Belfast has a number of more sedate attractions to offer, many of which remind visitors of the city's Victorian and Edwardian heyday. City Hall dominates the compact city centre, while the Grand Opera House is one of Belfast's finest Victorian buildings. It was badly damaged by bomb attacks in both 1991 and 1993 but has since been restored to its former glory and provides enduring evidence of the city's resurgence.