Belfast

the flat iron, legendary Bittles bar is a well nice boozer, good gab in there with the old blokes on the form (Cheltenham festival was on last time i was in Belfast) and super Guinness.

if you like your beer there are a few interesting micro-breweries AFAIK in Northern Ireland that you'll find in some bars and boozers, Hildens brewery and such.

the Botanic Gardens are very lovely and i saw some very nice films at the Queens film theatre.

if you're interested in the obligatory murals tour there are loads of buses and cabs that offer it, although the one time i did this i walked around on my tod, just walked up the Falls, straying off down side streets now and again, to around where the hospital with the fabulous railings is (the Royal Victoria), and walked around an estate off the Shankill and around there for quite a while, saw some interesting gable ends, and then around the Ardoyne etc.

Boojum was quite nice Mexican near the uni, basic quesadillas tacos etc, and i had some really good grub in a fairly up market boozer in the Cathedral Quarter, well nice chowder, pretty mind-blowing TBH.

got the train onward to Derry, that coast is a beautiful part of the world, truly stunning, see the big cranes and stuff on the way out, amazing.

i just stayed in the main YHA/HI hostel, southern edge of the city centre, two thumbs up.

all the young people both local and student visitors make for plenty of cool coffee-shops, music, bars and so on.

can't remember where but went by a lovely little trad' arr' folk store down some back street quite near Victoria Square shopping complex etc.

the Crown Liquor Saloon is a National Trust boozer.

met some genuine legends!

lot of fascinating architecture in the city.

I love it when you do this Scott. Vintage Somedisco right there! Encore!

It's all shit.. na only sleggin (really though) Boojum is great! the nicest bars for beer are probably John Hewitt and White's Tavern, maybe The Spaniard too oh and The Crown. Stiff Kitten is probably the best club, best soundsystem, decent line-ups http://www.thestiffkitten.com/events.php Lavery's is good craic too.

Tell me what dates you'll be over and i'll let you know what's on.

If you're in to walking then you can't miss going up on cavehill, off the antrim road. Very nice mountain with terrific views. On youre way up there you'll pass Belfast Castle, a victorian palace which you can probably get a nice coffee in. Cavehill, the castle, and it's forest are great and you could easily waste an hour or 3. It's not too strenous and all you need is a pair of trainers, though they might get muddy if it's been raining. There's also a zoo up there, though its been a long time since I've been there so I cant remember how big/small/good it is. That it's on a steep hill should alone make it punch above it's weight.

Being so hilly, good views of the city centre or lough are ten a penny in a lot of areas. Cavehill is probably the best bet though. The other mountains are either very hard or impossible to reach by bus, and are often badly looked after and un signposted. The parliament buildings in Stormont are great for an hours walkaround the extensive grounds, the building is photogenic but I dont think they do tours. You can get tour buses to Stormont but I cant see the value in it if that is the only place they go. the 4A bus passes by Stormont every 8 mins. The 20/20A is less frequent but has the advantage of going slowly via the Lower Newtownards rd, which is East Belfast's main area for murals, as well as the Belmont road's leafy east Belfast suburbia.

I've never done any of the bus or taxi tours so dont know how good they are. If you're ina penny pinching mood you could do as Scottdisco says. Walking up the falls and crossing the peaceline at Northumberland street and walking down the Shankill will be around 1.5 miles. You'll get to see the murals of the Falls international wall, and the gable walls of the Lower Shankill estate. To penetrate further up the Shankill or falls you could just walk up the road as much as you want and then just get the bus back into town. You would see more this way. I think the advantage of the bus tours is that they go up the roads a fair bit and take you around the cupar street peaceline/buffer zone, which would be hard to find as a pedestrian. having the guides probably adds to it as well. You can book tours with ex prisoners as well, and the taxi tours will be done by drivers from the areas.

The so called Titanic Quarter may be of some interest. Admittedly it is an industrial wasteland with an uneccessarily large road in the middle of it. but there are some things to see. The main hub would be the Pumphouse museum. I'm not sure what its like, I'm sure most locals dont know it exists. I think they only have one showing a day. Titanic artifacts are almost certainly thin on the ground, but the main reason for going there would be the dry dock they have there, which is stupidly big and deep. Gives you perhaps some sense of how big the titanic was.

Walking to Titanic Quarter may be an irritation. There is the occassional display board on the road which can be informative, but theres no getting away from the fact that almost everything that was there has been demolished. On the other hand a dissensian may get some sense of pleasure out of this, in a 'hauntological' ballardian way. Suffice to say that walking a mile an a half in this environment isnt tourist friendly, and having to walk the same back cetainly isnt. I suspect the pumphouse museum showings are coordinated around bus tours. The downside is that the buses probably dont show you anything in much detail (such as the yellow cranes), they seem to drive fast. They are probably you're best bet though.

Lastly... I strongly second the Spaniard as a nice bar, very distinctive interior. Get there very early to guarantee a seat, as it's a shoebox. As it's in the cathedral quarter, I would also recommend the nearby Duke of York bar, where the walls are decorated with 30's football memorobillia. Very nice cobblestone alleyway at the front as well. For a no frills tea & coffee in an eccellent building you could do worse than the Linenhall library. Good views of the city hall. It's a nice oldskool library as well. members only but if you say you're going to the cafe they'll wave you through, and you can read the books anyway.

very good point from Owen about the local angle from those tours, i really should have mentioned that. oops.
my dogged, accidental wandering about included around that Cupar Street and various back streets and all around, but giving money to a cabbie or whatever is giving money to the local economy, so, yes, way forward?

have to second the Stormont and Cavehill love. if you're a photographer it's an extremely rewarding cityscape, also (said with Cavehill in mind).

John Hewitt was a grand bar (in fact i had some tasty micro-brews in there) and i think i remember the Spaniard, stunning little looker.

Derry is a fine, hilly city with nice squares, friendly lively boozers and some good looking venues, some gorgeous civic buildings, international students enhancing the vibe, quality cheap chippies, and that exquisite set of walls and the beautiful cannon. (google the Nerve Centre.)

wonderful setting, gets quite rugged not far out of town, the Foyle is a fabulous river with some great bridges.

don't know about nights out as such but i ended up in pubs most of the time (including being in Badgers bar in which the England - Ireland rugby match was shown one day, that was fun), one night a Stone Roses tribute act (not the most Dissensian option i realise..) and disco effort at (kinda sports bar vibe) Bound for Boston, that was a good laugh, and a top bar with clubby vibe quite a long way out of the centre one night, as usual all names escape me.
Sandinos (a bar) is worth a visit, wears its politics on its sleeve, all sorts of folk in there when i went in.

a lot of interesting murals in quite a few different areas on both sides of the river (lot more painted-with-either-flag pavement sides than even in Belfast, that i noticed anyway), recently the famous Free Derry thing in the Bogside was repainted to a Free Gaza mural.
the Bogside Artists have a gaff you can drop in on IIRC, workshop / exhibition space.

there's some nice A Gormley peppering the city.



Oliver: thank you!

I will be there next month. I fucking love the place.

Saw McGuiness on TV with Orde and Robinson last night, condemning the CIRA. Crazy stuff.

Not much decent i can find atm, i'll update you closer to the time. you're missing Richie Hawtin play the newly renovated Ulster Hall on Easter Monday, but it's £27!! and he's a bore anyway

Yeah Vimothy it's fucking sickening, check this for crazy ignorance.